Two Steps Forward, One Back

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Music by Richard Rodgers; Book and Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Directed by David Hock
Scottsdale Community Players
Stagebrush Theatre, Scottsdale
(480) 990-7405
January 6th - 29th, 2006
$10.00 - $20.00
Discount tickets may be available at

The regime change at Stagebrush Theatre seemed to be heading in the right direction. First they mounted a cute Godspell, then a brooding Crucible, but now comes the first bump in the road, a production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel that is awkward and full of problems. However, this isn’t just a misstep, it’s a full-fledged about-face. Never an easy show to mount, director David Hock has taken a large, somewhat inept cast and shuffled them around the stage into blocks and rows. The pacing is demonic, often pitched full forward until someone decides to become emotional, then it stops on a dime and becomes languid. His choreography is blandly simplistic, not from lack of inspiration but rather from a recognition that almost no one in the cast can dance; the ensemble spends more time staring at their feet and laughing about their mistakes than moving. Some leads work, others wallow, and still others appear less interested in the show than in what comes after. The concept of John Odom’s set is initially interesting, but in practice it is haphazard and draws focus away from the scene. Lorraine Greenberg’s orchestra sounds good, but the famed second act ballet sequence, Hock’s only expertly choreographed piece in the show, is set to a dubbed recording ripped straight from the soundtrack of the movie, complete with onstage performers mouthing the lines of the original film actors. I actually found myself embarrassed for the company.

Alex Gonzalez, fresh from his dark turn as Jud Fry in Hale’s Oklahoma! is a distracted Billy Bigelow. He rushes through his acting scenes to stop every once in awhile and sing some pretty tunes. He’s got the look and the voice, but he doesn’t seem to be committed to the character’s arc. Nicole Lang is a proper Julie Jordan. She plays Julie’s enigmatic way and skirts the enabler shadow that darkens her motivations. Her lovely voice propels many of her songs. Megan Kurtz is a loveable Carrie intent on marrying Mr. Snow. She plays the best friend/sidekick well, supporting Lang without overwhelming her, and she also has a solid voice. At first glance, Martin Gonzalez does not seem the right choice for the object of Kurtz’s affection, and he certainly doesn’t do things like act or have his lines down, but there’s something squeezably soft about him that makes dissing him feel a little dirty, which is probably why he’s perfect for the role of Mr. Snow. Lisa Murat has a lot of stage presence as Nettie, doing a great job leading songs like “June is Bustin’ Out All Over,” although it is often her tunes that are the greatest lowlights of the ensemble of two left feet. The worst miscasting of the year award may yet go to Ryan Tang as the least threatening Jigger ever to traipse the boards. His greasepaint stubble, silly scowl, and always pocketed hands set him more as a declawed pussy cat than a cold, hard killer.

Then there’s that ensemble. Some stand out: Stephanie Saladino’s Louise is a dancing demon, though her acting is too obvious. Fred Gerle is a fine heavenly friend, but poor Charlie LaSeur looks like he’s trying to hide under buckets of makeup to disguise himself from the audience in his brief cameos as Bascome. For the rest, I’m reminded of another ensemble from a previous Stagebrush production: Babes In Arms. To think, it was only last season that they mounted another show with a mammoth ensemble effectively, and yet this was the ensemble that sank. The few that had characters dropped them to look into the audience, or to stare at the feet of the one person in the ensemble who could dance, or just pushed each other jokingly when one tripped on the other or belted a blatting note. I once again beg directors to reconsider before filling out the cast with those who didn’t make it through auditions the first time.

Odom’s choice for a projection scrim at the back is clever, but it kept alternating between realistic video (by Christopher Miller) of a working carnival and a Maine landscape with lapping water that reminded me of those 3-D pictures you shift back and forth to see the scene move, and pathetic 2-D cartoons of clouds, often in the middle of scenes. His inadvertently mobile home set led to some unanticipated laughs. Bob Nelson’s lighting sets up areas nicely, and Carolyn Christy’s costumes range from good calls on most of the women to bungles like a modern Phoenix police department patch on a turn-of-the-last-century Maine patrolman.

Despite some good and a lot of embarrassing theatre, many of the audience rose for a standing ovation. Wasn’t there a time that getting one of those required more than just showing up? I’m left to wonder what I will have to do in acknowledging a worthy show: swing from the lighting instruments? Concentrate on most of the leads, and this long evening will not feel quite so endless.

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