The Abominables at Children's Theatre Company

"Check it—
Can I be real a second?
For just a millisecond?
Let down my guard and tell the people how I feel a second?"
- Right Hand Man, Hamilton

About The Abominables at Children's Theatre Company ...

First of all, yay for new musicals! Hurrah for for the Children's Theatre Company for partnering with The Civilians, the fascinating NY-based "company that creates new theater from creative investigations into the most vital questions of the present" that brought us Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play and a host of other amazing sounding productions.

Secondly, but not secondarily, is the tragic passing of Michael Friedman, who wrote the music and lyrics for this show. Please read this lovely tribute to him by Sarah Larson at the New Yorker: 

"Michael Friedman, who died Saturday, at forty-one, was a brilliant and prolific composer and lyricist, a pianist, a thinker, a mile-a-minute talker, a gesticulator, a person who dazzled and could leave you dizzied—not just by his talent and intelligence but by his kindness and humanity, which were always at the forefront of his work."

With all that said, though, I wish I could give this show some love. But I need to be real (a second). I found this show really problematic.

Let's start at the very beginning. Here's the summary from the CTC website:

"Rink rats, hockey moms, tournament weekends and the quest to play your best – It’s tryout season in the Great State of Hockey! Mitch has always played on the A team for the Prairie Lake Blizzards – these are his guys – they've played together forever, but he's worried this could be the year he gets sent down to the B team. When a new “kid” appears at Bantam tryouts, things go from bad to worse. From the land of ice and nice comes the first Minnesota hockey musical! Will you love it? You betcha!"

Hockey! Musical! Minnesota-set! Fun fun, right? Not so much.

Mitch Munson (Henry Constable) has been practicing all summer for hockey tryouts, and convinces his friends to let him go out on the ice first, which, astonishingly enough, they do. He tries out but does not make the A team. A new family has moved to town with their yeti son, adopted from the Himalayas. (It turns out yetis are really good at hockey.) Harry, the yeti (Ryan Colbert), gets a spot on the A team, and Mitch gets a spot on the B team. Cue massive amounts of pouting and privilege from young Mitch, mostly at the expense of the new kid in town. Mitch does everything he can to try and bring Harry down, including finding his lost yeti parents, so they will take him away.

I've got two major concerns with this show.

The first is that the show is remarkably inconsistent and underwritten. Although the Civilians is notable for devising and creating their work as a group, Steve Cosson is credited as the writer.

We meet Mitch's parents, Ellen and Charlie (Autumn Ness and Reed Sigmund), but we learn almost nothing about them except that she is a hockey mom (who likes to drink and be an A team parent) and he--I don't know. Does he support Mitch? Is he a toxic sport parent? Does he think Mitch is a lousy hockey player? Does he have shattered dreams from his own sporting youth? We get a hint of that near the end of the play, but not when we need it--in the beginning.

Our "hero", Mitch, is severely undercharacterized. He has practiced all summer. That is all we know about him, and yet we are expected to sympathize with him and with the journey he takes (eventually) to being less of a brat (in theory). I got to be honest: When a young, white, male character is expected to earn our interest and affection merely by existing, I can't help but feel that the playwright is considering the white male character to be the neutral default (see Steven Epp in Refugia). Apart from that, the character is just a complete whiny little creep.

Oh, and Mitch has two younger sisters: Tracy (the always delightful Natalie Tran) and Lily (an engaging Valerie Wick), neither of whom gets nearly the attention that Mitch does, despite the fact that Tracy is a great hockey player. A particularly infuriating scene has Mitch breaking Tracy's trophy (which she was sharing with another player due to their excellent teamwork) with no repercussions whatsoever. It is never referred to again, nor is Tracy's admirable sportsmanship. Certainly not by the parents. A note: Having the script acknowledge that these characters get less attention does not get you a pass on shortchanging their stories. And when Lily gets lost in the snow because her parents have again ignored their daughters, she saves herself and others with intelligence and competence that literally no one even comments on.

