"Spellbound" is a work in progress. It's no secret. This is the world premiere showing of what is subtitled "a musical fable". Gary F. Bell. the artistic director of Stray Dog Theatre and co-author of the musical, talks about it as he welcomes the audience. "What you see tonight may well be different by the time we end this run. The show is still being tweaked."
There's nothing wrong with that. All new shows – and lots of old ones if they survive that long – go through this. It's part of the creative process. And it gives the audience, if they choose to, a chance to think critically about the play. What would they move around, edit, delete, rewrite?
But it's easy to get so wrapped up in "Spellbound" that critical thinking can get shoved aside, if one's not fully accustomed to it. Bell and his co-author Robert L. White have amalgamated a number of folk and fairy tales from different groups with a basic story line that's most similar to Cinderella. At first it's a little unfocused, partly because it's difficult to make out the lyrics, but eventually one can get the drift of things.
The wicked stepmother Layla is Deborah Sharn, whose hair would do justice to a Texas lady in 1970. Opposite her as Inaambura, who is, in effect, the good witch, is Paula Stoff Dean. Both excellent voices with fine acting and some elegant scenery-chewing when the script calls for it. They're matched by Meadow Tien Nguy, Arabella, who's the Cinderella-like ingenue, a role that doesn't demand as much vocally, but Nguy certainly rises to her occasion in the song "Wings of an Angel". Arabella is no passive housemaid who relies on mice and birds to help her out – we watch her emerge into her strength. She's at first rather ambivalent about this fancy guy who decides she's something different than the women he's been chasing all his life. (Why she succumbs isn't really explained, but perhaps she hasn't worked through some abandonment issues.)
That brings us to the men. The above-mentioned fancy guy, Adama, Chris Tipp, is no prince, just the only son of a wealthy citizen of this imaginary village. A good looking guy well-practiced in his louthood, we're not sure if he's a great catch for anyone, and Tipp makes sure we understand that. His father, Changamire, Zachary Stefaniak, is almost tearing out his hair over the youth. Still, Inaambura is willing to help Changamire out with a little magic – and, we notice, something more. Their duet "Romance, It Seems, Is Wasted on the Young" is a delight.
Some of the smaller parts are memorable. Tyler Cheatem as Lovely, the voice in a bottle, is hard to take one's eyes off. The whole second act is great fun with songs from Rasputin Rat, Corey Fraine, the singer Lady Bird, played by Kimmie Kidd, and her piano man Michael A. Wells, and and Chris Tipp (again) as a Bengal tiger. There are, by the way, three acts, rather uncommon in modern musicals.
It's a big cast and a 9-piece orchestra that's mostly very well coordinated.The costumes are a delight, the feeling everything from "Hair" to "Cats" to one of those goofy post-dawn dreams. A few are semi-realistic, but mostly it's the fantasies of Eileen Engel and Gary F. Bell brought to life and motion. Rob Lippert's scenic design worked well and the lighting from Tyler Duenow excelled. Bell also directed.
The show needs tightening a little more, and the incomprehensible lyrics are a fixable problem. But it's fun, and interesting.
Spellbound
through August 22, 2015
Stray Dog Theatre
Tower Grove Abbey
2336 Tennessee Ave.
314-865-1995
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I had the chance to see the show last week! I love the music and would buy the cast album if it were available. I have not been able to get the Bengal Tiger song out of my head. I also loved Blue Water Stream and wings of an angel.Super fun show that I would see again!