[NEohioPAL] STARMITES @ Porthouse/KSU

Fri Jul 4 11:56:33 PDT 2014

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*Sci-fi musical,  STARMITES, should delight many at Porthouse*

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle)

There was “Star Trek.”  Then “Star Wars.”  Then there were the werewolves
and vampires.  Then “Hunger Games.” Now there is “Starmites.”

On the surface, “Starmites” is a farcical musical about Eleanor, a shy,
awkward, teenage girl who escapes from the real world through an obsession
with sci-fi comic books.   Her walls are covered with space age drawings.  Her
bedspread and stuffed animals follow suit.  Much to the consternation of
her mother, the bedroom is enveloped in comic books.  Something has to
change!

Change comes when Eleanor becomes a participant in her fantasies and she
gets involved in an intergalactic adventure in which she is carried off
into a conflict between the evil Shak Graa and the Starmites, guardian
angels of Innerspace.

The “mites” believe that Eleanor is pre-ordained to save the universe. (*What
kind of fantasy would this be without a shy female who turns from nerd to
heroine*?)  Her task is to find a powerful musical instrument (which is
also a ray gun) before it falls into the hands of Shak Graa.  (*Ah, the
intrigue builds*.)   In their quest, the Starmites and Eleanor are joined
by a lizard named Trinkulus who leads them into the Shriekwood forest.  (*Be
wary of the green lizard that appears from nowhere!*)  Of course, in the
process, Eleanor and Space Punk, the leader of the Starmites, fall in love.
(*Don’t roll your eyes, this is a female tween fantasy and there has to be
a love story*.)

Of course there are a couple of plot twists, a challenge to the destruction
of the lives of the young lovers, but in the end the shy one and her geeky
boy friend win out.  (*Would you expect anything else?*)

If one were to analyze the goings on of this youthful, high-energy fantasy,
they’d discover a theme of discovering self-confidence, building
self-esteem, and how we discover the center of our strength.

The script contains many spoofs on the sci-fi genre that might go right
over the heads of adults and young children, but the tweens who I was
watching in the audience seemed much more attuned to the references and the
experiences of right versus wrong in an out of the world way, and “in”
references to the on-going language and plight of the mid-young set.

“Starmites,” with music and lyrics by Barry Keating and book by Stuart Ross
and Keating, saw its first light in 1980 at the Off-Off-Broadway Ark
Theatre.  It then moved Off-Broadway in 1987 and on to the Great White Way
in 1989, where it ran for 60 performances.  It received six Tony Award
nominations, including Best Musical.  (*That must have been a weak Broadway
season.  Yes, the winner was Jerome Robbins’ “Broadway” with the other
nominee being “Black and Blue.”  The never heard from again, “Blue and
Black”*).  Even with that underwhelming  competition,  “Starmites” won no
awards.

Keating’s music is mostly doo-wop, with a little gospel and ballad sounds
thrown in.  The songs, none of which hit the top ten, include “Superhero
Girl,” “Afraid of the Dark,” “Attack of the Banshees,” “The Dance of
Spousal Arousal,” and “Imolation.”  (*No, I did not conjure-up these title*
!)

Interestingly, there are three different versions of “Starmites.”  A junior
version is intended for grade and middle schools. “Starmites High School”
is aimed at the upper school grades, and “Starmites Pro,” the version being
produced at Porthouse, is intended for community theatre and
professional-level productions.

Porthouse’s production, under the direction of Michael McIntosh, has some
nice touches.  It also misses out on some of the intended fun.  There were
just not enough Marx Brother’s moments.  The script is fantasy, high farce,
ridiculous. The audience laughed in parts, where they should have been
hysterical.  The pace was too languid. (*Since I saw a preview performance
it is hoped that once the cast gets used to playing before an audience,
they  will let loose, have more fun, and play for the laughs and realize
the ridiculousness of the script.  Hey guys and gals, this isn’t Arthur
Miller or Tennessee Williams.*)

The music was fine, but needed to have some Spike Jones-like sounds to
accent and underscore the ironic idiocy.

The comic book set, props and costumes were okay, but, they, too, could
have been more outlandish.  The choreography needed more verve, more
gimmicks and less traditional “Broadway” moves.

There were some nice performances.

Lucy Anders, as Eleanor, has a nice voice.  Her “Love Duet,” sung with the
animated, comic and dance-talented, Daniel Lindenberger, (the most
Broadway- ready of the student performers), was well performed.  Lindenberger
and the Starmites’ (Elliott Lintherland, Dylan Ratell and Christopher Tuck)
rendition of “Milady” was nicely sung but needed a little more dynamism.

Colleen Longshaw wailed in “Hard to Be Diva.”

“Reach Right Down” sung by The Starmites, Diva, Eleanor and the Banshees
(Jessica Nicole Benson, Grace Falasco, Miriam Henkel-Moellmann and
Mackenzie Duan) rocked the house.

*CAPSULE JUDGMENT: Artistic Director Terri Kent and the Porthouse staff,
knowing their audiences, usually play it safe, producing the tried and true
musicals (e.g., “My Fair Lady,” “Sound of Music.”)  Doing “Starmites” was a
stretch.  It will be interesting to evaluate how the audiences respond and
whether that encourages future stretching of the boundaries.  (I’d love to
see them do “First Date” or “Bridges of Madison County,” recent Broadway
shows.)  As for the production, I would have preferred that, as the powers
that be had picked a ridiculous farce, that director Michael Macintosh, had
pulled out all the stops and created a staging that was parallel to the
bizarre sci-fi plot.*

“Starmites” runs from July 19, 2014 at Porthouse Theatre, on the grounds of
Blossom Music Center.

NEXT UP AT PORTHOUSE: “Oliver”” which runs July 24-August 10.  Curtain time
is 8 PM Tuesdays through Saturdays and 2 PM Sundays. The picnic grounds at
Porthouse open 90-minutes prior to curtain time.

For tickets http://www.porthousetheatre.com

 or 330-929-4416 or 330-672-3884

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