Monday, August 18, 2008

Theater Review: Zanna, Don’t!

By John Garcia of John Garcia's The Column

It's funny, when you bring up high school memories between friends, you encounter an innumerable range of reactions. Some may smile and sigh, while others might vomit. Then there are the ones who notice that their upper lip is starting to sweat, they fidget like they lost their keys, and immediately leave the room to guzzle down a bottle of vodka.

When I reminisce about high school, I'm part of the latter. I hated high school with a passion. I was 5"3, 370lbs (yes, I weighed that much, waist size was 58 or 60), acne prone, and one of the few Latinos in an all white high school. Then to top that off, I was deep in the closet, huddling there in the dark -- scared and alone. Wrap all that up in a nice bow and thrust that fat, frightened kid into a 4A High School in middle of the Texas hill country. That's major s*it kicker country with ropers and wranglers. I'm amazed I came out alive.

However, I was very aware that popularity is what kept you "safe". So I joined every school club I could, from Student Council to Choir to Drama club. Here's where I shock you more by saying that I even played high school football. Yes children, Mr. Musical theater/glitter freak here was on the football team. I just had to roll over the opposing team.

Photo by Mike Morgan

But dear lord how I dreaded the showers, remember I was close to 400lbs. I felt like Carrie White every damn day in that locker room after practice. I kept waiting for the Captain of the football team to gather up my other teammates and scream "Plug it up!" while tossing those white little firecracker things at me. Of course my nightmare failed to tell me that they wouldn't have those "lady things" in a boys' locker room, but I digress.

What saved me in high school was my humor. I found out very fast in Freshman year that if I made the football guys laugh, the bullies laugh, and the mean kids laugh -- I could possibly escape the fat and queer jokes. It worked for 75% of the time. But that other 25% was vicious, cruel, evil, and left me sometimes sobbing in my car, shoving a never ending parade of McDonald's food down my throat. Yea, suffice to say I despised high school. When I left for college and that small town, my life turned around so, so, much more for the best.

Which leads us to today's review about High School in the musical fable Zanna, Don’t!, receiving its Regional premiere at Uptown Players.

Zanna, Don’t! takes us to Heartsville High School, where things are completely flopped around. At this school, it's the gay kids who are popular and rule the school. They are the leaders and are members of many of the clubs & activities, from the Drama club to the Women's Mechanical Bull Riding Team. They all have boyfriends and girlfriends. It's where the Chess team is the real athletic warriors, not the football team.

At HHS is where we meet Zanna, a teen fairy godmother..…um…...father…um…teen. Never mind. The guy carries a wand and like a gay Cupid he magically brings romance to everyone around him, but himself. But then one day, the captain of the football team and a popular girl fall in love. Horrors! How can that be? Gross! A boy and a girl? That's sick. Those are the reactions of the student body at HHS. But by the end of the fable, we see that love and acceptance is what we need to make the world a better place.

Photo by Mike Morgan

Tim Acito wrote the book, music, and lyrics of this kitschy, campy musical with heart. The book works really well here, peppered with pop culture references. Now, I will say that the book is pretty predictable, even with the flop around. But who cares? It is stuffed with laughs and warmth. The score for the most part works, but there are a few numbers that seem less polished musically than others. A couple of the ballads are a bit too syrupy and "after school special" for my tastes. But the majority of the songs are knockout hits. Some of the best numbers include "Be a Man"; "I Think We Got Love"; "Ride Em"; "Do You Know What It's Like?" and "Straight to Heaven".

If there is one thing you can always count on at Uptown Players is visually they always go full out, and here there is no exception. The mélange of sets, lighting, and costumes is exquisite. It all looks like the trio of designers took a humongous box of 100 Crayola crayons and had them explode into eye popping color within their production. Talk about girl power here, Uptown has three women designers who do such dazzling work here that it would make even the Spice Girls envy!

Julie Simmons' lighting design is marvelous from beginning to end. Lots of lush colors and revolving gobos saturate the stage. I have my own term that I coined called "emotional lighting". By that I mean the lighting adds a layer of subtext and emotion to give the performance that extra bump to move the audience. Ms. Simmons does this with the touching quartet number "Do You Know What It's Like?" She has special pools of light bathe the four principals, but only bringing them up during their solos, and then softly fade away. That lighting actually tugs at your heart during that number. She also adds fantastic layers of revolving, swirling light and color for several up-tempo numbers that achieves pure success here.