Let's meet Mitch's arch-enemy, shall we? Harry the yeti (a delightful and poignant Ryan Colbert) and his parents (Bradley Greenwald and Elise Benson), as well as son Freddy (adorable and winning Alejandro Vega) have just moved to town so that Harry can play hockey and make friends. Wait, what? A yeti? Explain how.

APPARENTLY, Hank and Judy, mountain-climbers/television stars/authors/etc., were climbing in the Himalayas and found a young Yeti and took him home and named him Harry. Although we are told Hank and Judy are selfish, self-centered egotists, apparently they care enough about their son to bring him to Minnesota to play hockey and make friends.

And here's where everything gets just a little bit more complicated. Having recently seen The Sneetches at CTC, I know that children's theater often has deeper and more substantial themes than one might find at face value.

Hank and Judy are human, and Harry is a yeti. He is constantly referred to as "other" and especially so when Mitch takes so strongly against him and refers to his adopted status derisively. Even his parents consider him as "other" and highlight his differences from his human teammates. Part of Mitch's plan to get back on the A Team involves him contacting Harry's yeti parents, who come to town and accuse Hank and Judy of stealing their son.

Seriously, how can you not see this as a depiction of transracial adoption? Or at the very least, an incredibly problematic portrayal of adoption in general.

The yeti parents have no names. Hank and Judy are portrayed by white actors and their adopted son is portrayed by an actor of color. Stephanie Bertumen plays a variety of anonymous characters, with far less dialogue than her counterpart Doug Nethercott. And far more ridiculous wigs.

I truly don't know what to make of this musical. If it's truly a light-hearted hockey musical, it at least needs to tell us what these characters want and need. What drives them? What is our happy ending? Why can't we resolve a few problems? Why isn't it more fun? If it's something more serious, then tackle those issues. I literally think the writer did not consider the implications of portraying adoption and certainly transracial adoption in this way. But that's no excuse, especially for the Children's Theatre, which generally does pay attention to issues like these.

One last note: CTC does have a content advisory page for the play, and it includes this statement:

Special note: This production contains potentially triggering situations surrounding adoption. If you and/or your child have adoptive experiences, please contact the ticket office...

That doesn't seem to be enough. Putting together new work is hard, but especially when creating a new play for and about children, I'd hope that the creative team would be on the lookout for problems like these.

tot: THE UNTOLD, YET SPECTACULAR STORY OF (a filipino) HULK HOGAN - Mu Performing Arts at Boss Thrust Stage / Park Square

Photo: Keri Pickett

Wow - what a long title! Mu Performing Arts is celebrating the 50th World Premiere with this work, as well as helping to celebrate 50 years of Asian American Theater.  In 1965 the East West Players was founded in Los Angeles. It started as a place where Asian American actors could explore parts outside of the stereotypes that were prevalent in the 1960's Hollywood. This theater company ended up becoming a major player in Asian American Theater along with Seattle's Theatrical Ensemble of Asians, San Francisco's Asian American Theatre Company, and Pan Asian Repertory Theatre in New York City. Mu Performing Arts has continued the work that these four companies has started.

tot: THE UNTOLD, YET SPECTACULAR STORY OF (a filipino) HULK HOGAN is the latest of 50 World Premieres that Mu Performing Arts has produced, as well as being the final production of this season. It is the first full-length play by Victor Maog, and is directed by Artistic Director Randy Reyes. It tells the story of a young boy who travels from the Marcos-era Philippines to the San Francisco Bay Area to meet his long lost parents. He travels from a country full of strife and military rule only to find himself in America, lonely, hiding in his bedroom and conjuring a pro wrestling fantasy to escape his new life.

