[NEohioPAL] Review of "Dr. Dolittle" by Mercury Summer Stock

[Bob Abelman]

Mercury's 'Dr. Dolittle' is delightful musical theater on a stick

 

Bob Abelman

 

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times,

The Morning Journal, Geauga Times Courier

Member, American Theatre Critics Association 

 

This review will appear in the News-Herald 6/1/11

Mercury Summer Stock is the theater equivalent of the Good Humor ice cream truck.  From June to August, it delivers refreshing, colorful, and creatively concocted confections that are spectacularly void of nutritional value. 

 

Mercury's 13th season opens with Dr. Dolittle, a silly bit of storytelling with book, music and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse.  The musical is based on the 1967 film that was adapted from illustrated children's books written in the 1920s by Hugh Lofting.  

 

If ever there was a piece of musical theater treacle on a stick it would be this.

 

Dr. John Dolittle is a physician who favors animals over humans and has learned to speak their languages.  The musical condenses Dolittle's entire back story into the first act under the pretense of a murder trial.  As the good doctor testifies that he threw a rescued seal off of a cliff and into the ocean, and not a woman, a series of song-filled flashbacks explain Dolittle's affinity for all things fish, fowl and four-legged.  

 

Through the flashbacks we meet Dolittle's human and animal BFFs, which include the fast-talking Irishman Matthew Mugg, a young boy named Tommy Stubbins, adversary-turned-affectionate advocate Emma Fairfax, and Polynesia the parrot.  We also meet Jip the dog, Gub-Gub the pig and Pushmi-Pullyu, a two-headed llama, among others.

 

In Act 2, we join Dolittle and his friends on a sea-faring adventure in search of the giant pink snail, which takes us to an exotic, floating island and its inhabitants.  

 

This is kid's stuff for sure and the show's co-directors Pierre-Jacques Brault and Brian Marshall fully recognize and wholeheartedly embrace this in their production.

 

All of Dolittle's furry and feathered friends are depicted as harmless looking hand puppets.  They are of limited dexterity and dubious quality (both heads on Pushmi-Pullyu seem to be Scooby-do rejects).  However, the uninhibited performers who sport them have created wonderfully appealing personalities and, as is best exemplified in Emily Grodzik's performance as Dab Dab the duck, lose themselves in their creatures. 

 

The staging and choreography is built to accommodate short attention spans and limited space.  There in constant movement on stage and quite a bit that takes place among the audience, and all of it is engaging and creative.  The set is little more than a collection of boxes and panels decorated with text from the illustrated children's books, but the clever reconfiguration of the pieces creates plenty of variety.  Jonathan Anderson's costuming is an interesting hodgepodge of material that offers very colorful eye candy.

 

The actors playing humans do so broadly, which is immediately accessible to kids and very entertaining. Effervescent Brian Marshall as Irishman Matthew Mugg is a delightful intermediary between the audience and Dolittle's world, while Jennifer Myor's big voice and Kelvette Beacham's comic timing are put to good use as Emma Fairfax and island queen Straight Arrow, respectively.

 

Christopher Aldrich is hilarious as blusterous General Bellowes, who oversees Dolittle's trial, as are Dan DiCello and Neely Gevaart as circus owners Albert and Gertie Blossom.  Young Nathan Hoty, as the boy who gets to accompany Dr. Dolittle on his adventures, appears to be sleepwalking through the production.

 

Pierre-Jacques Brault has channeled the spirit of Willie Wonka in his portrayal of Dolittle.  Actually, he has somehow created an amalgamation of Gene Wilder's innocence from the first film version of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Johnny Depp's insanity from the second.  It works and is a pleasure to watch.

 

Brault also sells his largely unmemorable songs beautifully, despite the fact that they were written for film actor Rex Harrison's sing-speak styling and the music-produced only by Ryan Neal on a piano-is washed out by all that is happening on stage.

 

Although there is not much in this play that caters to adult sensibilities, the dueling duet "You're Impossible," sung by Brault and Myor, rises above the material.  So does the solo number "After Today," a romantic ballad that was modified to include Brault, Marshall and Myor.  Musical theatre magic happens when these three talented players join forces.  It may elude the little ones, as their eyes gravitate to things bright and colorful, but for the rest of us it's the real pay dirt in this production.   

 

Clearly Dr. Dolittle consists of the Good Humor equivalent of high fructose corn syrup, cellulose gum and artificial flavoring.  But, thanks to Mercury Summer Stock, all this combines to form something deceivingly attractive and very easy to swallow.

 

Dr. Dolittle continues through July 2 in The Cleveland Play House's Brooks Theatre, 8500 Euclid Ave., Cleveland.  For tickets, $15 to $18, call 216-771-5862 or visit www.mercurysummerstock.ticketleap.com/dr-dolittle.

 
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