Clare Floyd Devries has designed a series of step units and colorful boxes that configure into the various scenes in which the musical unfolds on. One big orange citrus colored box opens up to reveal Zanna's bed and wall, which explodes with glitter, sequined pillows, and even a purple teddy bear. But take a moment and look at the stage floor, which is painted beautifully in various eye popping colors. To have the checkered heart downstage become part of the actual chess game is an ingenious thought here by this highly acclaimed designer.

Suzi Cranford's costumes are perfection. They are tasteful, age appropriate, and possess just the right amount of color. From the orange letterman jackets (look at the school patches on them!), to the prom cocktail dresses (lined in soft tulle). But for me the best costumes had to be the military outfits. From the dark green sequined Army Jacket, to the t-shirts lined in sequins, they all looked gorgeous and manly. Right down to the matching sequined dog tags! The only "mis-step" in costuming though was the use of sweatpants for the football player's uniform. As an ex ball player myself, you always

Photo by Mike Morgan

wear your pads. Nonetheless, Ms. Cranford's costumes are top notch here. But then again, she has never failed as a designer, which is why she is in such high demand.

Adam C. Wright & Kevin Gunter are the accomplished musical directors who bring the score to toe-tapping enjoyment with a festive five piece combo band. All of them give the score a funky, spicy flavor throughout the evening, in particular the disco/pop dance numbers.

Nan Gammon's choreography shines throughout the musical. A fusion of disco, country line dancing, pop, jazz, and even a hint of ballet is thrown into the mix. What's so terrific about Gammon's choreography is that she had to rely on her talents. She had no movie of the musical to re-create from, but from her vast knowledge and experience in choreography. And she succeeds here in abundance. There are such choreographed show stopping numbers like "Ride `Em"; "Be a Man"; and "Blow winds/Straight to Heaven" to name a few. Ms. Gammon is showing this community that she has the creative chops and talents to play with the big leagues now! Her choreography is smashing here.

Coy Covington's direction is flawless, precise, richly detailed, and honestly shows the vast talent this accomplished actor/director possesses. His casting choices are spotless and I must say it was refreshing to see new faces within the company. Also how rare, wonderful, and powerful it was to see non-traditional casting here. As an actor of color, you notice those things the second you see the lights go up on any show. Covington wisely cast black, Latin, and white actors, giving the message of the musical so much more emotional impact. Not many directors in this town cast minority actors in leading roles, which I find severely disappointing within this theatrical community. Covington ignores that completely. Every production I have seen Covington direct, he casts non-traditionally. This speaks volumes of where this director is coming from.

Another outstanding element in Covington's direction was his staging and blocking. There is no "everyone stand next to each other" here whatsoever. Each scene has focus, purpose, and reason, with the cast constantly framing the stage wonderfully. Covington has a wicked sense of humor, which does appears consistently within the direction -- which I loved immensely. From the number on the Quarterback's uniform, to the glitter notebooks, and the many double entendres that are sprinkled throughout the show.

Kudos as well to Mr. Covington for having choreography, movement, staging, and his actors stay in full character during scene changes and black outs. This helped so much in not allowing the emotions to sag or the energy to wane. Plus it gave the audience the "threads" to stay focused within the storytelling. Why more directors don't do this is beyond me.

As an actor and critic I have always said that the best directors seem to be those who are actors who also direct. We have several in this community that are in that rare tribe, and Mr. Covington easily fits in that elite group with his marvelous direction here.

Now there are some minor imperfections and problems that do arise a couple of times within the production. At times the band and vocals volume don't gel well, causing the band to overpower the singers. The pace a couple of times were a tad too hyperactive, in particular the opening number. It was so fast, hyper, and a bit unfocused that it was slightly hard to grasp and hold onto. Another minor glitch was diction and vocal finesse. Again, the rushing of lines caused some lyrics to get jumbled, slurred, and not clean. Finally some of the vocals were not as polished & clean as they should be. There was some struggling of hitting the high soaring notes or minor cracks during the sustaining of a long note. Also a few of the harmonies seemed just a little under key. But these are so far and few. I'm sure once the cast truly settles into the run these minuscule issues will resolve themselves.

The entire cast delivers the goods from top to bottom. There is terrific ensemble work provided by William Dehorney, Melissa Farmer, and Thomas Renner. Dehorney generates loud laughs as the Drama club kid and later a dancing cowboy. Ms. Farmer is a hoot as the blonde cheerleader and delivers a jovial homage to Patsy Cline in the Country & Western twang number "Fast". Renner adds soothing tenor vocals to his big number "Sometime, Do you think we could fall in Love?"