Photo: Keri Pickett

The work sounds fascinating on paper, and was interesting to watch on stage. The raised stage is set as a Wrestling Arena, with a single rope surrounding all four sides, audience on all four sides, and a sunken space in the middle of the stage. Lights are set under the two steps leading up to the top level. The action starts with tot (Randy Reyes) talking to his lola - grandmother (Mary Ann Prado) about wanting to see his parents, while at the same time not wanting to leave his home and all his friends. Quite a bit of the dialogue during this time is in a patois mix of English, Spanish, and Tagalog (I think - there is no information, nor translation provided). He asks at this time, and often through out the show, why his parents left him in the Philippines, and why he has to go to America. When he arrives in America, he finds that his parents Hope Nordquist, and Eric "Pogi" Sumangil) are not as he had expected or hoped. He also has to contend with a new sister (Stephanie Bertumen - Reyes's actual sister). The parents disagree often, and seem to have little regard for the bullying that tot deals with at school and in the neighborhood. tot falls in to his imagination and creates a pro wrestling fantasy to help him escape his troubles. These fantasies are filled with Mother Superior (Prado), The Dame (Nordquist), The American Dream (Bertumen), The Announcer (Sumangil), and the hero - The Orbiter (Torsten Johnson). Michelle De Joya and Kyle Legacion fill out the rest of the cast playing the chorus, as well as two "ring announcers" who carry signs around the ring telling the audience where the scene is set and/or what it is about.

Photo: Keri Pickett

The cast, and the performances are solid and good. All the various characters are singular and distinct. It is interesting to watch the various relationships and see how they play out. The difficulties I had were mainly with the script. When the wrestling aspects began it was not clear that these were fantasies, or something that the father in America was working on as he also played the announcer. I also didn't see the character of tot changing or growing during the show until the resolution at the end when they show him as a grown-up. The character, as I saw it, remained as a child - petulant, self-absorbed, and not worrying about who he may hurt when he fights with his sister, or wrestles with her. Towards the end of the work there is an extended scene of domestic abuse that I found very troublesome to watch - to the point where I turned away. So, let this be a trigger warning to some of you. The director's notes state that tot explores "immigration, imagination, domestic violence, the American dream, bullying, and misogyny, all through the theatrically violent professional wrestling world." I felt that the showed all these things but didn't go much deeper. Though thinking back I could see where some of the "wrestling" moments could be understood as a metaphor for what tot was going through - but it wasn't clear to me.

I think work like this is important. All of our stories should be told and shared on the stage. I love that Mu Performing Arts is here in the Twin Cities providing a different perspective, while also being a big part of our community here. While I may not have liked this show, I still am looking forward to seeing more of their work.

A Night with Janis Joplin - Ordway

Photo by Joan Marcus

If you are looking for a night of fantastic songs from a bygone era, an amazing band and electrifying vocals, look no further than "A Night with Janis Joplin" playing at the Ordway through April 3rd. The whole evening is set up as a concert with Janis Joplin - played by the 2014 Tony Award nominee Mary Bridget Davies. It does not disappoint (unless you are looking for a traditional book musical.)

The show starts a bit slow (at it did least on opening night), but I think that is mainly because it is a bit out of the ordinary for the traditional theater-going crowd. Once Davies lets loose, she is a force to be reckoned with and she got the audience on her side, to the point of more than one mid-show standing ovation. The audience was not huge, but they were enthusiastic, and were screaming for more. More than that, the excitement felt organic and not forced. It didn't feel like "the band wants us to clap so we'll clap," nor did it feel like "we just got permission to scream in the theater, so let's do it." What it felt like was the audience wanted to clap, scream and get moving but needed a bit of guidance from the stage before letting loose. And once they let loose, the energy of the room shifted. It was great! I can only imagine the energy that would have been in a full house, or a smaller room.

Photo by Joan Marcus

The other great thing is that this was a strong female cast of amazing voices! The show is not Beautiful in that it doesn't tell the story of Janis Joplin and her life. In fact, it is a bit cleaned up and family friendly. Yes, there is swearing however there is no mention of the drug use that eventually killed Janis at the age of 27 in 1970.

