Article published Apr 10, 2008
HONK! is a delight thanks to Seacoast Rep
We're all peas in a pod,
…why must I be so odd?
Sit tight on your Lilly Pad,
It will pass, that silly fad.
Warts
and all, the happy-go- lucky bullfrog sings his pearls of perspective.
The ugly duckling in all of us is set free and the picky, plucky,
barnyard status quo eats a little crow.
HONK! Presented by the
Seacoast Repertory's Youth Mainstage (through April 20) is a
delightful, colorful and meaningful musical comedy, perfect for
children and their caretakers.
With stunning stagecraft,
strong leads and professional direction, The Rep proves why it is the
destination of choice for budding thespians and remains one of the best
choices this spring for family theater.
Based on Hans Christian
Anderson's 1843 fairy tale (sometimes thought to be his autobiography)
HONK! won the Olivier Award for Best New Musical in 2000, beating out
The Lion King. The Olivier Award, named for Sir Laurence Olivier, is
England's version of the American Tony.
In an appeal to the
pun and fun-loving, contemporary theater crowd, HONK! kicks the story
of the Ugly Duckling up the proverbial notch. Less than subtle themes
of tolerance, child/parent relations, and love thy neighbor allow for
exploration self-acceptance, discovery and leadership.
It
doesn't take you long to recognize there is more than glue and safety
pins holding the show together. A living, thriving barnyard with
prairie grass that blows in the wind and a sun that shimmers overhead
by set design guru Tim Baumgartener and lighting designer Michael
Condon, welcome you to life overlooking the pond.
No detail
has been overlooked in the costume department either. From froglets to
fishies, a tom cat, top-gun goslings and a hob-gobbling turkey, costume
designer Lisa Forsley has raised the bar on Seacoast guise.
Director
Lindsey Nelson has channeled song, dance and magic into the most
notable element of this production; the sustained and consistent talent
of the performers.
From supporting cast characters like little
Nash Tasker (baby chick Billy), Miles Burns (Bullfrog) and Curran
Russell (Turkey) to Annie Munch (Ida), Jeremy Asher (Cat understudy)
and Randy Blake (Ugly) every one has their own well-developed
character, set of idiosyncrasies and impeccable timing. Munch and Blake
are gifted singers as well.
The "don't miss" scenes and songs
are numerous. The Hatching, The Joy of Motherhood, Different, Every
Tear a Mother Cries, Together and Warts and All are tops. The Blizzard
scene, while hauntingly beautiful needs more energy and The Wild Goose
Chase, while exceptionally humorous and well-choreographed, needs more
punch to achieve its necessary and intended climactic impact.
The
five-year-old girl who sat next to me thought there were a lot of sad
songs, at least compared to The Little Mermaid. The six and seven year
old boys across the aisle however howled at the bullfrog, turkey and
evil feline's kitty-kat-snack-shack.
Either way, this old-lady
critic noted all the children, whether six or sixty, were engrossed in
the show in its entirety. Nary a toddler lost focus. And the first act
was an hour and fifteen minutes long.
If old Aesop were
wandering around the Seacoast I'm certain he would stop at the Rep to
jump-start his heart. For HONK!'s moral is one children may not hear
enough these days. With love in our hearts we can always find the
beautiful swan within.
The fact the carnivorous cat is sent off to the Betty Fur clinic settles the scripts unfinished business, too.
Open
to all ages, the Youth Rep workshops offer performers involvement in a
complete rehearsal/ performance process from audition to opening night.
For information contact the The Seacoast Repertory Theatre at 125 Bow
Street, Portsmouth.
Tickets for HONK! ($18) are available by calling 433-4472 or online at seacoastrep.org
(Critiquing Joelle by the AI judges):
Randy Jackson: Yo dawg....you worked it out!! Yo, that was HOT!!!
Paula Abdul-Jabar: You look beautiful tonight. Your voice is great and your colors shined through. Even the voices in my head loved it!
Simon Cowell: LOVED IT!
Posted by: Wendy | April 12, 2008 at 07:30 PM