SITE GUIDE
SEARCH
REVIEWS
REVIEW ARCHIVES
ADVERTISING AT CURTAINUP
FEATURES
NEWS
Etcetera and
Short Term Listings
LISTINGS
Broadway
Off-Broadway
NYC Restaurants
BOOKS and CDs
OTHER PLACES
Berkshires
London
California
New Jersey
DC
Connecticut
Philadelphia
Elsewhere
QUOTES
TKTS
PLAYWRIGHTS' ALBUMS
LETTERS TO EDITOR
FILM
LINKS
MISCELLANEOUS
Free Updates
Masthead
A CurtainUp Report
By Deirdre Donovan and Charles Wright
The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) -2015
Shows Reviewed (* An asterisk will be placed before the title when Review is posted) *Claudia Quest | *The Cobalteans |*Deep Love | *Foolerie: A Shakespearean Musical | *Napoleon| | *What Do Critics Know? | *Pope! An Epic Musical | *Tonya & Nancy: The Rock Musical | *Songs for the Fallen |
A Quick Overview by Deirdre Donovan
The New York Musical Festival is back! This festival, affectionately dubbed NYMF, has been heating up the boards in the Big Apple since 2004. The festival hails from its home base at the Pershing Square Signature Center and runs from July 7th through 27th.
This season promises to be as exciting and culturally diverse as ever, with a line-up of 22 full productions. There's no readily detectable theme this year, so you will find a dollop of everything under the sun. There's the spooky romantic drama Deep Love: A Ghostly Rock Opera, the spicy bio-drama Napoleon, and the inspiring political comedy Manuel Versus the Statue of Liberty, to mention a few. Beyond its full productions, the festival presents 13 concerts, 11 staged readings, and 9 special events. But whether you decide to go to a full production, or one of their other events, there's no doubt you'll be tasting some events with a future.
Jeanine Tesori (2015 Tony Award-winning composer of Fun Home) is serving as NYMF's Honorary Chair this year. And, if you want to catch some of her irresistible music, drop by the concert, Women of Note, at the Pershing Square Signature Center on July 20th. This event gives a platform to 13 women artists who are modern-day pioneers of musical theater.
Curtainup will be grazing at the festival. So keep checking back for our reviews on what's hot, and what's not. Not all events are open for review (like the staged reading of The Gold about a fictive Jewish-German boxer thwarted by the Nazi Regime in1936), but you can visit the Festival's website for mini-summaries of each offering.
All of the productions and events are located at the Pershing Square Signature Center, the PTC Performance Space, or other nearby venues. And with tickets for shows at only $27.50, this festival is one of the best theater bargains in town.
NYMF 2015 Venues:
The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre and The Ford Foundation Studio Theatre and The Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre all at the Pershing Square Signature Center. 480 W. 42nd Street. . . The PTC Performance Space at the Pearl Theatre Company building, 555 W. 42nd Street . . .The Laurie Beechman Theatre at the West Bank Café, 407 W. 42nd. Street . . . Theater 3, 311 W. 43rd. Street.
For more information visit http://www.nymf.org/programs/festival/ For tickets, phone 212-352-3101; in person, the NYMF box office, located downstairs at The Pershing Square Signature Center; online, visit https://web.ovationtix.com
Songs For The Fallen
This is a fizzy homage to Marie Duplessis, the real-life woman who inspired the The Lady of the Camellias, La Traviata, and Moulin Rouge. The music and lyrics (Sheridan Harbridge and Basil Hogios) and the book (Sheridan Harbridge) are all of a piece. And what a piece of musical theater this is!
It re-enacts the bitter end of the legend's life, and invites the audience to celebrate her life and death at once. Sheridan Harbridge inhabits Marie, and is perfectly cast. With her classical features and curvy figure, Harbridge has the looks to play this beautiful woman who charmed men in the highest spheres of society (Hungarian composer Franz Liszt was just one of her many lovers.)
Whereas Harbridge naturally draws everybody's eyes as she lolls about in her huge circle-shaped bed, Simon Corfield, Garth Holcombe, and Basil Hogios acquit themselves well as they step into various supporting roles: chambermaid, rake, lover, and even a deaf octogenarian count with an ear horn.
Because death is imminent, the protagonist takes the audience into her confidence from the getgo. She riffs on and on about her amazing life that thrust her, time and again, into the spotlight. And, oh yes. This party girl is completely uninhibited, and sometimes leaves her death bed—and the stage--to flirt with male audience members in the front row.
