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Photo by Don Kellogg

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

With Glee

This is just what the mid-summer play doctor ordered - fresh, simple, entertaining youth on stage!  With Glee, true to its name (which i believe came before the mega-hit on Fox), is a truly entertaining, not-so-deep evening in the theatre.  Five very different boys take us on a journey to boarding school that is bound to strike a memory or two in just about anyone - who doesn't have memories of childhood they'd rather forget?!

Zach Bandler, Christoper Carlisle, Jason Cook, Dan Lawler, and Max Spitulnik light up the stage with their youthful exuberance and charm.  Each of them deserves (and gets) a moment in the proverbial spotlight.  Greg Horton and Erin Jerozal, the only adults, play all the teachers and all of the parents - with perhaps a wink and nod to the quick-change skills we recently saw so artfully done in The 39 Steps.  Hats (and sweaters) off to them.

Ok - so the plot may not be much.  It's about the kids, their problems, and of course simmering behind the obvious is the social statement about how most parents do a pretty poor job of, well, parenting.  Besides the  oh-so-serious social statement - we find 5 boys whose talents light up the (very small) stage.  Kudos to the actors, director, and choreographer - who had to cram everything onto that postage stamp (including a band!).

I'd love to see this one get some buzz about a Broadway transfer.  Despite the thin plot (which could always be beefed up with the addition of an entire chorus of schoolboys) the show was as refreshing as a margarita on a hot summer day!  Bravo boys.