KIDS' MUSICAL CAN DELIGHT ADULTS, TOO.Byline: Julio Martinez Julio Martinez is the weekly host of KPFK Radio’s Arts in Review, is a theatre critic for Daily Variety and Features Editor of Latin Heat Magazine. His articles have appeared in Los Angeles Times Magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, Backstage West, L.A. Correspondent One of the great temptations for adult actors performing in theater for young audiences is to play to the parents rather than to the children. The Falcon Theatre production of Meryl Friedman's original musical ``Figaro ... Pigaro! A Barnyard Musical'' (she penned the book and songs and also directs), featuring a truly capable and committed four-member ensemble, utilizes contemporary song stylings and quite a few adult references, but it still manages to capture children's attention most of the time. The production, which runs about an hour, would achieve even more success with some judicious trimming of its overstated o·ver·state tr.v. o·ver·stat·ed, o·ver·stat·ing, o·ver·states To state in exaggerated terms. See Synonyms at exaggerate. o plot. Performing multiple roles, the adult cast of Toni Morrell, Colleen col·leen n. An Irish girl. [Irish Gaelic cailín, diminutive of caile, girl, from Old Irish. Kane and Michael A. Shepperd establish an ensemble of elderly barnyard animals that are happily enjoying their well-earned retirement from the stress of farm work. Though they normally enjoy the company of exuberant, gossip-laden young piglet Piglet diffident little pig; tremulously courageous. [Children’s Lit.: Winnie-the-Pooh] See : Timidity Polly (performed by 12-year-old Candace Lifson), their serenity is shattered after Polly overhears a radio broadcast of Rossini's opera ``The Barber of Seville'' and is mesmerized by main character Figaro's performance of his famed aria, ``Largo at Factotum fac·to·tum n. An employee or assistant who serves in a wide range of capacities. [Medieval Latin fact .'' From that moment on, tone-deaf Polly is inspired to write and sing her own arias, much to the horror of all the other animals. Friedman spends much too much time chronicling the various efforts of the farm animals to avoid Polly's out-of-tune serenading. The production gets back on track, however, when Maureen the cow (Morrell), Ethel the hen (Massey) and Old Jack the horse (Shepperd) take off on a hilarious adventure to convince now heartbroken Polly that they really do like her. The songs, accompanied on stage by music director-pianist Dave Ossmann, are highly melodic and engaging. ``We Chitter and We Chatter'' features three hens luxuriating in their favorite activities: knitting and gossiping. Morrell's Maureen the cow exudes the persona of Tallulah Bankhead Noun 1. Tallulah Bankhead - uninhibited United States actress (1903-1968) Bankhead as she offers her musical ode to leisure, ``Don't Want to Move.'' One of the highlights of the production is Shepperd's bluesy, ``Too Tired.'' Lifson captures the high spirits Noun 1. high spirits - a feeling of joy and pride lightness, elation joy, joyfulness, joyousness - the emotion of great happiness euphoria, euphory - a feeling of great (usually exaggerated) elation high spirits npl of the adventurous piglet, but her voice is too soft and melodic to justify the adverse reaction Polly is supposed to evoke from the rest of the animals. FIGARO ... PIGARO! A BARNYARD MUSICAL Where: Falcon Theatre, 4562 Riverside Drive A number of cities around the world have a Riverside Drive. In the United States:
When: 1 and 3 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. Sunday; through April 1. Tickets: $10. Call (818) 955-8101. Our rating: Two and one half stars CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Toni Morrell, left, Michael Shepperd and Colleen Kane share a scene in ``Figaro ... Pigaro! A Barnyard Musical,'' at Burbank's Falcon Theatre. Craig Schwartz/Special to the Daily News |
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