The Morningtime of Now
The Morningtime of Now
Part of The New York International Fringe Festival
The Celebration of Whimsy (C.O.W.) Theatre, 121 Clinton Street, NYC, August 24, 2015
Reviewed by Rob Lester for Cabaret Scenes
Imagine, if you will, a lovely musical theater piece that holds appeal for both children and adults….a truly gentle and tender show…one that doesn’t depend on bells and whistles, but rather acoustic guitar, violin, and harp…. no loud sound effects or amplified voices screaming at you for attention, nor flashing lights…. no constantly kaleidoscoping quick changes to capture the presumed short attention span of today’s young audiences…. a show that can speak to children without condescension … a waltz in the slow lane of caring wistfulness and wonder, embracing Nature above all, along with simplicity and timeless beauty.
Come curl up in the hush of a time-warped tunnel of repose and awe where ladies in lace dance their pleasure, where the soothing voice of a strolling Earth Mother folk artist strumming her guitar shares the observations and experiences that are ageless, but stem from the old soul of a child. Experience serenity, face life’s cycle that includes mystery and loss amidst its beauties, ultimately gifting you with perspective. Feast your eyes on delicate but clever puppets, exquisitely made in detail with jointed limbs and whimsy, manipulated by rods or strings, and voiced with personality. Bouncing and swinging into action as leaves and trees become a backdrop.
Timeless folk-style music composed by Michael Smith to the words of Opal Whiteley from her journals provide singer and spirit guide Anne Hills, who also does some spoken sections, with chapters of thoughtful observations and adventuress. Opal Whiteley was a young Oregon girl who, at the beginning of the last century, fell in love with Nature and began to write about it. The journal was published, although it and her unusual life became surrounded by questions about authenticity. That life could make another whole musical, but here we have the words from a child’s-eye view, sometimes presented by various sized puppets of Opal who act them out or read from her book. We are invited to observe along with her and enjoy her thoughts about a horse she names after William Shakespeare and a pig she names after the painter Rubens, who chose round, fat figures as his subjects, as well as a wood-rat named Chatterton.
Along the way, the marvelous and warmly charismatic Anne Hill smilingly reminds us of Opal’s love for Nature and its songs, and she therefore sings—appropriately—about their music. Away from Manhattan’s clatter for a brief hour, we have a relatively quiet escape in an unpretentious curtained-off below-ground theater space on the Lower East Side, at the edge of the dividing line where the numbered streets finally reach number 1 and have names instead, and so far East that numbered avenues also reach their zero point and get letters, then morph into named avenues, too. How satisfying to recall sounds we city dwellers have a dearth of: running streams, birds, wind in open fields. To Opal, and now again to us, each has its song. Our ears and hearts are opened. It seems almost cruel to release us back into the real world of the city.
The cast/puppeteers also includes Kayla Prestel (puppet Opal’s voice), Mallory Fran deForest, Catherine Restivo, and Anna Russell—all of whom do excellent work and are sweet and potent presences—with violin/harp music exquisitely played by Jay Ansill. Mock Turtle’s “creative force,” Doug Roysdon is the puppet mastermind for this 32-year-old company.
The show is part of the NY International Fringe Festival and is presented by Mock Turtle, a puppet-based company from Pennsylvania. Remaining performances are August 25, 28, 29. See www.fringenyc.org
The songs and words of Opal Whitely are lovingly preserved in one of Anne Hill’s many albums, Beauty Attends: The Heart Songs of Opal Whiteley.
Category: Musical Theatre Reviews, New York City, Off-Broadway Reviews
