Of Love and Chickens

For one glorious weekend in April, Fifteen Minutes becomes the second tackiest "FM" on campus. A crack team of writers, composers and producers from the class of 2003 have invested the better part of their year in the crafting of the aptly titled Star Crossed Dressers: The Freshman Musical. A better term might be "Freshman Play with Music," as the songs are generally brief and sandwiched between long scenes with little discernible plot; the rare consistencies emerged as Harvardian clich, developed into tired and predictable gags, and ultimately became an annoyance. Yes, dining hall food leaves something to be desired, the social scene is less than stellar, and the Hasty Pudding Club is-gasp-exclusive. While all valid points, we don't require a three-hour musical to tell us what we already knew by the end of orientation.

The text, though it generally seems like an ill-conceived improv sketch, does have it high points. Likewise, the cast bravely struggles against the banality of their lines, occasionally achieving something not totally unlike entertainment. Jared Greene '03 was delightfully serious as the misguided mystic, John, and James Crawford '03 nearly succeeded in ripping a character from the script's lifeless caricature, David. While they managed to salvage a performance from their script, others were simply overwhelmed. Caitlin Butler '03 (Tess) and Mia Lozada '03 (Malvolia) saw their talents go to waste, trapped within the confines of one-joke roles. Butler had to contend with well over half of her lines involving the living conditions of chickens, while Lozada was stymied by her character's Rumplestiltskian obsession over her name. Showcase cameos by producers Shelby Braxton-Brooks '03 and Zadoc Angell '03 seemed merely self-indulgent; Braxton-Brooks' Jade, while wonderfully domineering and beautifully danced, was a departure from the already shaky plotline, and Angell couldn't manage to make the animated-John-Harvard-statue gag any funnier than it wasn't in Puck Willoughby.

The "twins" in the show, Rachelle Gould '03 (Vicky) and Tom Dow '03 (Steve) each turned in solid, if somewhat unusual, performances. Gould's voice, reminiscent of a country-western balladeer, seemed out of place in the show's musical structure, and Dow invested so much raw energy that his character sometimes seemed to be a NoDoze junkie. While admittedly each was more engaged with their potential romantic partner, the siblings never achieved a level of chemistry outside of their basic sibling rivalry.

Led by Dan Sedgwick '03, the composers showed an understandable lack of stylistic maturity but a good deal of promise. While the team created several numbers which sounded like a blend of sit-com themes and video games from the mid-1980's, they did manage to slip a few nice duets and ensemble pieces into the mix, most notably Act Two's "Learning How to Tell You." Unfortunately, when the composers did hit upon a pleasant tune, the cast often seemed to choose their own, making it up as they went along. Variable vocal strength tended to muddle the lyrics in larger numbers, evoking a vague sentiment rather than clearly expressing anything that resembles a plot.

The show's inconsistent (though, given the script, largely appropriate) design vacillated between actors who looked like they had just stumbled in from the Yard and actors who looked like they had just stumbled in from burglarizing a costume warehouse. The set and lighting failed to take advantage of the technical capacities of the Agassiz Theatre, allowing for very few interesting visual effects.

Given the necessarily intense commitment of shaping the Freshman Musical, many of those involved show a great deal of theatrical potential. If they can pick themselves up, dust themselves off and acquire some experience and guidance, the class of 2003 just might have something to sing about.

STAR-CROSSED DRESSERS: THE FRESHMAN MUSICAL

written by

The Freshman Musical Team

directed by

Zadoc Angell '03

April 27-29

Agassiz Theater

written by

The Freshman Musical Team

directed by

Zadoc Angell '03

April 27-29

Agassiz Theater