42nd St. Moon's The Golden Apple


My Top Five Reasons to see it, even if it closes today.

Disclosure: I do marketing for 42nd St. Moon, including being their BlogMaster. Clearly I'm not objective.

Without further ado, the Top 5 reasons to see The Golden Apple:

5. Dave Dobrusky does, as per usual, an amazing job making a single piano sound like an orchestra. Or at least a tight combo. There are some wonderful instrumental sections, particularly, with a tremendous amount of syncopation and a driving melody that are just a joy to hear him attack. Can never mention enough how much the musical directors at 42nd St. Moon are critical to a show's quality. It's all on their shoulders, and Dave shines.

4. The fabulous women of 42nd St. Moon. I'm not sure I've seen a show on the Moon stage in recent memory that was so fully populated with leading ladies. Seriously, you've got (in order of appearance) Alexandra Kaprielian, Darlene Popovic, Stephanie Rhoads, Caroline Altman and Nina Josephs in both leading and supporting roles, any one of which has performed starring roles for the Moon in the last few years. That's a lotta star power, and really makes all of the specialty numbers shine as much as the plot-driven numbers. It was fun seeing some tackle roles they specialize in...like Caroline as the romantic lead, and some tackle roles that were a bit different, like Stephanie at her wacky best, and Nina, so innocent in Miss Liberty, going all sex-goddess.

3. Some trenchant and witty lyrics. Since the whole story is told in song, lyrics are critical to The Golden Apple. Being who I am I particularly enjoyed some surprisingly current lyrics about war and politics. The song about much invaded peoples loved our conquering heroes could, particularly, have been a satiric number written for today's stage.

2. A little steaminess does a body good. Back when 42nd St. Moon performed at the New Conservatory Theatre, we got used to a little nakedness around the theatre...over on the other stages. But 42nd St. Moon shows depict breathless romanticism a lot more often than they depict heavy breathing. It was fun to see the Moon get a little racy. And all props to Alexandra and Jerry Van Carlos Gore for making the temperature rise in the theatre.

1. I must confess to a personal favorite on the stage: I could not keep my eyes off of Kristopher McDowell as Hector. I enjoyed watching him sometimes when he wasn't even the focus of attention, because he was always right there engaged in the action, responding in character. Big performances walk a fine line. There is a point where over-the-top becomes just overboard. Kristopher never crosses that line. Now part of the reason is that the rest of the cast is also so committed and energized that he stands out in a good way, he doesn't stick out like a sore thumb!

The Golden Apple is not your typical show. I do think it challenges both the actors and the audience, so it's easy to see why it's rarely-produced. I think this challenge motivated the Moon cast, though, and we, the audience are rewarded with their zeal and their skill.

Posted: Sun - April 9, 2006 at 11:21 AM       EmailFeedback

©