Published: Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Village whoops it up behind the ‘Iron Curtain’
Broadway musical has glam, glitz and schtick
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Photo by Jay Koh
John Dewar (Sergei Schmearnov), Matt Wolfe (Howard Katz), Murray Finkel (Jared Michael Brown) and Nick DeSantis (Yengenyi Onanov) act in Village Theatre’s production of “Iron Curtain.”
The facts are: It was the 1950s, the Iron Curtain was up, tensions between Washington and Moscow were running high, and Broadway musicals were riding high.
The fiction is: KGB agents kidnap two down-and-out American writers of musicals, take them to Mother Russia, plunk both down with a piano and typewriter, put a gun to their heads and tell them to write. Why? The propaganda minister wants his musical beefed up.
Put the facts and fiction together.
You have heavies and heroes, average Joes and automaton proletariats and star-crossed lovers; undeserved misfortune and flag-waving patriotism; Charlie Chaplin double-takes, sight gags and Keystone Cop chase sequences; insane comedy; tin-pan-alley tunes with street-and-heart savvy lyrics; soft shoe, tap, and chorus line; and it’s all wrapped up and made to order for Village’s big, bright, bold style.
Do they deliver?
It’s a non-stop express from “Iron Curtain” up to “Iron Curtain” down.
The choreography is physical, vigorous and eye-catching to watch. The music is bigger than life, anything is possible and incurably romantic. The ups, downs and all-arounds are the Mad Hatter’s Tea Ride on an out-of-control roller coaster.
Jared Michael Brown and Matt Wolfe have the Abbott and Costello down pat. They are the Rodgers and Hammerstein.
Carolyn Magoon is a sweetheart as a sweetheart.
Laughs and more laughs: that is Soviet KGB, courtesy of John Dewar and a German dominatrix, thanks to Bobbi Katula.
Dare I say it?
This is a Village musical spoofing a time of nightmare, in not so ancient American history. The laughs are good for the soul.
Reactions? Comments? Email Dale Burrows at entertainment@heraldnet.com or grayghost7@comcast.net.
The fiction is: KGB agents kidnap two down-and-out American writers of musicals, take them to Mother Russia, plunk both down with a piano and typewriter, put a gun to their heads and tell them to write. Why? The propaganda minister wants his musical beefed up.
Put the facts and fiction together.
You have heavies and heroes, average Joes and automaton proletariats and star-crossed lovers; undeserved misfortune and flag-waving patriotism; Charlie Chaplin double-takes, sight gags and Keystone Cop chase sequences; insane comedy; tin-pan-alley tunes with street-and-heart savvy lyrics; soft shoe, tap, and chorus line; and it’s all wrapped up and made to order for Village’s big, bright, bold style.
Do they deliver?
It’s a non-stop express from “Iron Curtain” up to “Iron Curtain” down.
The choreography is physical, vigorous and eye-catching to watch. The music is bigger than life, anything is possible and incurably romantic. The ups, downs and all-arounds are the Mad Hatter’s Tea Ride on an out-of-control roller coaster.
Jared Michael Brown and Matt Wolfe have the Abbott and Costello down pat. They are the Rodgers and Hammerstein.
Carolyn Magoon is a sweetheart as a sweetheart.
Laughs and more laughs: that is Soviet KGB, courtesy of John Dewar and a German dominatrix, thanks to Bobbi Katula.
Dare I say it?
This is a Village musical spoofing a time of nightmare, in not so ancient American history. The laughs are good for the soul.
Reactions? Comments? Email Dale Burrows at entertainment@heraldnet.com or grayghost7@comcast.net.