Soprano
San Jose Mercury News - November 2008
By: Karen D'Souza
'Rapunzel' lets down her hair in holiday musical revue
Have yourself a hairy little Christmas at City Lights. San Jose's spunkiest theater company is getting a jolly good head start on the holidays this year with "Rapunzel or Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow.'' A cheerfully cheesy spoof that mashes up operetta, fairytales and various and sundry tonsorial cliches, this outrageous fable segues into a nostalgic holiday musical revue of the Lawrence Welk variety in the second act. No gag is left unturned in this farcical free-for-all as City Lights puts the pun back into "Rapunzel" bigtime. Indeed, not to be a Grinch, at points this theatrical stocking feels a little overstuffed, a hodgepodge of elements that don't quite ring the old jingle bell. Still, there's no denying that Amanda Folena's production has its heart in the right place. The plucky cast sings brightly and camps it up from comic opera to seasonal chestnuts. "Once upon a time" gets an extreme makeover in Marian Partee and Eric Hoit's "Rapunzel,'' a wacky pop culture sendup that skips from "I Love Lucy" to "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Wizard of Oz" without getting a hair out of place. Meet Lucy (Samantha Bartholomew) and Benjamin Barker (Jake Van Tuyl), two nifty nods to "Sweeney Todd," who are blessed with two little girls. The first is a bad-attitude Goth chick who goes by the name Goldilocks (an exuberant Danelle Medeiros). She's looking at doing some hard time over that whole bear incident. The second child, Rapunzel (Sarah Griner), gets whisked away by the wicked old witch Pantella Prell (Michelle Markwart Deveaux), who secrets her away in a tower. And her little dog too! Sorry, wrong witch. Scratch that last part. Anyway. High upon her ivory tower, the fair maiden coifs coquettishly until Prince Suave (a wry Isaac Benelli) gets a gander at her silken locks. He's blown away by her blow-out, entranced by her tresses. Along the way, Partee and Hoit make groaner jokes that have the audience snorting all the way to happily ever after. The second act, however, is as schmaltzy as the first act is cheeky. It's a combination vaudeville act meets Christmas variety show that may seem corny to those weaned on bling rather than Bing (Crosby). See the "Boogie Woogie Christmas Elf" number. Also, Folena lets the pacing get haphazard and the ending needs more punctuation. Still, it's impossible to bah-humbug a cast that clearly puts their hearts into every carol and soft shoe. The ensemble takes particular relish in the homage to "Hair,'' the iconic '60s musical this troupe revived earlier in the season. Jimmy Robertson also ups the ante on scrappy in several vintage Catskills-style comic bits. Old Ebenezer himself would crack a smile at the Santa-centric "Who's on First" routine. And there's certainly no denying the sweetness of the same-sex version of "Lovers on Christmas Eve." This yuletide tuner may not be perfect but it goes down nice and easy, even if holiday revues aren't your cup of wassail.
Photo by: Kit Wilder,
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