What the show does is give you an audience with Janis so that you can hear a bit of her life, and her influences. It was great seeing Etta James (Tawny Dolley), Bessie Smith, Odetta (both played by Cicily Daniels), Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone (both played by Q. Smith), and a character simply named Blues Singer (the amazing Jennifer Leigh Warren). All of these characters had some influence on what Janis sang and her connection to the blues. Hearing these women, these icons of song sing...then hearing Janis's version of those same songs was fantastic. The ensemble was terrific and so versatile as they also sang some back-up vocals for Janis, and Aretha. The band was incredible as well. It was an all male band (as was Big Brother and the Holding Company) and they sounded and looked the part.

Photo by Joan Marcus

The set was simple and effective. The costumes that made the ensemble into the icons were fantastic, and Ms Davies had the look, mannerisms and the voice of Janis Joplin down to a T. Honestly, there were times that were spine-tingling because I felt I was transported back to seeing Janis live and in person (especially with the projections behind the band - totally trippy and 60's and perfect!) And if that is the experience you want, then you get your butt down to the Ordway and you have it. You will hear all the Janis songs that you want to hear, and more.

PS: I just found out that Janis played once here in the Twin Cities. She played at the Guthrie Theater on August 18, 1968. I can't imagine her at the Guthrie.

co-written - Jules, KRL

The Story of Crow Boy - In The Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre

Crow Boy, now on stage at In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre (HOBT), is a fascinating depiction of a inspiring, talented artist and a feast for the eyes.

Crow Boy, conceived and created by Steven Epp, Masanari Kawahara, Sandy Spieler, and Momoko Tanno, is the story of Japanese artist Taro Yashima, a Caldecott Award-winning artist. Although early scenes of Taro's childhood are clever and endearing, as he ages, his story soon becomes more complex and at times, difficult to watch. He and his wife spoke up against war and the increasing militarization of Japan and were imprisoned under truly deplorable circumstances. In 1939, he and his wife traveled to New York, leaving their young son behind in the care of family, where he became a successful artist and children's book author, eventually reuniting with their son.

Rehearsal photo by Bruce Silcox

The show begins as Taro (Masanari Kawahara) comes on stage, bows deeply towards the audience and says "今晩輪、私の名前わ八島太郎です." Luckily, Steve Ackerman is soon beckoned on stage and starts to translate. The show continues in both Japanese and English. For those of us who understand both, it was very enjoyable, and the dual languages worked equally well for those who don't speak Japanese.

The beauty of Crow Boy is in its intriguing subject and its gorgeous, ingenious scenic design. The story plays out through the use of puppets, shadow play, music and minimalist set. The stage is mostly bare, apart from a simple long table that serves as a drawing table, a representation of the Pacific Ocean, a puppet theater, and even a prison cell. The stage is lined with full shoji panels along the back and sides. The shoji allow for marvelous shadow play, as well as creating the link that runs through the piece to paper and books. The shoji are used as a space to project simple line drawings, representations of Taro's art, and photographs establishing setting. The set is amazingly versatile and beautifully used.

Rehearsal photo by Bruce Silcox

Crow Boy is filled with unforgettable vignettes: endearing childhood moments such as Taro's father tucking him into bed in a book; romantic interludes as Taro meets his wife Mitsu while painting; times of anguish as Mitsu sings of worry about her child (as Mitsu, Momoko Tanno has an utterly gorgeous voice), and moments of pure wonder (such as the very end puppet appearance—no spoilers given!). And toward the end, Taro and Steve tell us the story of Crow Boy (one of Taro's children's books), complete with an ingenious, oversized pop-up book. While they are telling the story, Momoko is sitting on the side of the stage playing a Japanese shamisen, a traditional Japanese three-stringed lute and singing. Again, her voice is just exquisite.

At ninety minutes with no intermission, the story still moves along in a slow, contemplative fashion. Some scenes go on to almost agonizing lengths, such as the prison and torture scenes. Although, the website states that the show is appropriate for ages 11 and up, I'd hesitate at bringing a child—I found the torture scenes hard to endure. Also, the show uses cast members beating on pans, bottles, drums and rainsticks to underscore the action. At times, the instruments were mercilessly loud—successfully creating tension and fear, but nonetheless a bit painful to hear.

