Traditionally performed at Christmas and after, "The British Panto," developed in England, is a laugh-out-loud entertainment consisting of sight gags, slapstick, double entendres, songs, dancing, improvisation, erotic content, outrageous costuming, gender-crossing actors and lots and lots of accompanied giddyap.
Following a similar, basic format "The British Music Hall Entertainment," originally designed for a working-class audience, offered unpretentious skits, songs, dancing and bawdy plot lines that parodied everyday life, famous operas and the high-profile scandals of the rich and famous.
In "The Panto of the Opera," a silly, wicked, eccentric musical comedy that takes its cue from both "The British Panto" and "The British Musical Hall Entertainment," Pantochino Productions concocts a dazzling, classic, bin hilarious production that unleashes a tsunami of wonderfully dispensed hilarity reinforced by loop-the-loop innuendo, true to tradition mayhem, glitz and giggles, channeled zing and snap and marvelously orchestrated deadpan aloofness.
This is Pantochino at its very best, brimming with joy and genuineness, grandness aplenty, celebrated cackle and sure-footed engagement.
Written by Bert Bernardi, the two-act musical deliciously puts the "Panto" spin on Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera," which has been entertaining West End theatre audiences for decades since its premiere at Her Majesty's Theatre (renamed His Majesty's Theatre in 2022 to reflect the current reign of monarch King Charles III) on October 9, 1986.
Mixing spoof with parody along with that in-house Pantochino tilt and swerve, Bernardi retells the famous story of the Paris Opera House masked Phantom who makes his home in the subterranean labyrinth below.
For story purposes, there is no papier-mâché music box with a monkey figurine, no unexplained deaths or murders, no angry mob searches and no elaborate masquerade balls. Egotistical opera diva Carlotta still gets a frog in her throat, the opera house chandelier still rises and falls, and Christine Daae is still the Phantom's romantic obsession.
But since "The Panto of the Opera" is played for laughs, Bernardi has great fun throwing in local geographical commentary (Christne travels from Norwalk to Paris), referencing other well-known musicals including "Les Misérables" and "Beauty and the Beast" and breaking the fourth wall to speak directly to the audience. It's a playful conceit that fuels the production with smart, heartwarming, popcorn gallop, shared amusement and just-the-right filter of hotfoot insanity.
Staging the production, Bernardi turns the tables upside town and topsy turvy offering the theatergoer a fancy-free exploration that thrives on the pleasurable clash between "Panto" and Andrew Lloyd Webber. The show takes flight immediately with illustrated gags-land bite and humor, mixed affectionately with can-do doses of optimism, confidence, imagination and channeled, well-played exaggeration.
It's a win-win situation for all boasting a wicked spirit of fun, a sugar rush wattage of directorial commitment and the usual shenanigans that come gift wrapped with "Panto."
Featuring a colorful and tuneful score, with music by Justin Rugg and lyrics by Bernardi, "The Panto of the Opera" unfolds through ten strategically placed musical numbers that set the story in motion, give it shape and balance and wildly cement the insaneness of the Phantom story.
They are (in order of performance): "A Night at the Opera," "The Phantom's Song," "Carlotta's Song," "The Baguette Song," "Angel of Music," "The Peripatetic Paranormal," "I Only Want to Sing," "Phantom in Red," "The Phantom Situation" and "Angel of Music (reprise)."
"I Only Want to Sing," a showstopping comic duet sung between the characters of Raoul and Madame Dreary," is an inventive, slippery, attention-grabbing ditty similar to that of "Mr. Cellophane" from "Chicago" and "Never the Luck" from "The Mystery of Edwin Drood." Hilariously executed and brilliantly sung by Lu DeJesus and Rachelle Ianniello, the song itself showcases the angst of two secondary characters of not-too-great importance in a story who sadly, are not given the chance to get a major solo that would thrust them in the spotlight. That, all changes here, in only fleetingly. And yes, it is SENSATIONAL.
"The Panto of the Opera" stars Justin Rugg as The Phantom, Jimmy Johansmeyer as Maestro, Shelly Marsh Poggio as Carlotta (a star turn of the highest order enriched by great presence and intuitive comic timing), Rachelle Ianniello as Madame Dreary, Killian Meehan as Noel, Don Poggio as Manager, Mary Mannix as Christine, Leanne Onofrio as Solange, Sydney Maher as Yvette, Lu DeJesus as Raoul and Bert Bernardi as Victoria Sautee in the role of Madame Cherchez.
The perfect fit for "Panto" cross-dressing, the character of Victoria Sautee, garbed in haute couture refinery for the role of Madame Cherchez, not only gets a big, colorful, rousing musical number ("The Peripatetic Paranormal") at the end of Act I, but springs to life on the Pantochino stage in the form of Bert Bernardi whose energy and charm oozes naughtily out of his spectacular costuming, thus, providing his audience with an electric-charged performance of cockle-warming innuendo and festive spirt, offset by humor, on point, improvisational dare and riotous pace, grip and presentation.
Costuming at Pantochino - in this production and others before it - is executed with bespoke fostering, creativity and design by Jimmy Johansmeyer, a master craftsman who knowledge of fabric, style, form and presentation could easily give the House of Chanel, Balenciaga and Dior a run for its money. Here, he creates a 19th century period look of eye-popping clothing using a variety of colors and materials that each and every cast member on stage displays with proud showmanship, flair and standout bespoke definition.
No comments:
Post a Comment