'§capino' Has Some Old and New F;;;;it;&cOu~Cnar-..n-21«
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. . '§capino' Has Some Old and New ByWALTERtAZENBY With the hot weather on a busy summer season has set- tied into East Central Illinois . Last week four openings at University of Illinois and at Eastern showcased their . summer companies' talents. This week the Little Theatre at Sullivan interrupts its regular schedule of musicals to begin a two-week run of a play starring Kitty Carlisle . And next week the Celebration Company in Urbana will present the third of Pulling Together its summer offerings, "When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder?" Friday night I saw "Scapino" at Eastern. This is a loose modernization, popular since its premiere in 1973-4, of Moliere's 1671 farce about a scamp named Scapin. Drawn as it is from Roman comedy and the commedia dell ' arte, the Moliere play not surprisingly turns on two love . affairs ("The game is hearts") threatened by two fathers' curmudgeonly behavior. The eventual triumph of youth's animal spirits and spontaneity over age's pattern, cautions and miserliness comes about through the lying and rascalities of the title character, who thus becomes a sort of hero. The up-date written by Frank Dunlop and Jim Dale has the faults of the original and some . of its own. Both works have slow beginnings with somewhat plodding expositions. But the adaptation seems to me cutely colorless in its use of loci color to depict a cafe bar at waterside in Naples, complete with juke box. There are tasteless puns ( A Turkish person is archly called "a delight") and by-play that passes for an attempt to create interest in the cafe bar personnel, who ought simply to remain ciphers. In addition to a couple of incidental songs within the play, it has a sung overture shot though the pseudo-Italian phrases ("avocado vinaigrette," etc .), which ought to be zestful and rousing and to establish the motif of spoofing. But as sung in the Eastern production the words were not clear (true, there were signs with some of the words on them); and the singers seemed to lack playful spirit. Especially when reprised on tape, the song took on serious quasi - operatic tone and dampened rather th lm . enlivened the snow. Further, inclusion of "Santa Lucia" and "Come Back to Sorrento" in the local production introduced inap- propriate nostalgia and sen- timent into an intentionally artificial play and made the action stand still utterly. Director Gerald Sullivan has overcome some of the dif- ficulties of the first act by designing elaborate chase sequences during which one can only wonder at the actors' agility in avoiding the pit. Though Act One remains rather forced, Act T wo really compensates , for it is here that the excellences of the production come to light. Here it is that Randy Haege as Scapino hit s his stride, im- personating the rogue i m- personating first Long John Silver with parrot, then a Chinaman, then a whole platoon of British soldiers . His per- formance in a very de m anding role is delicious . 1 sf ANNUAL JAYCEE Then there is a tour-de- force song and dance routine per- formed by Jim Osborn as Leandro and Lea Delaria as Zerbinetta (Close your eyes and you might think it's Ethel Merman) in celebration of the happy outcome . I A few other agreeable details : Duke Bagger 's and voice as Argante and Kevih Kelly's funny routine with thk line "What the devil was :t doing on that Boat?" Repeats Friday, Saturd and Sunday (matinee). PECIAL! THURSDAY and FRIDAY
Transcript of '§capino' Has Some Old and New F;;;;it;&cOu~Cnar-..n-21«
. .
'§capino' Has Some Old and New F;;;;it;&cOu~Cnar-..n-21« ByWALTERtAZENBY
With the hot weather on a busy summer season has settied into East Central Illinois.
Last week four openings at University of Illinois and at Eastern showcased their
. summer companies' talents. This week the Little Theatre at Sullivan interrupts its regular schedule of musicals to begin a two-week run of a play starring Kitty Carlisle. And next week the Celebration Company in Urbana will present the third of
Pulling Together
CARev;e~J its summer offerings, "When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder?"
Friday night I saw "Scapino" at Eastern. This is a loose modernization, popular since its premiere in 1973-4, of Moliere's 1671 farce about a scamp named Scapin.
Drawn as it is from Roman comedy and the commedia dell ' arte, the Moliere play not surprisingly turns on two love
. affairs ("The game is hearts") threatened by two fathers' curmudgeonly behavior. The eventual triumph of youth's
animal spirits and spontaneity over age's pattern, cautions and miserliness comes about through the lying and rascalities of the title character, who thus becomes a sort of hero.
The up-date written by Frank Dunlop and Jim Dale has the faults of the original and some
. of its own. Both works have slow beginnings with somewhat plodding expositions. But the adaptation seems to me cutely colorless in its use of loci color to depict a cafe bar at waterside in Naples, complete with juke box. There are tasteless puns ( A Turkish person is archly called "a delight") and by-play that passes for an attempt to create interest in the cafe bar personnel, who ought simply to
remain ciphers. In addition to a couple of
incidental songs within the play, it has a sung overture shot though the pseudo-Italian phrases ("avocado vinaigrette," etc.), which ought to be zestful and rousing and to establish the motif of spoofing. But as sung in the Eastern production the words were not clear (true, there were signs with some of the words on them); and the singers seemed to lack playful spirit. Especially when reprised on tape, the song
took on serious quasi-operatic tone and dampened rather thlm
. enlivened the snow. Further, inclusion of "Santa
Lucia" and "Come Back to Sorrento" in the local production introduced inappropriate nostalgia and sentiment into an intentionally artificial play and made the action stand still utterly.
Director Gerald Sullivan has overcome some of the difficulties of the first act by designing elaborate chase sequences during which one can
only wonder at the actors' agility in avoiding the pit.
Though Act One remains rather forced, Act Two really compensates, for it is here that the excellences of the production come to light. Here it is that Randy Haege as Scapino hits his stride, impersonating the rogue impersonating first Long John Silver with parrot, then a Chinaman, then a whole platoon of British soldiers. His performance in a very demanding role is delicious.
1 sf ANNUAL JAYCEE
Then there is a tour-de-force song and dance routine performed by Jim Osborn as Leandro and Lea Delaria as Zerbinetta (Close your eyes and you might think it's Ethel Merman) in celebration of the happy outcome.
I A few other agreeable details : Duke Bagger's energ~ and voice as Argante and Kevih Kelly's funny routine with thk line "What the devil was :t doing on that Boat?"
Repeats Friday, Saturd and Sunday (matinee).
PECIAL! THURSDAY and FRIDAY