Harbridge's Marie toasts to this, and that, as she dies. And she seems to be in a near state of intoxication as she unpacks her memories for the very last time. While she is sometimes giddy, she speaks lucidly--and tosses out sparkling bon mots that land like diamonds in the rough. Folllowing a can-can routine, she breathlessly quips: It is not me who dances too fast, it is the violins that play too slow." ”
All the songs hark back to vaudeville days. And, if pressed to choose the best, I would go with the title song for its dirge-like air.
This musical gem is done cabaret-style and with lots of zest. Marie's untimely death from tuberculosis had me reaching for a tissue.
At Theatre 3, 311 West 43rd Street.
No remaining performances.
Running time: 1 hour: 20 minutes with no intermission
Reviewed by Deirdre Donovan based on press performance of 07/26/15
Foolerie
Santino DeAngelo's Foolerie is a merry romp through Shakespeare's comedies. It's a fresh look at his fools. and their tomfoolery. DeAngelo, who wrote the book, music, and lyrics, reacquaints you with those beloved characters who wear motley and delight in telling the truth.
Directed and choreographed by Tralen Doler, the show has an energetic 9-member ensemble. All look as though they are immensely enjoying themselves on stage. And their merriment is contagious.
Ian Knauer, as Clowne, opens the show with the festive song"Another Happy Ending,"and becomes the real anchor in this Shakespearean collage of clowns and fools. Knauer acts as narrator, and speaks directly to the audience. But he always returns his attention to the action on stage and smoothly finesses the scene-to-scene transitions.
Another fine performance is turned in by Ryan Breslin, as Knave. Breslin's Knave serves as a fountain of information on the Bard's fools. Among other things, he reminds you that they are the truth-tellers in the plays, and well-known for calling a spade a spade.
Foolerie has much going for it. It indexes, if not all, most of Shakespeare's fools. Although I would have liked the piece to go into more depth about how clowns and fools are different in the Bard's' canon, DeAngelo seems more intent on serving up the lighter side of foolery. (For the record, Shakespeare's fools are only found in his mature comedies and tragedies and deliver some of the play's most penetrating lines.)
If the book is thin, the music and songs are delightful. There are mood-elevating songs like ”Hey, Nonny, Nonny” and "The World Can Be Your Oyster.” Another plum is "Malvolio's Soliloquy” that starts out as a soliloquy but broadens into an ensemble number.
The show would benefit from some cutting and tightening of scenes. But, truth be told, Foolerie is a Shakespearean confection that has some delicious moments.
PTC Performance Space at the Pearl Theatre Company building, 555 W. 42nd Street.
No more performances scheduled at this time.
Running time: 1 hour: 45 minutes with one intermission.
Reviewed by Deirdre Donovan based on press performance of 07/25/15
What Do Critics Know?
"I am the very model of a critic who is critical. . ." That's the confident voice of Chester Cotillion, fictive New York Times theater critic pattering away in Matthew Gurren (book, music, and lyrics) and James Campodonico's (music and lyrics) charming new musical What Do Critics Know?.
The title might lead you to think that this is a musical satire on theater criticism and critics. Yes and no. It does take aim at those pundits who act with pretentiousness and affectations. But it also colorfully dramatizes the love-hate relationship between critics and writers, and how the tension between the two can potentially foster better work and benefit the theater at large.
It revolves around three power-wielding theater critics: Chester (Ryan Knowles), Irma (Mary Mossberg), and Brad (Prescott Seymour); also one struggling Broadway playwright. That's Nathan Wood (Chris Gleim) who's trying to make a comeback after his string of recent flops. Tables are suddenly turned, however. The three critics find themselves blackmailed and in the strange predicament of having to put on a show. Panic-stricken, they enlist Nathan, whose Broadway show they just panned, to help them get their creative juices flowing. What happens is not what you would expect. But you will learn a real lesson on the value of looking at theater from different perspectives.
This is a traditional-style musical with a clear-cut story line and songs that are reminiscent of Broadway tunes from the 40s, 50s, and 60s. But don't shrug it off too quickly as old-fashioned. Though it does have its share of corny and sentimental moments it never, ever, becomes mawkish. What's more, many of its songs are hummable. And you might even leave the theater humming a snatch of one.
