|
||
|
Disclaimer:
The reviewers' opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of TheatreLouisville.org. |
Peer Reviews Little Colonel Players presents Reviewed by Cory Vaughn Entire contents are copyright © 2009 Cory Vaughn. All rights reserved.
I'd heard of I Do! I Do! before, and have a whistling acquaintance with one of the songs in it, but that was about the extent of my knowledge. I wasn't familiar with the Little Colonel Players, either, and didn't know what to expect. With no other production of I Do! I Do! to compare with the production which opened at the Little Colonel Playhouse in Peewee Valley Thursday night, I must conclude that, while it is ultimately not a very good musical, and certainly not an essential piece of the repertoire, the Little Colonel Players have done their best with it, and all things considered, their best is pretty darn good. The songs are by composer Harvey Schmidt and lyricist Tom Jones (no, not that Tom Jones), the team behind underappreciated masterpieces of 1960s musical theatre, both on Broadway (110 in the Shade) and off (The Fantasticks, the longest-running musical in history). No book writer is credited (indeed, there's not much of a book), but it's based on Jan de Hartog's one-set, two-character play The Fourposter and is a rather unsophisticated look at the fifty-year-marriage of mediocre novelist Michael (Bryce Blair, a fine Horton in Clarksville's Seussical earlier this season) and housewife Agnes (Carrie Cooke, a local rising star whose every performance I have managed to miss so far) from wedding day to retirement. The material is old-fashioned, particularly as seen through the prism of more recent musicals to touch on subjects like this, such as Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years and Richard Maltby, Jr. and David Shire's Baby. The score is not the best manifestation of Schmidt and Jones' partnership, although it has produced at least one hit that endures to this day, "My Cup Runneth Over", and Mr. Jones manages an occasional moment or two of invention in his lyrics, particularly during the marital-squabbling songs such as "Nobody's Perfect" and "It's a Well-Known Fact". There is also very little in the way of plot, no suspense (Thursday night's crowd seemed a bit restless at times), and a supremely superficial approach to character development on the part of the authors. For their part, Mr. Blair and Ms. Cooke hold up remarkably well. They're both entertaining, bringing as much personality as they can to characters without much of it. Ms. Cooke brings a lovely mezzo-soprano to the role as well. Mr. Blair, thankfully, has a much better relationship with pitch than the original Michael, Robert Preston, but he doesn't have Preston's low notes and taking certain songs up an octave doesn't help. My recommendation to the musical director is to transpose these numbers and spare Mr. Blair from the potential strain. I Do! I Do! is a pretty good fit for the tiny stage at the Little Colonel, with only the back wall and six or seven pieces of domestic furniture serving as the entire set and suggesting the couple's tiny newlywed apartment. However, there were moments when even this most intimate of musicals seemed a bit cramped, particularly with the Opening Night Dinner Theatre Crowd (as far as I know, dinner is not a part of the remaining performances). There is not much choreography to worry about in such close quarters, which is a blessing, but having the actors execute some of their blocking in the audience adds nothing of value to the proceedings and serves only as a potential trip hazard. With the exception of these few small miscalculations on the part of the director and the musical director, the debits in this production rest with the creators and not the licensers. I Do! I Do! makes for an enjoyable evening for the Little Colonel Players' audience, and a pleasant enough conclusion for their 52nd season. NOTE: Parking seemed to be at a bit of a premium at the Playhouse, and I was not the only one who ended up parking in the tall grass. If you go, you might want to get there early.
I Do! I Do! Thru May 18, 2009 Tickets: Starring: Bryce Blair and Carrie Cooke
Posted May 12, 2009
|
|