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| The Adventures of Tom Sawyer |
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Version of Twain Classic Strikes Chord By Perry Stewart /Excerpted from The Fort Worth Star-Telegram 7/25/2005 ©2005 Any musical version of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is doomed to comparison with Big River, Roger Miller's 1985 musical...Undaunted, playwright Ken Ludwig (Lend Me a Tenor) adapted Tom Sawyer a handful of years ago, adding songs by Don Schlitz...The result is buoyant and faithful to Twain's wry view of humankind - as demonstrated by ICT Mainstage's briskly staged regional premiere. Director and choreographer Andi Allen wrings solid performances from a large and youthful cast - many of them high schoolers such as Chris Winterstine, who captures Tom's rascally charm and irrepressible spirit...Huck Finn is a secondary character in this story, but someone forgot to tell Justin A.P. Jones. This bantam dynamo dominates every scene he's in...Kayla Carlyle is a winsome Becky Thatcher, and Scott Bardin summons a stalwart baritone as her father. Scott Nixon gives villainous Injun Joe tangible menace and vocal authority. And master clown Steve Lovett elevates town drunk Muff Potter to classic status. It's feel-good family entertainment. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer By John Garcia /Excerpted from The Column and talkinbroadway.com 8/9/2005 ©2005 You just never know how a musical will turn out. Will it be a hit or a flop? The songs need to stick like taffy; the lyrics must serve as character analysis, inner dialogue, and move the plot along; the book needs to fasten songs, characters, and subplots together. Alas, this is not the case with THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER, which is being given its regional premiere by ICT Mainstage. Out of the 24 songs, there are three that are actually quite lovely. The touching ballad, "Raising A Child" sung by Aunt Polly (Kimberly Ann Smith) and Judge Thatcher (Scott Bardin); A rousing company number called "It's In The Bible"; and a sweet, innocent ballad sung by Tom (Chris Winterstine) and Becky (Kayla Carlyle) titled, "To Hear You Say My Name." Thankfully we have Musical Director Lee Harris in the orchestra pit. This wonderfully talented director brings florid life to the score and pushes the pace and energy along, never allowing it to wane. This is my first observation of Harris's work, and I am immensely impressed. Director Andi Allen achieves charming success in creating festive performances from her actors. This talented director uses every square inch of Paul Fiorella's one unit set. She keeps the pace brisk. What most impressed me was how she was able to bring out solid characterizations from the teen actors - she gives them layers of various emotions. This is a large company, but Allen handles the staging with ease. Adam Lozuk's lighting design has some creative fun with his moods for the cave scenes, while Tory Padden's costumes have a quaint, country flair to them and a nice color scheme of earth tones. Even with the lackadaisical material, this cast is able to rise above it and still deliver a pleasurable evening of theater. The majority of the company does deliver the goods, but several become standouts. In the title role, teenager Chris Winterstine does a delightful job as the rebellious youngster who would rather fish than go to school. Winterstine's energy and carefree aura fits Tom's characteristics. For the majority of the evening, the kid holds his own against the adults. He is both winsome and a pleasure to watch. As Huck Finn, Justin A.P. Jones provides a farcical, waggish performance. His facial expressions are jovial, providing loud laughter during the evening. With a winning smile he adds some fun to his song, "I Can Read." Both Winterstine and Jones share a believable chemistry as best friends who tend to get in trouble a lot. A special round of applause goes to Jane Willingham, who came into the production at the last minute. For someone who had a very short rehearsal period, she came through like the consummate pro she is in her warm performance as Widow Douglas. The gal even had the choreography down! Greg Whitmore as Reverend Sprague and Steve Lovett as Muff Potter provided many of the laughs during the evening. Whitmore gives his character the ole Southern, holier-than-thou preacher vibe that generated laughs. I particularly liked the hand gestures he used to conduct and control his flock of worshipers. Lovett channeled Bud Abbott, Uncle Festus, and Tim Conway to create the local town drunk, Muff. Using a hilarious speech pattern and rough Southern accent, every time he uttered a line loud laughs echoed from the audience. His characterization was topped off with comical facial expressions that worked perfectly. Daniel Svoboda, Aaron Kirby, and Charles Wallace provide solid work as Tom's trio of male friends. These three thespians provided high energy, nice laughs, and very entertaining performances. Bryan Wade gave the perfect characterization as Tom's nosy, bratty, pain-in-the-rear brother Sidney. With his blue sailor suit, greased hair, and loud screams, he became an amusing little scene-stealer! As Injun Joe, Scott Nixon is a towering man with a gorgeous baritone voice. Nixon's dark, colored vocals aided in his creation of an evil killer. Nixon also provided steel cold facial expressions that would make anyone cross the opposite side of the street just to avoid his glare. Within the large company, there was exceptional work done as well by Scott Bardin as sympathetic Judge Thatcher; Phillip Davis as greedy Doc Robinson; and David Johnson as the town's Sheriff. Finally, E. Scott Arnold and Jordan Willis both gave the proper bellowing and stature as the town's two lawyers. This cast and production team are an excellent example of how good talent can overcome feeble material. The songs and book may not be up to par, but this company surely is! |