Photo by Mike Morgan

Kayla Carlyle delivers another knock out performance here after her deeply touching work in Uptown's earlier musical this season, Bare. What I found particularly surprising was how gifted of a comic actress she is. The girl had me howling in laughter during the "dramatic" scene set on a war field. She also adds sass and delicious humor leading the hilarious company number "Ride 'em".

Last season James Chandler delivered a beautiful & moving performance as "Charlie Brown" in Inevitable Theatre Company's Dog Sees God. I personally thought he was robbed of a Column Award nomination for that work. This year his work in Zanna, Don’t! should land him a nod, for his performance here is sublime. Chandler handles both the personal, touching, dramatic moments with honest, organic truth. But then he creates some of the best laughs of the entire evening with his comedic chops. Watch how damn hilarious he is during the entire "war" scene, his body language and facial expressions are hysterical. Chandler is outstanding in this musical.

Steven Guez portrays "Mike", the Chess champion who falls in love with Chandler's "Steve", the quarterback and star of the football team. A short, Latin actor who has a smile that would even warm Dick Chaney's cold heart. Guez also possesses a crystal clean tenor voice that wraps around the audience like a soft, velvety blanket. Some of his best vocal work is contained in such glowing numbers as "I Could Write Books" and "I think We Got Love."

I was very impressed with the adorable, heart warming chemistry that Guez & Chandler created within their performances. It was never uncomfortable, flamboyant, or over the top. But sweet, respectful, and truly believable. The body language, staging, and non-verbal communication radiated within each other that I found really moving. It helped so much in their character arcs for the difficulty their relationship took in Act Two.

Lindsey Holloway owes me $75.00 bucks for making me almost tinkle in my pants with her hilarious, brilliant, and outlandish performance as "Roberta". While the character is butch & masculine, Holloway still layered the character with feminine delicacy and charm. Now add her facial expressions and comedic timing and you have a first rate performance coming from this very talented lady. She has some terrific vocal work in such numbers as well, such as "I Ain't Got Time", and "Ride `Em".

All four principals have several quartets that really shine brightly within the musical score. Such as "I Could Write Books" and my personal favorite, "Do You know what its like?"

Photo by Mike Morgan

And all I can say is wait to see you this company do the show within the show. I swear I laughed so loud that I'm sure they heard me on I-35. That whole "military" sequence was hysterical!

Anchoring the cast is Ryan Cowles, who portrays "Zanna". Over this past season I have seen Mr. Cowles in such productions as La Cage Aux Follies (Onstage) and All Shook Up (Garland Civic Theater). Both my reviews mention his solid comedic chops, sweet singing, and that he stole the show (both shows he was in supporting roles). It was about time he was given a lead, for he is showing what I knew all the time -- his superb, radiant talents.

Cowles stays completely in character from the second he touches the stage, even during blackouts. With his blonde hair spiked up and his graceful body movements, he resembles a tall, lithe giraffe who took lots of dance classes. Cowles uses his dance background effortlessly to give Zanna a sweet, ethereal glow. The actor also sings with a lovely, clean tenor voice that does excellent work in such solos as "Zanna's Song"; "Be a Man" (my favorite number of the whole show); and " 'Tis a Far, Far Better Thing I Do". He will tug your heart strings with the moving & touching ballad "Someday You Might Love" as well.

As in past work, Cowles once again uses his comedic timing, delivery, and pace to successful results within this production. His comedic talents result in some of the loudest laughs of the night. Mr. Cowles is the star of this production and he shines marvelously here. However, if there is one element missing from his performance it's the sprinkling of glitter in his blonde locks. Zanna needs that!

Zanna, Don’t! is a heartwarming musical that shows in the end that why can't we all love who we want to love and leave it at that? I mean, isn't that what makes the world go round? We all want that. Love. Right?

Uptown's production of Zanna, Don’t! is a kaleidoscope of outlandish color, glitter, sequins, glitz, side splitting laughs, and most of all -- heart. Lots and lots of heart. If you want to laugh out loud for a couple of hours and then walk away with its soothing and rewarding message about love and acceptance, then you need to go NOW and see Uptown's Zanna, Don’t!. This production will not disappoint whatsoever. But get your tickets today, because this will be like every other Uptown Production -- a sold out smash hit!

GRADE: A

The production runs through September 7 and tickets can be purchased online or by calling 214-219-2718.

Editor's note: Read Arnold Wayne Jones' review from the Dallas Voice here.

Pegasus News content partner - John Garcia's The Column

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