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“Meet Me In St. Louis” Sparkles Visually But Lacks In Soul, Song
By James Scarborough
“Meet Me In St, Louis,” with songs by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane, written by Hugh Wheeler, directed by Richard Israel for Musical Theatre West, was magnificently competent, bauble-shiny without being dazzling, and attention-holding without being memorable.
In short, the production did everything right except exhibit much soul.
It’s hard to tell what Musical Theatre West was trying to do here. The production was served up more like an obligation, variously but not convincingly exhilarating, sentimental, light-hearted and chagrined. It resembled a hand-painted postcard, a nostalgic trinket, something dragged out of the closet for its occasional display.
The entire production’s designed as one of those globes that rain snow when you shake it. Lights rim the stage. The dome-like quality gives the show a timeless quality; but it also suggests that it gets brought out, dusted off, and gawked at but once a year, after which time it gets put back into the closet until the next holiday.
For all that, the production does offer a cozy start to the holiday season. St. Louis sisters Rose and Esther are boy crazy about Warren and John Truitt (Jason Evans). Their lives are middle-class comfortable, their father is a junior executive, they have a maid, a grandfather, a brother who goes to Princeton, and two adorable little sisters. Ten months from when the story opens, the World’s Fair of 1904 will put their hometown at the center of the world.
Problem is, they won’t be there to celebrate: their father has been promoted, which is good, as it will continue to provide that middle class comfort, and which is bad, because it will require that they leave various romantic and other social ties to move to New York.
The production resolves whether or not they do leave St. Louis (they don’t), it examines the reasons why (love is a-bloom, the family’s roots are there), and demonstrates that, as with that other Midwestern musical whose movie version starred one Judy Garland, there’s no place like home.
The casting was somewhat keen, especially Robert Pieranunzi as Lon Smith Jr., Mary Gordon Murray as his mother, Anna, and the resplendent Cassie Silva, the sprightly Grace Kaufman, and the angelic Alexa Freeman as his sisters Esther, Tootie and Agnes.
The visuals, were exceptional. From the furniture to the porch to the windows, the house had a credible and comfortable turn-of-last-century Midwestern feel. The outfits were charming and made you glad you didn’t have to wear suits and corsets on hot St. Louis summer days. The engineering of the trolley car scene was scrumptious, and the finale, a very clever tribute to the 1904 World’s Fair, had the St. Louis skyline outlined in lights on the wings that continued into the audience’s space.
All of this spontaneous sparkle and giddiness, however, were offset by the visual clunkiness of Norman Large’s Alonso, the family’s patriarch, Kevin Cooney’s Grandpa Prophater, and Jeremy Bernard’s Warren Sheffield, beau of Rose (Sarah Bermudez).
And the songs didn’t rise to the occasion. “The Trolley Car Song” was energetic and spirited and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” was dewy and sincere, but they weren’t exactly scene-stealers, which is a pity because the visuals that accompanied each were stupendous.
Performances are at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, with a 7 p.m. show Sunday, Nov. 8. The show runs until Nov. 15. Tickets are $30-$80.
The Carpenter Performing Art Center is located at 6200 Atherton St.
For more information, call 856-1999, ext. 4, or visit www.musical.org.
In short, the production did everything right except exhibit much soul.
It’s hard to tell what Musical Theatre West was trying to do here. The production was served up more like an obligation, variously but not convincingly exhilarating, sentimental, light-hearted and chagrined. It resembled a hand-painted postcard, a nostalgic trinket, something dragged out of the closet for its occasional display.
The entire production’s designed as one of those globes that rain snow when you shake it. Lights rim the stage. The dome-like quality gives the show a timeless quality; but it also suggests that it gets brought out, dusted off, and gawked at but once a year, after which time it gets put back into the closet until the next holiday.
For all that, the production does offer a cozy start to the holiday season. St. Louis sisters Rose and Esther are boy crazy about Warren and John Truitt (Jason Evans). Their lives are middle-class comfortable, their father is a junior executive, they have a maid, a grandfather, a brother who goes to Princeton, and two adorable little sisters. Ten months from when the story opens, the World’s Fair of 1904 will put their hometown at the center of the world.
Problem is, they won’t be there to celebrate: their father has been promoted, which is good, as it will continue to provide that middle class comfort, and which is bad, because it will require that they leave various romantic and other social ties to move to New York.
The production resolves whether or not they do leave St. Louis (they don’t), it examines the reasons why (love is a-bloom, the family’s roots are there), and demonstrates that, as with that other Midwestern musical whose movie version starred one Judy Garland, there’s no place like home.
The casting was somewhat keen, especially Robert Pieranunzi as Lon Smith Jr., Mary Gordon Murray as his mother, Anna, and the resplendent Cassie Silva, the sprightly Grace Kaufman, and the angelic Alexa Freeman as his sisters Esther, Tootie and Agnes.
The visuals, were exceptional. From the furniture to the porch to the windows, the house had a credible and comfortable turn-of-last-century Midwestern feel. The outfits were charming and made you glad you didn’t have to wear suits and corsets on hot St. Louis summer days. The engineering of the trolley car scene was scrumptious, and the finale, a very clever tribute to the 1904 World’s Fair, had the St. Louis skyline outlined in lights on the wings that continued into the audience’s space.
All of this spontaneous sparkle and giddiness, however, were offset by the visual clunkiness of Norman Large’s Alonso, the family’s patriarch, Kevin Cooney’s Grandpa Prophater, and Jeremy Bernard’s Warren Sheffield, beau of Rose (Sarah Bermudez).
And the songs didn’t rise to the occasion. “The Trolley Car Song” was energetic and spirited and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” was dewy and sincere, but they weren’t exactly scene-stealers, which is a pity because the visuals that accompanied each were stupendous.
Performances are at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, with a 7 p.m. show Sunday, Nov. 8. The show runs until Nov. 15. Tickets are $30-$80.
The Carpenter Performing Art Center is located at 6200 Atherton St.
For more information, call 856-1999, ext. 4, or visit www.musical.org.
