{"id":11989,"date":"2014-06-01T11:36:49","date_gmt":"2014-06-01T18:36:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=11989"},"modified":"2014-06-01T11:59:00","modified_gmt":"2014-06-01T18:59:00","slug":"triassic-parq-an-energetic-slightly-risque-fun-filled-show-by-ray-of-light-theatre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/triassic-parq-an-energetic-slightly-risque-fun-filled-show-by-ray-of-light-theatre\/","title":{"rendered":"Triassic Parq an energetic, slightly risqu\u00e9 fun filled show by Ray of Light Theatre"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>\u00a0TRIASSIC PARQ<\/em>: Musical. \u00a0Music by Marshall Pailet; \u00a0Book by Marshall Pailet, Bryce Norbitz and Steve Wargo. Directed by Alex Kirschner; Musical Direction by Robbie Cowan. Ray of Light Theatre, The Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson St. (at Battery), San Francisco, CA, 9411. For tickets, visit www.rayoflighttheatre.com<\/a>.\u00a0 \u00a0May 30 \u2013 June 28, 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

Triassic Parq <\/em>an energetic, slightly risqu\u00e9 fun filled show by Ray of Light Theatre [rating:5]\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

After accepting an invitation to Ray of Light\u2019s \u00a0(ROL) opening night of Triassic Parq <\/em>plans to were made for a gala evening. A dear friend agreed to be my guest and a call was made to the nearby \u201cLe Olivier\u201d, a fine French restaurant, for dinner before the theatre. \u00a0It was not to be. \u201cLe Olivier\u201d was booked for a private party. Then my date twisted her knee and had to decline. Those ominous premonitions were completely forgotten since Ray of Lights\u2019 hilarious production of Triasic Parq<\/em> was an unqualified success. It is 90 minutes of pure anthropomorphic fun that received a well-deserved standing ovation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Anthropomorphic? Yes, since all the \u201ccharacters\u201d with one exception are dinosaurs living on the fictional island of Isla Nublar off the coast of Costa Rica. That island and storyline were spawned in the fertile imagination of Michael Crichton. It\u2019s the place where a billionaire created an amusement park called Jurassic Park that was made more famous in the Spielberg movie.\u00a0 In the opening number sung by a talented 6 member cast we are told that the name had to be changed to \u201cTriasic\u201d to avoid a law suit.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fertility may be in the mind of Crichton but alas, all the dinosaurs created by DNA cloning (??) are female. They may be fertile but there is no fertility without males. The confines of the jungle amusement park is surrounded by high electrified fences. The inhabitants are cared for by a higher authority, \u201cThe Lab.\u201d That higher authority showers the island with goats thus there is never a food shortage.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Within the community of raptors there is a hierarchy with Velociraptor of Faith (willowy David Naughton) in charge keeping them all in line with platitudes and philosophy. There is a lot of PR nonsense about the meaning of community, religion, gender, science and being unique humans (dinosaurs) bonding with other humans. Forget the PR stuff and just have as much fun as the opening night audience did enjoying the energetic dancing, spot on singing and the risqu\u00e9 behavior\/shenanigans of the human-like animals. If you are lucky you may be selected to sit in one of the comfortable seats on stage right reserved for audience members.<\/strong><\/p>\n

ROL did not stint on cost, fashioning a fantastic jungle set that fills the entire stage with the fore mentioned high electric fences that are adroitly moved by the cast as needed. The have even built a separate cage on stage left to contain\/protect the four member band: Pianosaurus (Robbie Cowan), Guitarydactyl (Nahuel Bronzini), Bassceratops (Eugene Theriault) \u00a0and Percussadon (Geneva Harrison) but Robbie Cowen elicits laughs when \u2018escapes\u2019 to take part in the physical stage action.<\/strong><\/p>\n

All you need to know about the plot is that a frog gene has \u2018polluted\u2019 the purity of T-Rex 2 (Chelsea\u00a0 Holifield) and she grows a functioning male appendage. Then there is Velociraptor of Innocence (Lewis Rawlinson) whose curiosity takes him beyond the fence in search of the unknown where he meets the banished T-Rex 2 with her\/his \u201cappendage\u2019 attached and you can guess what happens during that \u201cmeeting.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The entire production team earn accolades but Wendy Ross Kaufman deserves individual praise for the fantastic costumes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Crisis after crisis unfolds with the rest of the cast (Alex Rodriguez \u00a0as Velociraptor of Science\/Morgan Freeman and Monica Turner as T Rex 1\/Kaitlyn) having a riotous time singing and dancing (Dane Paul Andres, Choreographer) up a storm.\u00a0 The music is always upbeat even when a love song appears and includes hip-hop (think Spring Awakening),<\/em> and power ballads. The ingenious creators of this show throw in a non-speaking part of Mime-a-saurus (limber-limbed Javi Harnly) who earns his laughs even when abused by the raptors.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Every member of the cast have their star turn on the stage but Alex Rodriguez\u2019s\u00a0 powerful presence gets more than his share. Director Alex Kirschner does a magnificent job balancing his ensemble cast that are always in non-stop motion. Final Note: Triasic Parq <\/em>is another winner for ROL and is a \u2018do not miss\u2019 production.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Triassic Parq Cast: \u00a0Javi Harnly (Mime-a-saurus);\u00a0 Chelsea Holifield (T Rex 2);\u00a0 David Naughton (Velociraptor of Faith);\u00a0 Lewis Rawlinson (Velociraptor of Innocence);\u00a0 Alex Rodriguez (Velociraptor of Science\/Morgan Freeman);\u00a0 Monica Turner (T Rex 1\/Kaitlyn).<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Triassic Parq Production Team: Alex Kirschner, Director;\u00a0 Robbie Cowan, Music Director;\u00a0 Dane Paul Andres, Choreographer;\u00a0 Erik Scanlon, Assistant Director;\u00a0 Annie Dauber, Set Designer;\u00a0 Joe D\u2019Emilio, Lighting Designer;\u00a0 Anton Hedman, Sound Designer;\u00a0 Wendy Ross Kaufman, Costume Design; Kevin Pong, Props Design;Erick Scanlon, Assistant Director;Daniel Cadigan, Technical Director and Ilona Herbert, Stage Manager. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Kedar K. Adour, MD<\/strong><\/p>\n

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0TRIASSIC PARQ: Musical. \u00a0Music by Marshall Pailet; \u00a0Book by Marshall Pailet, Bryce Norbitz and Steve Wargo. Directed by Alex Kirschner; Musical Direction by Robbie Cowan. Ray of Light Theatre, The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11989","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-kedar-k-adour"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"