A Salmon-Chanted Evening!
One of the great pleasures one can have in this life is to take a child to a live show and share an experience in which you both are entertained with such good will and talent that it becomes a moment you'll always remember, and hopefully so will the child. That's what you're in for when you take a child (in my case, my 5-year-old nephew Hudson) to F.A.C.T.'s (Friends Always Creating Theatre) production of "The Mermaid's Tale" music and lyrics by John Stutte and Jack Dyville, and directed by Mr. Dyville. The Great Room at 138 S. Oxford St. in Fort Greene turns out to be a unique and yet befitting stage for this musical adaptation. You walk in and feel like you've just enrolled in an Ivy League college course with the beautiful wood paneling all around you as you face a very classy studious-looking performance area. This turns out to actually be perfect for this production that although takes place under the sea on one story-telling level, more directly occurs in a classroom as we watch a class of students come together to prepare their project: a staging of the 1911 nove by L. Frank Baum, "The Sea Fairies." The interactive nature of this evening begins immediately as the cast wanders in very cleverly disguising their demeanor to simulate fellow theatre patrons. The tactic is fun but also serves to keep you on your toes for any other surprises. The audience is even part of the "class" briefly when we are asked in an introduction a few questions and kids are invited to raise their hand to answer. But when the plot gets underway with David Gillam Fuller at the teacher organizing all the students to put together their presentation of the story, the musical aspect unfolds as well with students taking on characters from the story. The singing is all marvelous. So many terrific and pretty voices among the cast of mermaids which include Amy Marie Stewart (who has a skillfully subtle way with a line delivery indicating a sweet sincerity that works hard at suppressing her character's snarky observation of certain absurdities around her), Nicole DiMattei (managing somehow to look both sexy and cherubic), Vicki Oceguera (whose several time-outs for clarification of her feelings about the events and dangers unfolding are always amusing), Maren Fisher (the Queen of the mermaids bearing her regality quite nicely), and Kacey Cardin (equally lovely in her pretty light blue mermaid gown, all of which by the way are nicely tailored to each lady and all with a very smartly counterbalanced different solid color). If you're not shy, prepare yourself to be invited up on stage to dance for a brief period near the start as the show gets underway. This is all a very welcome aspect of the show, expecially for a children's theatre presentation. The interactive nature trails off sharply however as the show continues, and perhaps a slight injection of more of it here or there in the first act might be needed, particular about 3/4 of the way through, but luckily things pick up dramatically just in time as a the mermaids and Cap'n Bill find themselves captured by sea serpents. It's an effective underwater cliffhanger to end the first act on, allowing children to eagerly await the outcome. Act Two introduces a very intriguing villain for kids to behold with Charles Moran's lithe and creepy Zog. The zippy second act sees Marjorie Conn's King Anko come to the rescue, along with Kyle Torrence's Prince Sacho (with a Martin Short-like funny character accompanying his fine singing) transcend his slave role. Musically, my favorite moment was Act Two's "A Golden Sword" as the mermaids sing a lovely counterpoint from the back of the audience to Mr. Fuller's centerstage baritone. It sounds enchanting and noble. Rodrigo Bolanos ties the shows visuals together with his scenice design, and Heather Edwards performs the miracle of single handedly providing all the music with her expertise on the piano accompaniment. I'm just always so impressed with how these musical show accompanists can supply all you need instrumentally to these types of shows. Bravo to her and all the singers. So bring your child to one of the three remaining shows: March 9, 10, 11th. My nephew brought his autographed program to school the next day for show and tell-- that's how pleased he was with the experience!

Reviewed by billkozy on Tuesday, Mar 6th, 2012