You are likely to enjoy this musical for the endlessly inventive choreography/staging created by Luis Salgado

 

 

 Reviews  

Serenade

	Joshua Henry and Anika Larsen in Serenade

The play's protagonist, Thomas (portrayed by the luminous Joshua Henry, last seen in the ensemble of In the Heights) is something of a modern-day Prince Myshkin, only without the title or wherewithal. Having mastered the art of silhouette-making to amuse his bedridden mother, he hops a train to the big city to seek his fortune after her death. Just which city and when are left purposefully vague: "fictional" is all the program will tell us. The physical details -- Tobin Ost's backdrop grid of weathered pine lathing in a striated wash of light by Herrick Goldman, plus Andrea Varga's non-period-specific costumes -- leave the field wide open.

Clearly we're dealing in archetypes here, such as art versus commerce or social conscience versus capitalism. Yet, Thomas is oblivious to the broader ramifications. He immediately spends his paltry coins on fruit and toys, which he joyfully dispenses to passersby. He falls in love with Hannah (Anika Larsen), the first woman he sees twice. Having secured a lonely cubicle of a room encircled by chanting monks, a fractious couple, and a weeping woman, he counts himself lucky until he fails to find work (there's a marvelous song about instant rejection, "Fill in the Blank") and begins a downward spiral, all the while resisting despair. Moreover, you're sure to feel for Thomas as he attends a dance party (snappily choreographed by Luis Salgado) in his beloved's honor, bearing a heartbreaker of a hostess gift. Later, he tries to go upwardly mobile for her sake.

All 18 cast members, under April Nickell's crisp direction, are certifiable triple threats. Larsen (currently on a short break from Xanadu) employs a powerful, almost steely soprano that's very effective in an exuberant duet, "Fantasy Classifieds." Nicole Lewis, as a woman reluctantly pawning her mother's most treasured possession, lends a lovely timbre to her ballad of disillusionment and loss. Eileen Rivera tickles as Hannah's acerbic invalid aunt; Amanda Hunt is touching as a loquacious nurse who herself longs to be touched; and Chris Harbur ably embodies the crabby voice of authority in multiple roles.

While Serenade can't promise the easy humor of Sheinkin's award-winning The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, it echoes its predecessor's unsettling subtext of strife and stress and insecurity. We can't all be saintly like Thomas, but having witnessed the straits he endures with unfailing good faith, there's a strong chance we'll emerge as more compassionate human beings.

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Serenade
by Rob Lester
EDGE Boston Contributor
Monday Dec 10, 2007

There’s a sweetness and overwhelming humanity to Serenade, and an enthusiasm, too. No wonder. It’s the first production of a new theater company with a humanistic mission. To quote Jaradoa’s statement, they aim to "promote mercy, beauty, and truth through performance and service." They believe in "compassionate action" and the action of the stage is fluid and full of feeling and their offstage action involves teaching and performing for senior citizens, with kids at schools, and an alternative-to-incarceration program for teens. The performers involved in their maiden voyage of a show are finely tuned, with some wonderful voices, disciplined dancing, and fine ensemble work. While I regret having to say that I was not fully engaged by the show, I certainly admire the intent, the integrity, and the message of human kindness. But let me add that I saw the first performance and I suspect it will sharpen and deepen.

It will help going in if you know you’re not in for a typical theatre experience with a realistic story and characters. And that’s often fine. Note that the program states the Action transpires in "a fictional city; a fictional time." But of course we see parallels with our own times-or anybody’s, or there’d be little point, right?

The story, such as it is, involves a kindly, rather innocently wide-eyed, determinedly optimistic young man who wears his heart on his sleeve (where it can easily be shredded, poked, and damaged by those he encounters). Earnest, sincere, wanting to reach out and be reached out to, he’s easily hurt and easily ready to try, try again as life squashes him a bit. Despite the stylized presentations of how life and other not-so-humane humans cause him to lose innocence, hope, or heart, he never totally does so. Likewise, he’s not ready to build a wall around himself the way we all learn to do for self-protection. He’d be the first to smash it or pass you the sledgehammer. Poor Thomas, played with wide-eyed gentle goodwill by Joshua Henry, certainly has his challenges. There’s the rejection by the woman he thinks he loves, who might be stuck in superficiality. There’s the world of work that sets up roadblocks and is populated by drones and hard-edged, inconsiderate folks. Then, there is his claustrophobic living quarters with the neighbors he can hear through the walls: a woman who cries constantly, chanting monks, and an unsympathetic fellow who just wants the rent, thank you very much, explains: "The people on that side are very sad. The people on that side are very angry."