Rehearsal photo by Bruce Silcox

In addition to the terrific additional material (and bibliography) about Taro Yashima in the program, HOBT has a wonderful lobby display showing Taro's work, copies of his award-winning children's books, and even Sandy Spieler's own signed copy of Taro's autobiography. After seeing this imaginative, engaging show, I definitely wanted to find out more about this amazing artist. And anytime I leave a show wanting to find out more about the subject and wanting to return soon to the theater, I consider that a success.

(co-written by KRL and Carly)

2 Gents, 1 Jungle - The Two Gentlemen of Verona at the Jungle Theater

With a few caveats, I am slowly falling in love with the Jungle Theater. While this is only the second show I have seen there, The Two Gentlemen of Verona was a thoroughly enjoyable evening of theater. I was there the 2nd night of performances and the house was full. Lucky for me I happened to be sitting in what appeared to be the 'theater section' - Craig Johnson sitting behind me, Matt Sciple next to me and many others down the row. The house was in a great mood for a Saturday night and ready for a great time.

L-R:  Valentine (Mo Perry) and Sylvia (Lenne Klingaman)

Photo Credit: Heidi Bohnenkamp

Sarah Rasmussen's production did not disappoint. This production was originally produced at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2014 where it was the first all-female Shakespeare in that theater's history. The Jungle production was adapted from that OSF production and maintained the all-female cast. The story, in brief, is this. Valentine (Mo Perry) and Proteus (Christiana Clark) are best friends. Proteus is in love with Julia (Maggie Chestovich), and she with him. Valentine is sent to the court of Milan, and after making a promise of true love with Julia, Proteus follows him. When Proteus arrives in Milan he discovers that Valentine is in love with Sylvia (Lenne Klingaman) - and soon Proteus follows his lead. In fact, Proteus tells the Duke of Milan (George Keller) that Valentine and Sylvia are running away. The Duke banishes Valentine, Julia shows up in Milan in disguise as a man, and...go see the show. Some of these amazing actors play multiple roles - George Keller, for example, plays the Duke as well as the comic relief character of Launce. Her dog Bear also plays Launce's animal companion Crab...and he played it perfectly! Also on stage are such Twin City Theater legends as Barbara Kingsley and Wendy Lehr.

The casting was perfect. Each actor was spot on, finding the true emotions and humor of the show. The language and text was clear (which can be tough for Shakespeare at times). Julia comes across as very young and childish in the first act - a bit whiny, and overdramatic. However when she comes to Act II in disguise, she nails the new "character" so well. It was great seeing an actress play both sides of a character so clearly and so honestly. Honestly, I felt the same way for the full cast - fantastic.

The set is a nice open stage with onstage seating on the sides. The front of the stage has steps down both sides of the center section, a green topiary on each side, along with a lamp above the topiaries. The back of the stage has a wide door across the center which is open at times to change scenes, along with an entrance door on one side. There are trees on each side of the wide door, and a bench. One of the trees is designed perfect for climbing to an upper level that is set across the top back of the stage. The whole set by Andrew Boyce is in a pale pink, and is gorgeously lit by Barry Browning. The costumes are mainly white and black, though Julia has some color to her dress and the costumes in Milan are gorgeously colored. Great work by Morie Sine Clinton, and great wigs by Laura Adams. Though the show is 2 hours and 20 min, with a 20 min intermission - it never felt that way. The pace was fast and created a very entertaining evening.

Last Chance - Forget Me Not When Far Away at TTT

Forget Me Not When Far Away is the latest work in playwright Kira Obolensky's residency with Ten Thousand Things Theater.

As the play begins, an unnamed country has been at war for ten years, and in a town far from the fighting, all of the men are long gone. The women have learned to keep the town running, from bartending to dentistry to petty government bureaucracy. As the women are going about their daily business, including a reading of the latest casualties of the war, a man limps into town.

