Theatre Notes
Some Magic to Do
originally published April 27, 2005
April, Eliot said, is the cruelest month. Lucky for us, it's more or less at an end; doubly lucky that the local theatre community has prepared some pleasures to shepherd you through these final days of confused weather and pollen-thick air.
Pippen
Meaning from Mayhem: For better or worse, Pippin is distinctly a product of its age. The 1972 musical, which plays through Apr. 30 at UGA's Fine Arts Theatre, was composed by Stephen Schwartz (whose subsequent credits include some Oscar-winning work on Disney's Pocahantas and The Prince of Egypt) and Roger O. Hirson and was irrevocably shaped by the direction and choreography of Bob Fosse. The show's music is of its time and includes some distinctly Bowie-esque musical flourishes (which are made all the more palpable by this production's inclusion of some Fosse-influenced, slithery, sexualized dancing and, er, lots of tights). For so many productions of this show, the clash between this tendency toward glitter-bomb extravaganza and the constantly inaccurate historical plot end up as little more than a convoluted ball of kitsch. To be sure, co-directors George Contini and Mirla Criste haven't shied away from this aspect. There are stylized medieval-cum-Ziggy Stardust costuming (noting, in particular the codpieces that so often thrust across the stage), plenty of tongue-in-cheek gestures toward Christian symbols, and enough self-conscious references to the theatre and won't-take-no-for-an-answer enjoinders for audience participation to thoroughly dislodge the fourth wall. The folks at UGA seem determined to embrace the inherent absurdity of this whacked out, quite obviously drug-inspired take on the life story of Charlemagne's firstborn. The propensity of this show to spin uncontrollably toward being, at best, a psychedelic freakout, is an inherent hazard of the script. But amidst the tumbling, juggling, dismembered body parts and simulated sex acts, the UGA production has managed to distill a modicum of sincere meaning from a show that can be, to put it lightly, resistant to such attempts.
If you were to skip the second act, however, you might very well think otherwise. The first act has all the over-the-top gesture, silliness, and mock-drama of a Monty Python sketch - a nod the directors choose to make manifestly unambiguous in the long, largely improvised introduction to the show by quoting the infamous "she's a witch" sketch. There are goofy battle scenes and slapstick humor butting up against cheeseball dancing and gaudy props. The product can be, at turns, hilarious and ludicrous to the point of being off-putting, especially when juxtaposed with some of the softer ballads (particularly the oddly endearing but dangerously tilted towards cloying "Corner of the Sky").
The determined absurdity, '70s schtick and shadows of many a medieval morality play that Contini points to as central to his conception of the show are thrown, in a seemingly haphazard manner, against a towering, impressionistic set piece (complete with four different "stages"). The effect of this deliberately uneven pastiche is, finally, mental surfeit. This is where this production is at its most canny. They whip the tangled mass into such a flaming fury in the jaw-dropping finale as to expose it for that it is, an overblown mechanism of smoke and mirrors. Pippin stands finally, in the midst of the audience, stripped of costume, under houselights, his wireless mic visible, wholly apart from the spectacle. His search for an extraordinary purpose for his life leads him to the conclusion that what he lacked was, in fact, the ordinary. This final point, in its uncomfortably baring simplicity, can only be made clear if the glut of the preceding hours is complete. It is this particular production's greatest triumph that it explodes the preposterous so exhaustively (no small accomplishment), that the protagonist and the audience arrive at this conclusion almost simultaneously. It is, I think, an exceedingly rare and fulfilling occurrence.
You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown
Still Good Griefing: The musical day-in-the-life of Charles Schulz's football-headed everyman You're a Good Man Charlie Brown is still on the stage at the Athens Community Theatre off Grady Avenue. The folks from Town & Gown bring a nickel-jangling Lucy, fighter-pilot Snoopy, and a schoolbus-full of memorable tunes for one more weekend. If you're on the ball, hurry out to the free switcheroo showing on Apr. 27 when the understudies will be taking the lead. If the gratis option has already passed you by, there are still performances Apr. 2830 at 8 p.m. with a Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. on May 1. Call 208-TOWN to reserve a seat or two.
Italian Idol: UGA's resident Renaissance-esque rapscallions I Commedianti Georgiani take the Cellar Theatre stage in the Fine Arts Building on Monday, May 2 at 8 p.m. for their final helping of masked misrule of the year. This time around, the old improv will be an extra spicy meatball full of song and dance for the inventively titled new scenario Commedia! The Musical. Original music by capocomico Justin Birdsong will accompany the customary fare of off-color comedy, colorful battles, and hyper-colored costumes, and there are certain to be plenty of nasty villains getting their comeuppance and star-crossed lovers fawning and finally finding each other steeped in as much hilarity as humanly possible. This show will likely be the last chance to catch this particular batch of clowns and, gasp! it won't cost you a dime. Contrary to popular belief, it appears that there is in fact such thing as a free lunch.
Brandon Waddell
Venture forth, sure of a fine night at the theatre and as always, send your theatre news and views to outthere@flagpole.com and don't forget to mention Theatre Notes in your subject line.
Brandon Waddell
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Theatre Notes
The Lonely Actor
originally published April 13, 2005
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