Of course, there is stereotyping of critics as snobs (and bad tippers at restaurants). But Gurren keeps his critics from becoming caricatures through his witty dialogue peppered with theater lingo. Add in the romantic relationship that sparks between critic Irma and the playwright Nathan, and you have characters with a pulse.
As directed by Michael Bello, What Do Critics Know? blooms into something more than a superficial look at the war between critics and playwrights. It reveals that theater criticism can be vital to the emergence of new stage talent and the direction of contemporary theater. With solid acting from its 13-member ensemble, this show is a promising one.
At the Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre
Remaining performance: Monday July 27th at 4pm
Running Time: 1 hour; 45 minutes with 15 minute intermission.
Reviewed by Deirdre Donovan based on press performance of 07/24/15
Deep Love:A Ghostly Rock Opera
This is by far the most haunting show at the New York Musical Theatre Festival. Part ghost story, part romance, part rock opera, this sung-through piece has 25 stirring musical numbers and a nine member strong ensemble. P owerhouse singers Jon Peter Lewis (American Idol), Amy Whitcomb (The Voice), Garret Sherwood, and Melanie Stone make it a Gothic feast for the ears.
Forget a traditional story line. As directed by Lewis and Michael Rader, Deep Love relies more on mood, atmosphere, and music than anything else. It tells the story of young lovers who are so trapped by their heart-throbs of yesteryear that they cannot embrace the present opportunities for love. The plot shuttles between the present and past, and is populated by characters living and dead. Sound spooky? You betcha.
According to an article in Billboard that was tucked into my press kit, Deep Love began its life as a concert, and has been workshopped for the past five years. In its current rock operatic iteration one can still strongly sense those concert roots. In fact, there's no prosy dialogue in this show at all.
If the show has a flaw, it is that its characters aren't fully-realized or defined. Though the songs do broadly tell the story of Old Bones, Constance, Friedrich, and Florence, I sometimes felt that these riveting spectral figures need more matter and less art.
A shout out to David Goldstein for his quaint set that charmingly evokes a rural countryside. Goldstein, in collaboration with Braden Howard's soft lighting add much to this ghostly opera.
Dealing as it does with themes of love, loss, jealousy, and revenge Deep Love isn't light musical fare. The rhymes in the lyrics sometimes are forced, and the melodrama goes over the top at times. But you will likely be won over by the noirish music, poetic lyrics, and first-rate singers. So, no bones about it, this ghostly rock opera memorably explores the darker side of love and ultimately becomes a cautionary tale about the dangers of romantic love.
At the Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre. No further performances scheduled at this time.
Running time: 1 hour; 45 minutes with one intermission.
Reviewed by Deirdre Donovan based on press performance of 7/18/15
Napoleon
If you think you know Napoleon, think again. Andrew Sabiston and Timothy Williams's Napoleon gives a new spin on the Little Corporal. Sabiston and Williams invite you to see Napoleon through the eyes of the crafty politician Talleyrand, who groomed him and helped mold his career.
Directed by Richard Ouzounian, this musical gives you a better grasp of how Napoleon lived, loved, and climbed to the top-most rung of power in Europe. But the real one to watch here is Talleyrand. Yes, Napoleon and Josephine, his mistress and later his wife, are portrayed as magnetic characters and carry the full weight of history as they traverse the stage. But it is the shadowy figure of Talleyrand who offers something decidedly new about the Napoleon story. And he doesn't flinch in telling it here.
Sabiston and Williams' book, music, and lyrics are as intricately interwoven as a war general's epaulette. The opening number"Waterloo" signals that this story isn't going to be viewed through rose-colored glasses or sanitized. You hear the sound of cannons exploding and guns being fired. When Talleyrand materializes on stage as the narrator, with a lame leg and cane, he cuts quite a memorable figure.
The narration begins in 1821 when Talleyrand has just learned of Napoleon's death on the island of St. Helena. He onfides his mixed feelings about Napoleon to the audience. Then he strikes at a phantom Napoleon in a greatcoat and hat on stage. And his gesture speaks volumes.
This piece invites you to listen closely as Talleyrand retraces Napoleon's phenomenal path to becoming Emperor and how he fell head over heels for Josephine, much to Talleyrand's dismay. Talleyrand does eventually manage to sow seeds of discord between Napoleon and Josephine. But it took an assassination attempt on Napoleon for Talleyrand to be able to plant the idea of a dynasty in his mind, and let it take root. The rub, of course, is that Josephine couldn't get pregnant, and the reality of a Napoleonic dynasty seemed threatened by her infertility. To remedy the problem, the famous hero acts far from heroically and begins to seduce other women.
