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Sunday, Oct 12, 2008
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Love is in the air in Issaquah |
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| Love is in the air in Issaquah | ||
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by Miryam Gordon -
SGN A&E Writer Love is Love by Martin Charnin and Richard Gray Village Theatre Originals through Sunday, December 16 New musicals are tender shoots and need a lot of care and pruning. Love is Love has been going through just such a process. The new musical focuses on the different aspects of love, including the fun, passion and frustration. As such, it's a big topic. The current production is more of a full staging than what might have been seen early in the year. The set and costumes are more sophisticated and the background projection of "captions" throughout the show is more refined. Having seen an earlier venture, I can state that it's improving in all the right directions, which is really lovely. What I remembered of the early production was that the second act was kind of grim, focused on some really painful aspects, and didn't seem to know what it was supposed to say about love. This second act has some brand new and very funny numbers that are extremely topical and up-to-date. Four actress/singers (Shelly Burch, Ann Evans, Charity Parenzini and Maggie Stenson) grace the stage and tell a series of stories through either song or speech. Each one is a strong presence, has a great singing voice, and is a tremendous actress. So, you can sit back and relax and watch true professionals work. The spoken-word pieces are all written for the show by accomplished writers. Each can be judged on its own merits. All the pieces are well written, but some work better than others out loud. The original songs are crisper, snappier and more focused than my memory of the earlier iteration. You'll cover the gamut of love connections: adoption of a child, new love, marriage on the rocks, frustrations of new parents, husbands that help and husbands that don't. If one topic bugs ya, it'll pass and maybe you'll like the next one. It's a simply produced show with modern multimedia helping display the jokes. Costumes are sleek, solid colors; props are minimal; set design is a few see-through plastic chairs and stools. The focus is on the performer and the song or story. It's not revolutionary and doesn't educate one on love's aspects, but everyone everywhere has felt at least one, if not many, of the sentiments expressed, at some point. So, it feels familiar and real. It's a lovely show and while it might not be up to taking Broadway by storm, it's fun and classy entertainment. For more information, go to www.villagetheatre.org or call (425) 392-2202. Comments on reviews go to sgncritic@gmail.com. |
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