The Daily Record
March 31, 2006
McCarter dreams up a Shakespearean extravaganza
by William Westhoven
Shakespeare challenged our imaginations some 400 years ago with “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Now, director Tina Landau is challenging our senses with an early spring “Midsummer” at Princeton University’s McCarter Theatre that leaves dazzling in the dust and rises to mind-blowing in 15 minutes short of three thrilling hours.
Here’s the skinny — phone a friend and offer two choices: Princeton or Paper Mill? The good news is that, following its run in Princeton, this enchanting, exciting, exhilarating musical — yes, musical — will move to Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn. The bad news — the Shakespearean tragedy of it all — is that this magnificent spectacle will cease to exist after May 21.
Say it ain’t so. Broadway, are you listening?
There are myriad elements of Landau’s “Dream” that distinguish it from other “Midsummer’s” and just about any other play you might ever see. While the visual elements are mesmerizing, it’s the music, composed and performed by the eclectic musical trio GrooveLily, that plays the most integral role.
Landau worked closely with the band — Valerie Vigoda on electric violin and vocals, Brendan Millburn on keyboards and vocals and Gene Lewin on drums and vocals — to reconceive Shakespeare’s fantasy-comedy as GrooveLily’s collective dream. The characters spring from their minds, and instruments, and the musicians become characters even as they perform the score.
The music — and much of the production’s visual appeal — will remind you of a Cirque du Soleil show. The mischievous fairy, Puck, appears as a manifestation of Vigoda’s dreamy violin, while other characters are similarly colored by music. A change in melody or tempo often signals a scene change or segue of mood.
Much of the familiar dialogue, conveniently written in rhyming couplets, is scored and sung with contemporary GrooveLily melodies so well suited to the words that it’s hard to believe they were written centuries apart.
Two original songs are featured, but this is still unmistakably Shakespeare’s “Midsummer.” Those unfamiliar with the script may be hard-pressed to single out the pretty pretenders.
Despite disclaimers that deny it is a musical, this production is very much a musical comedy. Much of what is not sung is underscored, making the music as essential as the script.
Choreography and aerials are also a huge part of this incredible package. Aerial designer Christopher Harrison’s AntiGravity Company has been frequently featured on Broadway as well as the Grammy Awards and the 2002 Olympics. He obviously shares Landau’s fertile imagination.
Oddly, the choreography goes uncredited. Maybe no one wanted to sign for wild sequences that featured the Macarena and hilariously veered into “Riverdance” territory.
Purists may find it all a bit much and wonder if Landau’s indulgences don’t threaten to render the Shakespeare element as irrelevant. She also makes it that much harder for the cast to get your attention, and a few of the actors appear slightly overwhelmed by the immensity of it all. Guy Adkins, as a memorably outrageous and androgynous Puck, and Lea DeLaria, who channels both Lou Costello and Ella Fitzgerald as Bottom, are the most successful. The aerialist fairies, flashing more sweaty flesh than a Chippendale revue, are also quite amazing and join with the entire ensemble in soaring choral harmonies.
Are you beginning to get the picture? I doubt it. I’m not that good a writer. Instead, I’ll quote the guy sitting behind me, word-for-word, hand-to-God. As he settled into his seat before the show, he read the program and declared, voice dripping with nasal Ivy League cynicism, “Original music and lyrics? So, they think they can improve on Shakespeare, eh?”
Immediately after the curtain call, he stood and squealed, with childish excitement, “That was the best play I have ever seen!”
The best play I’ve ever seen? That’s asking a lot. But I can say this with a clear conscience — I can’t remember ever being more entertained, and I’m grateful that I’ll get to see this one more time in Millburn.