The show has some colorful numbers."The Day is Won" celebrating Napoleon's triumphant crossing of the Alps is one of its better offerings. Lyrics like "where were you when" evoke the adrenaline-rush that the French must have felt for Napoleon's Herculean feat and victory.
The ensemble standouts are Joseph Leo Bwarie (Broadway's Jersey Boys) as Napoleon, Matthew Patrick Quinn (The Travels) as Talleyrand, and Margaret Loesser Robinson (Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice: A Musical) as Josephine. All have pipes, and acting talent, to spare.
Napoleon does have flaws. The character Talleyrand needs to be fleshed out a whiff to ensure that Napoleon and Josephine don't upstage him. There's no doubt that Talleyrand is riveting. But how does one keep pace with an icon and empress of France (who arguably had as many shoes as Imelda Marcos) without playing second fiddle?
There's been a flurry of history-themed musicals in New York this season. Napoleon doesn't have the outright originality of the big hit, Hamilton, but it does have a very compelling character in Talleyrand, and an intriguing love story in Napoleon and Josephine. Attention should be paid.
At the Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre. Running Time: 2 hours with one intermission. Reviewed by Deirdre Donovan at the press performance on July 18th at 5pm.
The Cobalteans
This is a a highlight of this summer's New York Musical Theatre Festival. It takes place at a Lake Erie summer home where Davey (PJ Adzima), a college student, has invited three longtime friends to observe the anniversary of the death of his brother Gabriel. The lake house is being sold by the bereaved parents, and Davey wants to memorialize his brother with a last hurrah at their clique's old stomping ground.
Davey is joined initially by Noah (Alex Walton), who masks grief with incessant joking, and Christian (Aleks Knezevich), whose feelings about losing Gabe have been mitigated by the pleasures of life as a newlywed. Michael (Nicholas McGovern), who was driving the car in which Gabriel died, has been out of touch with the others and hasn't responded to Davey's invitation. When he appears without notice, the emotional stakes escalate and the stage is set for debate, recrimination, confession and, ultimately, reconciliation.
Yianni Papadimos has written an intelligent libretto about intelligent characters. The melodious score by Ben Chavez, with well-wrought lyrics by Papadimos, captures a wide range of moods and is especially effective at the show's elegiac moments. (Additional music is by Papadimos and Andrew Bridges, who plays Gabriel in flashback.)
The Cobalteans is performed by five top-flight young actor-singers on a nearly bare stage, with evocative, semi-abstract projections by scenic/lighting designer Christopher Ash. The cast, expertly directed by Paul Stancato, is supported by six instrumentalists (strings, keyboard, and percussion), visible at stage left, who lend a full, rich sound to Jordan Ross Weinhold's orchestrations.
The musical's title comes from its most memorable song, a foot-tapping pastiche of sea chanteys; It's written by Gabriel and inspired by an eccentric neighbor who, once upon a time, fueled the boys' erotic fantasies. The Cobaltean of the song is the neighbor's lover, supposedly lost at sea, who represents the extremes of bliss and sadness in human experience.
The Cobalteans is a touching, thoroughly engaging reflection on post-adolescent disappointment and the inevitability of loss. The authors and the cast navigate this emotionally-charged territory without capitulating to sentimentality or the camp sensibility prevalent in current musical theater. Their message is that we're all Cobalteans, subject to disillusionment and remorse but equipped, all through life, with the spiritual wherewithal to make fresh starts.
At Theatre Three, 311 West 43rd Street, 3rd Floor. Running time 90 minutes without intermission. No further performances scheduled at this time.
Reviewed by Charles Wright based on press performance of 07/11/15
Tonya & Nancy: The Rock Opera
Tonya & Nancy: The Rock Opera is making a whole lot of noise at the New York Musical Theatre Festival. It dramatizes the rivalry between American figure skaters Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan that turned brutal when Tonya plotted an assault on Nancy at the U. S. Figure Skating Championships in Detroit on January 6, 1994.