Dressed in fatigues and looking exhausted, John Ploughman (Ron Menzel) is returning to a place much changed in the years he has been gone. He finds that he has been reported dead, and sets out to resolve that issue while searching for a woman he treated badly before he left.

There's really not much to the story itself, but it's a fascinating tale of the after-effects of long-term war. It's also very funny, due in large part to the five women who play more than 20 characters. Highlights include Shá Cage as a woman who sets her sights on her former classmate John, Karen Wiese-Thompson as a dentist, Annie Enneking as a government functionary, Sun Mee Chomet as the woman John left behind, and Elise Langer as Atlas, the son John didn't know he had. Menzel does a great job interacting with all of these sometimes-extreme characters and hinting at a deeper level of his own character.

Ron Menzel with Elise Langer as Atlas.
(Paula Fuller/Star Tribune)

Everyone in this show is terrific! Every one of the multiple characters has a distinct personality and outlook, along with a look created with minimal costume changes and an array of wonderfully terrible wigs. Normally, I'm a fan of realistic wigs (shout out to Penumbra Theater for the wonderful wigs in By the Way, Meet Vera Stark and Detroit '67.) Given Ten Thousand Things' minimalist aesthetic, 20-some realistic wigs are not an option, and going in the exact opposite direction fits this play perfectly.

Forget Me Not When Far Away does everything a good play should do. It elicits laughs and sincere emotions through exaggerated but recognizable characterizations. Obolensky's script, under Michelle Hensley's sure direction, is a wonderful example of the work that can come out of long-term residencies, and helps to explain why so many playwrights call the Twin Cities home. You can still catch this show through May 31 at Open Book. See it if you can. Which is advice I'd give about anything this company puts on.

Side note from Carly (other contributor) to TTT: I NEED a copy of the picture of Atlas that was on his mother's desk.  It still makes me laugh to think of that dang picture, and it's been weeks since we saw the show.

The World Goes 'Round at the Jungle: Race, Revues and Reverb

Waiting in the Jungle Theater lobby for the house to open at The World Goes 'Round*, I overheard two patrons discussing changes in the local theater scene, including Sarah Bellamy's becoming the artistic director at Penumbra Theatre. And this is what they said: "She's so light-skinned--you'd never guess she was ... (slightly lower tones) African-American." Really.

Issues of race and racial equity are in the forefront of every sphere of life and culture right now. MPR's Marianne Combs recently hosted a fascinating discussion with Randy Reyes of Mu Performing Arts, Toni Pierce-Sands of TU Dance, and C. Michael-jon Pease of Park Square Theatre about the future of diversity (racial and cultural) in Minnesota arts and how to bring people of color into theater audiences. Ten Thousand Things Theater's Ambassador Program works specifically to bring in audiences of color to their paid shows.

With issues like this in mind, I tend to scan theater audiences for their demographic make-up and seeing how well people of color are represented in the audience. As many audiences at shows I attend are primarily older, and pretty darn white, I love to see an audience with representation across the board. For example, I was so pleased by how racially (and age) diverse the audience was at The Color Purple at Park Square Theatre. #Representation rocks.

And representation rocks not only in the audience, but on stage as well. One of the reasons it was so great to see a racially diverse audience at The Color Purple was that the stage was filled with fabulous actors of diverse racial backgrounds. There's something about an all-white audience viewing a show made up of actors of color (particularly singing) that smacks of white privilege and makes me uncomfortable. What can I say? These issues are challenging, sensitive and very personal.

The World Goes 'Round (at the Jungle Theater now through May 24), a revue of the songs of John Kander and Fred Ebb, was conceived by Scott Ellis, Susan Stroman and David Thompson and originally performed in the early 1990s.

It's hard to look at the Jungle's production of this show, which is a revue and contains material from twenty-six years of musical collaboration, and not see any representation by actors (or musicians) of color. The band is made up of seven white men, and the cast of three men and four women is uniformly white.

