Jesse Caldwell and Marissa Joy Ganz
Sleeping Cutie:A Fractured Fairy Tale Musical. Music by Doug Katsaros .Lyrics and book by Diane Sampson.Directed by Cindy Goldfield.Music Direction by David Aaron Brown. Off a Cliff ProductionsSponsored by Playground @ Thick House – 1695 18th St. (Between Arkansas & Carolina Streets), San Francisco, CA 94107 Tickets: www.sleepingcutiemusicaltix.comor 415- 992-6677World Premiere – Limited Engagement –April 17 – May 11, 2014
EXTENDED THROUGH MAY 21, 2014
SLEEPING CUTIE almost ready for prime time. [Rating:3] (3 of 5 stars)
PlayGround is the Bay Area’s incubator for new playwrights and this 18th year of supporting fledgling writers is their most ambitious. They have elected to begin with a world premiere musical commissioned and supported by the New Play Production Fund. The play began as a ten minute Monday night reading in 2012 and is now a full length two act barrel of fun receiving its world premiere at the intimate Thick House. Although it provides a fun evening there is much to be done before it is ready for the road.
It is a very clever but hardly original concept that is outlined in a sprightly opening number “What it Isn’t” by the seven member cast and three man onstage band. It is a fairy tale with “action in a modern vein”, “not big or fancy”, and “no orchestra and no pit” because the “stage is too small.” Diane Sampson’s lyrics fit the eclectic music with an occasional banal rhyme earning a chuckling groan.
The promise of the rousing opening number is lost with Marissa Joy Ganz’s rendition of “Drummer Queen” a witty patter song listing the names of notable former drummers. Those names are unintelligible and Ganz never gains the audience’s approbation in this promising musical. The rest of the enthusiastic cast almost regain the momentum and get to have a reprise of “What it Isn’t” to open the second act.
The story line “in the modern vein” is based on the machinations of Bernie Madoff, who engineered the Ponzi scheme Enron Scandal. His role is listed as Father (Jesse Caldwell) with Ganz as his estranged teenage daughter Lucy. Lucy’s caretaker Mary (Stephanie Prentis), in an underwritten part is given two ballads to sing. One of those ballads “Some Way to Get Through the Night” is shared witha charming Luke Chapman playing blind Charlie, the love interest. Then there is the semi-mysterious Woman (excellent Gwen Loeb) who is instrumental to a “happily ever after” finale.
Filling in the gaps with multiple roles are Man 1(John Patrick Moore) and Man 2 (Buzz Halsing) who give the show a boost when they make their entrances and exits. They get to perform soft shoe dances complete with canes as well as a cacophonic “Apocalypse” rock’n role number. They bring down the first act curtain with “Lawyerese.”
A label cannot be assigned to this show since the music is a pastiche of Broadway, jazz, rock and classical music that adroitly fit the storyline and add pizazz to Sampson’s lyrics. The finale by the company of “Deus Ex Machina” is a must see production number that partially erases the ambivalent feelings generated by this uneven production. Running time under two hours including an intermission.
CAST: Jesse Caldwell* (Father); Luke Chapman (Charlie); Marissa Joy Ganz* (Lucy); Buzz Halsing* (Man 2); Gwen Loeb* (Woman); John Patrick Moore* (Man 1) and Stephanie Prentice* (Mary).
Production: David Aaron Brown, Keyboard; Lily Sevier, Drums; Vincenzo DeLaRosa, Bass; Producer, Jim Kleinmann; Stage Manager, Bethanie Baeyen; Lighting Designer, Mark Hueske; Costume/Props Designer, Cindy Goldfield; Sound Designer, Josh Senick; Dresser, Melissa Kallstrom; Production Manager, Marcus Marotto; Production Assistant, Solia Martinez Jacobs; Publicist, Lawrence Helman; Casting Consultant, Annie Stuart; Associate Producer, Peter B. Miller
Kedar K. Adour, MD
Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com
