|
||||
|
||||
|
Friday, Sep 05, 2008
|
||||
|
|||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Fantasticks less than the sum of its parts |
||
 |
||
| Fantasticks less than the sum of its parts | ||
|
by Miryam Gordon -
SGN A&E Writer The Fantasticks Book and lyrics by Tom Jones, music by Harvey Schmidt Directed by Manual Cawaling Seattle Musical Theatre Through March 30 This is one of the old "feel-good" musicals and with a long history and many, many productions. It's a simple story about two fathers who contrive to get their children to fall in love by building a fence. They figure all they have to do is make the kids think they hate each other and the kids will disobey and fall in love. The kids do fall in love. But then, the wide world beckons and they start thinking that the bird in the hand is too tame. Of course, after some small amount of trials and tribulations, the world looks terrible and home is a great place to be. Cara Iverson as the "girl kid" Luisa and Caleb Todd as the "boy kid" Matt both have very good voices and seem to have good chemistry. They're a good match for each other. The two dads, Frank Kohel and Sean Shanahan, are old musical pros and do a great job, even with songs that are kind of old hat. There is a side story about an abductor-for-hire, El Gallo, played by Mok Moser, who is hired to pretend abduct Luisa, so that Matt can "save" her, and El Gallo hires a couple of tired theater troupers to help out. Loren Reynolds and Ben Cournoyer practically steal the show at their entrance. Moser is suitably handsome and suave as the dangerous-but-not-really abductor and handles the two signature songs nicely. There are "mutes" who stand in for dance narrators or best friends or alter egos, depending on where they appear in the script, and these are nicely danced by Ashley Fitzsimmons and William Schindler. The three-piece orchestra, led by Paul Linnes, provides solid accompaniment. Sound design works well from Luke Kehrwald, with the exception of the under-amplified singers (usually the problem is way too much amplification). The set design by Carl Bronsdon is a bright background with a great tree to climb, and works for the story well. So, after all the pieces are looked at individually - and everything looks and sounds pretty good - why was I so unsatisfied? I think it goes back to the director and choices that don't serve the production anymore. The musical was first written and performed in 1959. The main story was still probably older than the hills, but its sweetness and naiveté were welcome distractions to the crises of the world. Maybe at that time, it was meant to be taken somewhat seriously and romantically. Today, however, that approach just doesn't work. This production is almost reverential in its approach and the running prop of flowy fabric to represent water, the fence, ground, and other uses, is completely overdone. None of the songs are sung with any kind of wink or nod to its current absurdity or over-simplicity. The earnest approach saps much of the fun out. If treacle is your kind of dessert, you'll love this production. If you're happy to hear familiar musical songs sung with good voices, you'll like the production. If you're looking for a rousing production, this wouldn't be it. For more information, go to www.seattlemusicaltheatre.com or call 206-363-2809. Comments on reviews go to sgncritic@gmail.com. |
||
 |
||
|
|
||
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 post your own information onthe Seattle Gay Blog |
 |
copyright Seattle Gay News - DigitalTeamWorks 2007
USA Gay News American News American Gay News USA American Gay News United States American Lesbian News USA American Lesbian News United States USA News
USA Gay News American News American Gay News USA American Gay News United States American Lesbian News USA American Lesbian News United States USA News