(Side note: I just fell down an internet rabbit hole while looking up race-blind/color-blind casting. Several hours later, I'm back. Whew. Be sure to look into August Wilson's thoughts on the matter.)

There's nothing wrong with an all-white cast, but when so many perceived barriers to non-traditional casting involve the 'jarring departure from reality' of casting siblings of different races or casting actors of color in positions of power in historical times, shouldn't a revue be easy to cast with at least a little non-traditionality?  I'm hoping Lin-Manuel Miranda's critically praised and wildly successful musical Hamilton, in New York now and transferring soon to Broadway, will help pound a nail in the coffin of those arguments to diverse casting.

Can we also talk about revues? Many revues create a narrative that creates a framework for the songs (such as the wonderful I Love a Piano, staged in 1996 at the Ordway Center), some simply group the songs by theme or era. Chris Caggiano of Everything I Know I Learned on Broadway expresses the challenges of the revue beautifully in his review of Ten Cents a Dance:

The songbook revue is both the easiest and the hardest type of theatrical show to pull off. "Easiest" because you seemingly just throw together a bunch of songs and let the audience revel in waves of nostalgia. "Hardest" because, if you don't want the audience tuning out after the first few numbers, you need to come up with some kind of through line or production concept to hold people's attention.

Yes.  And a revue plucks the song from its context in its musical and asks the performers to sell a story through that song.  If you'd like to see the revue done beautifully, don't miss the Broadway Songbook series at the Ordway. Hosted by James A. Rocco and written by James A. Rocco and Jeffrey P. Scott, the Songbook focuses on a songwriting team, an era or a particular style. Featuring a revolving cast of talented performers (including performers of color), the cast sells the hell out of the songs. Next up is Broadway Songbook: Rock & Roll on Broadway (April 17-18). With their great affection for the genre and amazing performers, these shows are necessary viewing for any musical theater fan.

But back to the show at hand ...

I've listened to the 1991 Original Cast recording of And the World Goes Round (which features five actors including Karen Ziemba, Jim Walton, and Brenda Pressley--who happens to be an actor of color), and despite the best intentions and talent, I don't think it's a very successful show. Starting with an overwrought "The World Goes 'Round" from New York, New York, moving on to a frenetic "Coffee in a Cardboard Cup" from 70, Girls, 70, this revue maintains an exhausting heightened emotional state. It's all hills and no valleys. The new arrangement of "Cabaret" (think Manhattan Transfer on the Lawrence Welk Show) and the closing version of "New York, New York" (sung in a number of languages) just don't work for me.

With all this said, the cast of the Jungle Theater production performed gamely and with great commitment. They worked hard to sell the songs, and I wish the show had served them better, particularly Bradley Greenwald (impeccable as always) and Emily Rose Skinner (a great comedienne who made the most of the intimacy of the Jungle).

But there's no way around this: the show is way too loud. The on-stage band is miked, the performers have both body mikes and handheld mikes (with obvious sweetening), and it is LOUD. The sound, combined with the unnerving tendency for the performers to aim over the audience's head to balconies that don't actually exist, made me feel that the show was staged for a much larger venue. (Say, Bloomington Civic Theater?) One of the things that I have always loved best about the Jungle is its warm intimacy, and it's a shame to be blasted out of that lovely space.

I wonder if the loudness of the show (and the revue format) contributed to one of the strangest experiences I've had in the theater. After each number, audience members (a few--let's not get crazy) whistled shrilly (as if they were at a rock concert), and if a cast member did some sort of move, there was woooooooo-ing. It was really odd, and perhaps contributed to the actors' energy and intensity being turned up to eleven. Possibly twelve.

* So what's the actual title?  The program reads "And the World Goes Round", while the website lists the show as "The World Goes 'Round." According to Peter Filichia at MTI, the surviving creators prefer the latter, and that's how MTI licenses it.  So that's what I'm calling it!