Summer of Love
by Jonas Schwartz, theatermania.com
April 6th 2011 Roger Bean's new jukebox musical,
Summer of Love, now premiering at Musical Theatre West, covers the same time
period as Hair, and while the show lacks the heft of that monumental
musical, offering a much more pasteurized -- and extremely tuneful --
version of life in the late 1960s, it's undeniably fun.
Runaway bride Holly (Melissa Mitchell) has avoided her big day by crossing
the Golden Gate Bridge, clad in her classy white wedding dress, and ends up
wandering around San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury. She is taken in by a
commune of flower children, and begins to explore her independence as she
sheds the bourgeois box in which her family has locked her. However, the
backdrop of the war, heavy drugs, and civil unrest of the period are only
touched upon, while the smells of incense and the sound of the sitar are
fully present.
Unlike so many musicals that shoehorn songs into characters' mouths without
good reason, Summer Of Love feels fully integrated. Take Holly's rendition
of "The Theme from Valley Of The Dolls," which speaks directly to her
confusion, or Mama Cass' "Make Your Own Kind of Music" sung by the group's
sage, Mama (Victoria Strong), while welcoming Holly to a life of freedom.
In addition, musical directors Michael Borth and Michel Paternostro crisply
expand the melodies of such hot hits as Edwin Starr's "War" and Jefferson
Airplane's "White Rabbit," and Lee Martino's choreography takes the
lackadaisical movements of the period and adds a thrilling mixture of
precision and passion.
Michael Carnahan has built a playground of a set that lends context to the
period, while costume designer Shon LeBlanc has fun using flea market wares,
particularly a Bloody Mary-stained wedding dress that easily converts into a
sassy mini.
Most importantly, there is not a weak link in Bean's cast, including
Mitchell and Strong. Alyssa M. Simmons naughty rendition of "White Rabbit"
is both haunting and titillating. Michael J Willett brings warmth and
youthful sexuality to "Somebody To Love" and "San Francisco." Doug Carpenter
brings charm into his numbers. Callie Carson, utilized for comic relief,
brings a dizzy bliss to her line readings. Above all, jaws drop when
Christine Horn opens her mouth; her powerhouse rendition of Joplin's "Piece
Of My Heart" is electric as is her painful rendition of "Dream A Little
Dream."
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