Sixtieth Season of Sacramento’s Music Circus in Review

            As Music Circus seasons go, the one that ended several weeks ago was very good, if not quite great.  It featured four terrific productions, one that was a star showcase, one that was the annual throwaway offering and only one that was a truly weak effort.  Here’s our critical summary of the seven shows, starting with two that were among the best of the bunch.

            After starting the season with an absolute home run with “Spamalot,” the possibility of a letdown was seemingly looming with the less well-known “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”  As it turned out, these were back-to-back homers.

            The “Spamalot” production, directed by Glenn Casale, was just a hoot.  It featured all the ridiculously bawdy humor from the original film, “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” (former Python-mate Eric Idle wrote the book and lyrics and co-wrote the music) to which has been added what could almost pass as a message (“Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”). 

            The “Spamalot” cast was first-rate, led by Gary Beach as King Arthur and Lesli Margherita as the “Lady of the Lake.”  And, as is so often an added bonus in the best Music Circus productions, it included an outstanding ensemble of talented performers who sang, danced and acted the many zany roles the show provides.

            “Joseph” was no less rewarding.  Originally a 20-minute choral work penned by the later-to-be-famous duo of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, this show had become a full-blown musical over the years, complete with a full-blown story (albeit largely taken from an existing source: the Genesis tale in the Bible). 

            The Music Circus production, directed and choreographed by Richard Stafford took the bold step of including a 47-member children’s choir.  And those children were far more than cute kids.  They were very much a part of the show, all in a positive way.  The production also benefitted from some great dancing (including a sudden tango in the middle of the Old Testament) and eye-opening costumes (credited to Marcy Froehlich) that had the females in the ensemble dressed as college cheerleaders at one point.

            The zaniness of both shows was regrettably lost in “Oklahoma!”  The season’s third production was underwhelming in almost every respect, starting with a lackluster cast that accentuated the thin and sometimes bizarre story.  Music Circus regular Marcia Milgrom Dodge slipped badly on this one, with only a strong ensemble and nice supporting performances by Amir Talai and Heather Jane Rolff keeping the Rodgers and Hammerstein chestnut from being DOA.

            The season perked up considerably with “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” another hoot of a comedy, dressed up with singing and dancing that was brought to full fruition by director Richard Stafford (giving him two great shows to his credit).  Another terrific ensemble, this one numbering 14 singers and dancers, was joined by an excellent 13-piece orchestra and enlivened by Leon Wibbers costumes and Michael Schweikardt’s set designs.

            But “Rotten” was foremost a vehicle for its lead performers, who included Burke Moses in the Michael Caine role, Timothy Gulan in the Steve Martin one, and Jessica Rush as the seemingly innocent mark who provided the show’s hilarious denouement.  Also excellent were John Scherer and Cynthia Ferrer as surprising (and surprised) lovers and Amy Bodnar as an early conquest for the gents.

            Picture a middle-aged Barbra Streisand in the role of the young Fanny Brice, and you have the essence of the Music Circus production of “Funny Girl.”  The supremely talented Vicki Lewis took on that task, and she succeeded in channeling Ms. Streisand as well as a 50-year old possibly could.  The result was a one-woman show that director Glenn Casale played for all it was worth, even giving Ms. Lewis a solo encore (on “Oh My Man, I Love Him So”). 

            For those enamored of the show’s music (and it’s hard not to be) and/or longing to relive the Streisand star turn, this production worked as well as it could in the absence of the diva herself.

            The season’s annual “throwaway” production (again raising questions of why it is necessary to depart from the model every year) was “The Marvelous Wonderettes,” a four-woman show that was loaded with mostly forgotten songs from the 1950s and ‘60s that somehow all managed to have the same musical feel when all was sung and done.

            The show is the creation of Roger Bean, who directed this production.  It is, apparently, his main claim to fame, and, while it was a crowd pleaser, it certainly didn’t leave us longing for the good ole days.

            But all’s well that ends well, and the season most definitely ended exceedingly well with the fully enjoyable and completely satisfying production of “Forty Second Street.”  Directed by Charley Repole, the show was loaded with great dancing (mostly of the tap variety), led by Melissa Lone as the gal from nowhere seeking a career on the big stage. 

            Mr. Repole got strong support from his entire cast and from the inventive costumes by Leon Wiebers and the choreography by Michael Lichtefeld (from Gower Champion’s original conceptions).  And Craig Barna led a crack 12-piece orchestra that had to be perfect to synchronize with all that tapping.

            So, four big hits, one one-woman show, a forgettable throwaway, and a single notably weak effort.  All in all, a solid B, maybe even a B+, with four strong A’s that leave us looking forward to yet another season of musicals in the round next summer.