HARTLAND - When one has become
accustomed to high-quality community theater, the expectations
can work against a given production.
Such is the case in The Lake Country Players' present
offering, "Phantom of the Op'ry." The play didn't in
any way measure up to the choices and performances of past LCP
shows as "South Pacific," "Camelot,"
"Sabrina Fair," "The Dining Room,
"Company" and the stunning "The 26th Annual
Spelling Bee."
Farce and melodrama are not my personal favorites, but they
can be very well executed, and I often end up enjoying them,
despite my somewhat negative preconceptions.
I try to be as objective as any human being can be. But
this script, a spoof of the original "Phantom of the
Opera," had little going for it in terms of its humor or
its music. In fact, it was a sorry choice. Even some of the
actors whom I've seen and enjoyed before had little to work
with here, though they tried their best to squeeze what they
could from very meager fare.
The play refers to critics as being sadistic folks who are
envious of talented performers, and therefore, get some kind
of pleasure in lambasting them. I'm sure there are critics who
fit that description. I, however, am not one of them.
If anything, I sin on the side of being too forgiving, too
appreciative of the effort involved in executing a worthy
production. But I have to be honest to maintain my own
integrity, and to say I was not impressed by this show would
be an understatement.
However, as is true of most shows, even the bad ones, there
are always redeeming moments. Several characters did the best
they could with inferior material:
Mary Melter as Guppy (good comic sense), Larson Seaver as
Humphrey Rainwater (who had one of the best lines in the play
- "Hey, don't blame me. I didn't write this stuff,")
Emilie Neij as Dora (good German accent), Tracy Stefanski
(best singing voice), Heather Rhoer (good energy and strong
vocals), Ruth Behrend and Dorothy Blish (good mileage out of
cameo roles) and Betsy Francoeur (amusing pantomime in the
death scene).
Act II was better than act I, which moved too slowly. The
musical accompaniment by Cathy Paquette and Robert Gagliano
was precise. The only musical number that pleased my ear was
Stefanski's "Too Good to Be True." The ensemble
number "One-Man Military Industrial Complex" was
mildly clever.
The show runs through Nov. 6. I challenge you to totally
enjoy the production and prove me as mean-spirited as Silky
Acidtongue, the theatre critic in the show.