Elizabeth Searle's book and lyrics, and Michael Teoli's music, are full of grit and spirit. But what really makes this musical hum is its strong ensemble acting by Tracy McDowell (Tonya Harding), Jenna Leigh Green (Nancy Kerrigan), Liz McCartney (Mom), and Tony LePage (Jeff Gillooly).This musical scratches beneath the glitz of ice-skating competitions and sharply reveals the darker side of the American Dream.
David Albert, who directs, makes sure that the characters Tonya and Nancy are at the fore throughout, exchanging stinging sideway glances and blade-sharp quips at each other. Though he has taken creative license here, he's not straying far from what actually has been reported about the contrary relationship between these two world-class skaters.
There's no doubt that the real-life stories of these two figure skaters are inherently dramatic: Teenage Tonya grew up in a trailer park in Portland, Oregon, with a beer-drinking Mom and an absent Dad whom she loves; Nancy grew up in the middle-class town of Stoneham, Massachusetts, with a hard-working Dad and devoted Mom who was legally blind. Add nonstop skating competitions for both young women, the scandal of the famous knee-whacking incident (aka: 'The Whack Heard Round the World"), and you have the perfect material for a rock opera.
The musical numbers are adrenaline-charged. There's an exhilarating Prologue that conjures up the 1994 Winter Olympics, with Nancy, Tonya, and the full ensemble singing"Four and a Half Minutes" which captures the intense pressure that Tonya and Nancy must have felt as they laced up for the Olympic competitions in France. Assisted by the full ensemble, the two rivals belt out the number simultaneously at the lip of the stage: "Tonight. . .on Olympic ice. . .I will have four and a half minutes. . .to be perfect." Many other numbers in the show are good but this opener really pulls you into the moment.
Although the show has a dark underlining it skates, now and then, into comic territory. Tonya and Nancy's Moms are conceived here as one character (and performed by the ambidextrously talented Liz McCartney), and is pulled off splendidly with the use of costumes and wigs. Whenever Mom is on stage, the disturbing aspects of figure skating competitions temporarily take on a more humorous light.
The news journalists also pepper in some comic color with their coverage of the historic skating events. While they often hype the talents of both Tonya and Nancy, they also seem to feed on their failures, playing back footage of their inglorious moments in slow motion. This allows you to see the foibles of journalists with a light touch, but makes clear that that the media interprets as well as covers events.
The show isn't flawless. The choreography (Marc Kimelman) is only so-so. Part of this may be due to the difficulty of actors simulating triple axels, lutzes, and other gravity-defying ice-skating feats before our eyes. Okay, some of Tonya and Nancy's attempts at these intricate turns are intentionally clunky-looking, but even so, the choreography needs more definition and vamping up.
Unfortunately, this musical is already NYMF history. It was sold-out in its one-week run, with its last performance on July 16th. But who knows. This war of the skates might wing its way to another New York stage in the future. One can only hope.
At the PTC Performing Space. Running time: 95 minutes without an intermission.
Reviewed by Deirdre Donovan based on press performance of 07/15/15
Pope! An Epic Musical
The initial scene of Pope! An Epic Musical leads the audience to believe it's in for a rowdy satire of superhero comic books and action movies. As the protagonist (known simply as Pope), the talented Sam Bolen struts, preens, and postures through the opening chorus, flourishing his flowing white garments in a manner reminiscent of various caped crusaders from Superman to Mighty Mouse.
At moments during that first musical number,"The Ballad of Pope," it seems as though Bolen's irresistibly giddy Pope may defy gravity and soar over the audience like Peter Pan. What doesn't take flight, unfortunately, is Pope! An Epic Musical. The superhero theme, which might have served as commentary on the impact of Pope Francis's progressive influence during the two years since his election as Bishop of Rome, vanishes after the opening chorus — to be replaced by something far less interesting.
Pope! An Epic Musical is an improbable melodrama about an innocent (or, rather, clueless) zealot whose promising tenure at the Vatican is undone by the envy of a rival prelate (Ken Land). At the New York Musical Theater Festival through July 21st, Pope, written by Justin Moran (book and lyrics) and Christopher Pappas (music and additional lyrics), benefits from the tireless efforts of a winning cast, supervised with gusto by director Peter Flynn and choreographer Wendy Seyb.
