Home  Entertainment Reviews Review: "Zanna, Don't" by Tim Acito (Nov. 17)
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Review: "Zanna, Don't" by Tim Acito (Nov. 17) |
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Written by Barry Gaines
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Saturday, 17 November 2007 |
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As promised, the musical “Zanna, Don’t” at UNM’s Rodey Theatre set the audience’s toes to tapping and faces to grinning. Tim Acito (with Alexander Dinelaris) wrote the book, music, and lyrics to this award-winning off-Broadway joy fest, and he was a special guest on opening night. He must have liked what he saw.
“Zanna, Don’t” is both conventional and unconventional. The “musical fairy tale” is set in a high school where typical values are turned inside out. At Heartsville High, the chess champion wears the letter jacket, the quarterback stars in the school play, and—most importantly—only same-sex couples are sanctioned and tolerated. Zanna, who talks to birds and has a potent magic wand, is the school matchmaker although he has ignored his own romantic needs. Chess champ Mike and quarterback Steve court to “I Think We Got Love” while Kate and Roberta hook up while sharing a mechanical bull (“Ride ’Em”). Not your daughter’s high school musical, you say. Or is it? Zanna finds that Steve makes his wand rise, but Steve and Kate exchange a passionate heterosexual kiss during the musical-within-a-musical and then confront their forbidden sexuality to the tender lyrics, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Scandalized, the school board bans heteros from the prom. Zanna solves the problem with his last bit of magic, and everyone lives happily ever after. Director Kathleen Clawson has done everything right in this production. Mike Schwalm designed an eye-catching cartoonish set in sherbet colors, especially lavender and pink. The set extends beyond the stage on both sides; action takes place there while main stage scenery is positioned. Joshua Bien’s lighting design keeps it working. The eight actors are bundles of talent and energy. Choreographer Wendy Leverenz-Barker keeps them in perpetual motion with clever ensemble moves. They all sing well, although my favorite among the men is Chris Gallegos (Mike) whose plaintive ballad “I Could Write Books” is as sweet as a cup of Ovaltine. Nathan Simpson plays several parts with comic glee and a fine voice. John Byrom is excellent as Steve. Among the ladies, L. Danielle Lenski is a pleasing Kate, Rachael Shapiro is wonderful as Candi, and Nicole Larsen is a pony-tailed dynamo as Roberta. The patter song “Fast” would make Gilbert and Sullivan’s Major General proud. Daniel Garcia shows emotional range as Zanna, and his duet with Leonard Hughes (Tank) provides a satisfying conclusion. Is the show derivative? Sure, but writer Acito acknowledges this with references to other musicals. Perhaps it is more Crisco than Grease, but no one is complaining. Zanna, Don’t” by Tim Acito plays at Rodey Theatre, UNM Center for the Arts, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through December 2. $20 general, $15 faculty and seniors, $10 students and staff. Call 925-5858.
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About Reviewers D.S. Crafts (Website) Composer Daniel Steven Crafts came to New Mexico from San Francisco where he had hosted a classical music radio program on KPFA. His first commission from opera star Jerry Hadley, "The Song & the Slogan" based on texts by Carl Sandburg, was made into a TV program for the PBS network and aired nationally in 2004 and won an Emmy for Best Music. His latest opera La Llorona is a collaboration with novelist Rudolfo Anaya based on his play "The Season of La Llorona." Mr. Crafts is currently working on another commission from Jerry Hadley for a piece about the American Southwest which includes texts by Rudolfo Anaya and V.B. Price. Two CDs of his music, Contemporaries (short, satirical keyboard works) and ARIAS (excerpts from his various operas) have been released on the BACAT label in San Francisco.
David Steinberg David Steinberg has covered state government, the courts, city and county government in Santa Fe for the Albuquerque Journal. He's been an arts writer for the past 20 years, and serves as the book editor, for the Journal. Over the years, he's also acted in plays, sung in choruses and played trumpet.
Jennifer Noyer Jennifer Noyer has been writing dance reviews for the Albuquerque Journal for 17 years, as well as contributing articles for Dance Magazine and other art journals. She trained in dance with Hanya Holm in New York City and Colorado Springs, and studied several dance techniques at the graduate level at the University of Michigan. After teaching dance at Wayne State University she entered and completed a Masters Degree in Humanities there. In New Mexico Ms. Noyer has taught, directed, and choreographed contemporary dance for several years. Her writing on dance includes a monograph accompanying the video of choreographer Bill Evens’ ballet “The Legacy.” An overview of Evans’s world wide career, it was written and published during his tenure at the University of New Mexico. Ms. Noyer’s studies in the humanities, and her studio dance work influence her approach to dance as an integrative art form in the United States.
Barry Gaines Barry Gaines has taught Shakespeare in the University of New Mexico English Department for over twenty-five years and has received two outstanding teaching awards. He has written theater reviews for the Journal since 2000. He has attended theater all over the world including Shakespeare productions in Russia, South Africa, Denmark, and Poland. He has also served as literary advisor for two professional theater companies and written performance reviews for Shakespeare Quarterly. Gaines has taken two years of acting with Paul Ford and appeared in small parts in three plays at the Albuquerque Little Theater. He believes that he is probably a better reviewer than actor.
Joanne Sheehy Hoover Joanne Sheehy Hoover, music critic emeritus of the Albuquerque Journal, has written for NPR, PBS, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Symphony, among others. She has also been a music lecturer for the Smithsonian Associates and a music critic and arts writer for The Washington Post. She was director of the Levine School of Music, one of the country’s largest community music schools, in Washington, D. C. 1980-1993. She and her husband moved to Corrales, New Mexico in July 1993. Also a poet, her fifth collection, “Einstein in New Mexico,” was published in 2002.
Marissa Greenberg Marissa Greenberg is a member of the faculty of the University of New Mexico English Department, where she teaches Shakespeare and early English literature. A prior guest reviewer for the Albuquerque Journal, Greenberg will be reviewing theater while Barry Gaines is out of town. She also composed and edited the program notes for last year’s Albuquerque Shakespeare Festival and has written performance reviews for Shakespeare Bulletin. A graduate of Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania, Greenberg has been performing and studying drama for most of her life. She is thrilled to have this opportunity to review for the Journal.
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