Much of the play is very stylized and a great deal of the time is devoted to song, though some are in short, suggested sketch-like style with lyrics that repeat simple lines rather than develop them. (Several are more mantra-like, with souls bared or crying out for human contact: "I need someone, I need something" or "Please, please touch me"). Some are more satisfying, like the moving company number called Gray. Here, we see characters dressed in white with just bits of color as they sing, "Lift me out of gray," longing to escape their colorless world and have fuller, more intellectually and emotionally connected lives with other people. There are 23 individual numbers listed in the program within this 90-minute show, performed without an intermission. Book and lyrics are by Rachel Sheinkin (Tony winner for her book for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, which this does not resemble) who collaborated on the story with Nils Olaf Dolven, the composer.   The striking and well-performed choreography is by Luis Salgado and musical direction is by Jared Stein.

Anika Larsen (Xanadu and Zanna, Don’t!) is Hannah, the imperfect lady who catches Thomas’s eye and heart, and sings powerfully and effectively. She manages to bring a warmth and warts-and-all sense to a character who could be cold or cardboard. (She is also co-founder and associate artistic director of this new company.) The other co-founder and its managing artistic director, April Nickell, directs the piece with what sounds like a contradiction in terms: a tender touch with a strong hand. But maybe sometimes she showed her hand too much: the agenda and intent are sometimes so clear that scenes and characters are predictable or their goals overwhelm their entertainment value and dramatic potential. There are flashes of power and gripping moments. A few bits of comic relief serve as much needed spice. For example, a trio of workers at a publishing house where Thomas tries in vain to find interest in his book of silhouette art explains they are paid to be coldly rejecting. An impatiently sharp-tongued, sick aunt of Hannah is played with wonderful vinegar and brisk comic timing by Eileen Rivera. Then there’s the guy in the coffin, a welcome quirky bit.

But more typical are scenes where sincerity or anguish burst forth and billow out like curtains that eventually wrap themselves tightly around the audience: "I want to see what happens if I live without fear!" or "I can’t follow to a Heaven that’s not mine!"


At Teatro LA TEA at Cemente Soto Velez Cultural Center, 107 Suffolk St. Thru 12/15. See www.jaradoatheater.org

Rob Lester is a freelance writer living in New York City. He also the "Sound Advice" CD review column and other articles for www.TalkinBroadway.com, as well as pieces for www.CabaretExchange.com and is a judge for the annual Nightlife Awards. As far as music, he has a lifelong affection, collection and connection.

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Theater

THEATER REVIEW | 'SERENADE'

MORE ON 'Serenade'

A Rube Takes on the City and Falls for a Woman

By NEIL GENZLINGER

Published: December 10, 2007

Jaradoa Theater is off to a promising if not very pithy start with “Serenade,” a new musical that is the company’s first full production. What the show lacks in plotting depth, which is a lot, it makes up for in sheer energy and a fearless mix of musical and choreographic styles.

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Ben Strothmann

Joshua Henry and Anika Larsen in the musical “Serenade,” at Teatro La Tea.

Here’s the gist: A rube named Thomas comes to the big city (which one is left unspecified, as is the time period), finds his relentless optimism tested at every turn, becomes lovestruck and spends a lot of time trying to locate and win the girl (Anika Larsen). Joshua Henry gives a fine performance as Thomas, though the thin story forces him to freeze his face into a naïve grin for virtually the entire show.

“Serenade,” a more or less sung-through musical, at Teatro La Tea, could get by with the bare-bones plot if there were more nuance in evidence. In this production, though, too many numbers come on like a full-force gale; the drama in the songs doesn’t match Thomas’s rather ordinary meanderings.

That said, the lyrics by Rachel Sheinkin (whose book for “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” won a Tony) are inventive and often sublimely poetic, and Nils Olaf Dolven’s music rocks. It’s a pairing worth watching.

“Serenade” continues through Saturday at Teatro La Tea, 107 Suffolk Street, Lower East Side, (212) 868-4444.

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