13, The
Musical by Jason
Robert Brown (music and lyrics) and Dan Elish and Robert Horn (book) is the
story of a 12-year-old New York City boy (Evan) who's preparing for
his Bar Mitzvah while hisparents are preparing for divorce. Due to
the circumstances, Evan and his mother are forced to move
to an Indiana suburb. While adjusting to life in a predominately
Christian 'burb, he's also trying to make new friends who will attend his
Bar Mitzvah. The problem is -- will he settle for only inviting his unpopular new
friends or try to impress the cool kids to attend?
13, The
Musical has a
simple story that's been told before, but it's pure FUN with an
infectious Top 40 style score. The all-teen cast provides a
great opportunity for parents to introduce theater to 'tweens and young
teens alike. But, don't worry parents — there are plenty
of gags and jokes for both the young and the young at heart to enjoy!
Director Nick
D'Argenio has assembled an extremely talented group of teens — Amanda
DeFilippis (Kendra), Branden Fletcher (Richie), Karalyn Joseph (Patrice), Katie
Loftus (Cassie), Kyra McKillip (Charlotte), Wyatt McManus (Eddie), Lyndie Moe
(Lucy), Nolan Moss (Simon), Gianni Palmarini (Evan), Felipe Rocha (Brett), Will
Rotsch (Archie), Evelyn Schiavone (Molly), and Jacob Tracey (Malcolm) — and
gives all of them the opportunity to take center stage and shine.
Palmarini is
an exceptional performer who perfectly conveys Evan's conflicted feelings of
wanting to fit in with the in-crowd, but yet wanting to remain loyal to his
underdog friends (Patrice and Archie). Palmarini is a true triple threat, commanding
the stage but never upstaging his fellow cast members. Joseph as Evan's outcast
friend Patrice captures the strengths and insecurities of the character. She's
working on having a friendship with Evan, but doesn't let down her guard or
sacrifice her own convictions in the process. Rotsch as the terminally ill, yet
confident underdog, Archie is hysterical, especially during the number
"Terminal Illness" when he comically uses his illness to convince
Evan's mother to purchase tickets for an R-rated horror movie for the
protagonist's popular friends.
Although the
cast has a scaled-down set for its performance, the boisterous
choreography by Tommy Fisher-Klein keeps the show flowing. Mr.
Fisher-Klein merges current dance steps with flips and other acrobatic moves
that delight the audience. With musical direction by Anthony Vitalo, 13,
The Musical's infectious score will have you smiling and wishing you were
13 again!
13, The
Musical runs
through February 2, at the Wilmington Drama League. Visit Wilmingtondramaleague.org or
call 302.764.1172 for additional information and tickets.
We were drawn to the Wilmington
Drama League by the intrigue of what a pal described as “…an adult version of
Sesame Street.” How could we pass that up?
Avenue Q: The Musical — book by Jeff Whitty and music and
lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx — opened off-Broadway in March 2003 and
subsequently won Tony® Awards for Best Musical, Best Score and Best Book. In short, it’s the story of a
dysfunctional mix of people and puppets who whine, curse, say racist things,
drink, surf the ‘Net for porn, and have puppet sex. But it’s also a tale of friendship, community,
relationships and the love that holds it all together. Welcome to Avenue Q, a place where humans
and puppets live in hilarious harmony and Gary Coleman — yes, Gary Coleman — is
the building Super.
As the show begins, we meet Princeton (played splendidly by
Jason Tokarski, who gives the puppet a boyish, naïve charm), a recent college
grad who moves to the big city. Since he’s an English major without a
job, he can’t afford to live anywhere but the apartments on Avenue Q. Here, meets his new “family” — an
entertaining array of human and puppet neighbors including Brian (Shawn Kline) and
Christmas Eve, his Asian-American therapist fiancée (Suzanne J. Stein);
roommates Rod and Nicky (Ernie-and-Bert types played by Jim Burns and
Anthony Vitalo, respectively); Trekkie Monster (Nick D’Argenio) and his
friend-maybe-more Kate Monster (no relation to Trekkie; not all monsters are
related…what are you, racist?). Their lives' complexities ensue, as they all try to find their ‘purposes’ in life.
Kate Monster (Regina Dzielak) is a gentle, compassionate
creature that longs for career success, to fulfill her dreams and to find love.
Dzielak plays her with humor and vulnerability, her voice sweet and lovely as
she sings about Princeton’s “Mix Tape” and the place between friendship and
love in “There’s a Fine, Fine Line.”
There were highlights aplenty for me,
including Burns’ role as Rod, the impossibly-uptight-possibly-gay-Republican
roomie to Vitalo’s Nicky. Burns’ performance — especially in “If You Were Gay”
and “My Girlfriend, Who Lives in Canada” — was ROFL funny. Also delivering side-splitting laughs is
Nick D’Argenio as Trekkie Monster, with inappropriate interjections and
his performance in “The Internet is for Porn.” He’s every guy’s guy in a Cookie Monster form. And, stealing more than one scene are Katie Brady and Chrissy Stief as the Bad Idea Bears — they’re cute,
they're cuddly, they’re pure evil and they’re funny as hell.
Tommy Fisher-Klein has a solid comedic performance as “Gary
Coleman,” sliding in and out of scenes with quick-witted jabs and
reactions that make you laugh out loud. He gives us another highlight
(and set-up to the aforementioned puppet sex) with “You Can Be as Loud as the
Hell You Want (When You’re Making Love).” The entire scene had the audience
hooting.
As mentioned, the cast is a mix of real-life
actors and actors, dressed in black to minimize “obstruction,” maneuvering
large-scale hand puppets. At
times, it was a bit challenging for me to shift between watching the puppets
versus the actors themselves. However,
the performer who made it most seamless was Shelli Ezold as Lucy the
Slut. Ezold does an incredible job
in her movement and manner, placing your focus on Lucy’s, um, assets while
delivering a power-packed sexpot of a character with her gorgeous, sultry
voice.
Directed by Wayne Meadows, the show is accented with “Sesame-like”
multimedia features, as well as fun audience interaction, and I was pleased to
see that Meadows chose a live orchestra for music. The first act moves quickly with the most raucous songs and activity; the second act is a bit slower but still enjoyable. We sat in the front center row, but I don’t
recommend it for everyone…I think the sightlines are a bit better further back
in the theater. (Although you’ll miss getting picked on by the cast, which was
a riot.)
While I don’t necessarily wish I lived on Avenue Q, I
absolutely loved visiting with its quirky residents, who made me glad that
my life doesn’t suck as much as theirs.
Decide for yourself — the show runs through October 6!
See wilmingtondramaleague.org.