By Alec Clayton
Published in The News Tribune Dec. 14, 2018
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| Joshua Jerard as Prince Caspian and Jessie Selleck as Rapunzel, photo courtesy Centerstage |
Few people in the United States know about
British pantomimes, also known as pantos, but they
have been a beloved holiday in London for decades and at Centerstage Theatre in
Federal Way for the past 11 seasons.
For those who still do not know, a panto is an outlandish
fairy tale retold as an extended Vaudeville routine for children and adults
with stock characters. There is always a fairy
godmother and a friendly character who narrates the story , and one or more overly
ugly “women” (men in outrageous drag), sometimes beautiful women playing men, a
handsome prince (often played by a woman); bad jokes and worse puns; tons of
local references and topical humor such as slams on places like Rife and
Enumclaw and jokes like being mad because the Seahawks traded Richard Sherman
to the Forty-niners; a lot of audience participation; and finally a lot of
rocking music, often popular music updated with comical lyrics.
“Rapunzel” is the story of the
beautiful princess, Rapunzel (Jessie Selleck) who was locked in a tower all her
life and grew her hair absurdly long – it has to be seen to be believed – and
how she was rescued from her imprisonment by the handsome Prince Caspian
(Joshua Jerard).
The humor, which is both
topical and local, begins with the names of some of the characters, such as
Dame Fanny Smalls (Brad Cerenzia), Fairy Good (Jenna McRill) and Fairy Nuff
(Michelle Abad).
Cameron Waters as the narrator
Sammy Smalls (Dame Fanny Smalls’ son) primes the audience like an announcer on
a TV show warming up the audience. He tells them when to applaud and cheer and
to boo and hiss whenever the evil fairy, Gothel (Deanna Martinez) comes on
stage. These two, Waters and Martinez, are the life of the performance.
Martinez nails the stereotypical evil witch character with her snarling and
sneering and her attempts to romantically snare willing and/or reluctant men in
the audience. She is big, brash and wonderful. And Waters is as loveable as a
character can be in the role of the narrator. His energy and his range of
expression is perfect.
Selleck as the title character
displays an ability to run words together in breathlessly long sentences that
will rattle your head, and she sings beautifully – especially mesmerizing in
her solos on “How far I’ll Go” and “When Will My Life Begin”. Jerard as Prince
Caspian also sings terrifically and is funny and loveable.
Also notable are performances
by John Kelleher as King Bertie; Barrett Penrod, a member of the large ensemble
whose dancing and broad gestures are delightful; and Leila Neidlinger as the
Fairy Queen and a member of the youth ensemble. Neidlinger is a fourth grader
with acting chops worthy of an experienced adult. Watch for her to light up
stages for years to come.
The wild antics appeal to
children in the audience, while the ridiculous puns and topical humor appears
to the adults. In previous years a lot of the adult humor took the form of
slightly risqué barbs and double entendre, but not so much this year.
Two warnings: first, you might
not be able to escape the audience participation, and second, at almost three
hours including intermission it is long for a show appealing to children – but
it did seem to wholly hold their rapt attention.
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m.
Saturday-Sunday, through Dec. 23
WHERE: Centerstage at Knutzen Family Theatre,
3200 SW Dash Point Road, Federal Way
TICKETS: $35 adults, $30,
Seniors, Military: $15; Youth (18-23): $12 17 and younger (plus 5% City
of Federal Way admission tax)
INFORMATION: (253) 661-1444,
www.centerstagetheatre.com
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