Land, as the villainous archbishop who cooks up a phony scandal about Pope, Jason Edward Cook as the archbishop's winsome factotum, and Dylan S. Wallach, as an ambitious journalist who rushes to press without verifying the details of the scandal story, make evil appear to be great fun. Britney Coleman lends warmth, sensual appeal, and ample stage presence to Mary Elizabeth, the ingenue who would gladly distract Pope from his spiritual journey but ends up in the guerilla band of contemplative nuns that restores Pope to power at the Vatican. Jarid Faubel plays God as a naughty old man, suggesting that Heaven may be a domain of ribald hilarity.
The show offers a number of topical jokes that work and several ear-pleasing tunes. Overall, though, it has the artistic insouciance of an undergraduate frolic, assembled on the quick, to entertain campus visitors during Parents' Weekend.
Running Time: 90 Minutes, no intermission.
Reviewed by Charles Wright on July 16th. At PTC Performance Space 555 W. 42nd Street.
Claudio Quest currently on display at the New York Theatre Festival is subtitled"A Super New Musical." The story is set in the cartoonish world of a video game, a realm in which the consequences of players' choices are ostensibly sealed by meticulously programmed software.
Directed by John Tartaglia and choreographed by Shannon Lewis, Claudio Quest starts out as a good-hearted satire of electronic gaming and swiftly veers off in other, often shifting directions, as the principal characters violate the conventions of their video universe, challenging the game's internal logic and precipitating unforeseeable plot twists.
Drew Fornarola and Marshall Pailet, jointly responsible for the show's book, music, and lyrics, have brought to the proceedings a super-abundance of ideas, most of them extremely clever. Claudio (CJ Eldred), a handsome, strapping citizen of Eggplant Land, and his younger brother Luis (Ethan Slater) are trapped in an endless loop: in each round of their game (called, of course, Claudio Quest), a villainous platypus named Bruiser (Andre Ward) kidnaps the virtuous Princess Poinsettia (Lesley McKinnell), obligating the"super bros" to spring into action. Claudio, who's Player Number One, gets to perform all the heroic feats; Luis, as Player Number Two, carries his elder brother's backpack. The princesses of Eggplant Land, Poinsettia and her kid sister Fish (Lindsey Brett Carothers), are expected to be demure and decorative.
But things in Eggplant Land are soon out of kilter. Headstrong Princess Fish dons male attire and flees her father's castle to be third musketeer to Claudio and Luis. Bruiser introduces innovative video-game gremlins <&mdash> the handiwork of Michael Schupbach and his colleagues at Puppet Kitchen Productions — to thwart the heroic threesome. Claudio falls prey to substance abuse (the substance being moon juice, which seems to be the heroin of Eggplant Land). Before you can say"gad zooks," the monotonous order of the video-game universe is utterly disrupted.
In all that tumult, the superheroes of Eggplant Land struggle with a variety of existential issues; and, when Claudio is lost to video-game Elysium, the characters left behind are confronted with the terrors of mortality and loss.
Just as the authors appear to be getting lost in ponderous territory, Princesses Poinsettia and Fish commandeer center stage and Act Two becomes a girl-power romp, a spirited pastiche of Wicked and other shows of that ilk.
Tartaglia, Lewis, and the resourceful designers, Timothy R. Mackabee (sets), Leon Dobkowski (costumes), and Jennifer Schriever (lighting), give Claudio Quest a high gloss of professionalism that's rare on the summer-festival circuit. The eleven-member cast maintains a super-heroic level of energy; and the performers' effervescence goes a long way toward obscuring the libretto's disjuncture and lack of focus.
Eldred and McKinnell have ample stage presence and the vocal dexterity to carry off the operetta clich3s of their characters. Slater and Carothers are ideally matched as second fiddles unwilling to accept their places in the order of the video-game universe. Not long out of Vassar, Slater has the comic timing of an old pro. Carothers, who has toured in Wicked, belts and clowns with an appealing extravagance that risks going over the top but never does. The remaining seven actor-singers handle a variety of roles with comedic aplomb, execute some deft puppetry, and lend robust back-up for the principals when called upon for chorus duty.
There's a good deal of fun to be had here but, by the point in Act Two when the shade of Claudio returns to coach Luis in the art of super-heroics, a spectator can't be blamed for wishing that the visiting ghost had brought George Abbott back from the grave with him. For all its virtues, Claudio Quest could use a little of the structural surgery for which that esteemed show doctor was noted during the golden age of the American musical comedy.
Running Time: 2 hours which includes 1 intermission. Reviewed by Charles Wright on July 10th. At the Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre<
Links to past festivals we've covered:
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
|
