Review - Judge Me Paris

Snooty Manhattanites such as I generally have a short list of offerings that would lure us all the way out to Brooklyn. For some it's a steak at Peter Lugar. For others, it's the Rodins at the Brooklyn Museum. But the quickest way to get me aboard a Gowanus-bound F train is to say that director/choreographer Austin McCormick has got a new theatre/dance piece for his Company XIV.

Their current "Baroque Burlesque Opera" inspired by the mythical events setting off the Trojan War, Judge Me Paris, samples heavily from the 17th and 18th Century work of John Eccles, John Weldon, Antonio Vivaldi, Marin Marais and William Congreve and is produced in association with Morningside Opera and SIREN Baroque.

After being handed complimentary champagne upon entering, audience members observe the ensemble preparing before the performance, stretching and applying makeup touches at one of the mirrored walls. (We also get to take in the sexy period costumes by Olivera Gajic.) A prelude is played by three strings and a harpsichord followed by Jeff Takacs, as the gregariously comical Zeus, narrating the story of how three goddesses - Juno (Amber Youell), Venus (Brittany Palmer) and Pallas (Brett Umlauf) - each claim a golden apple intended for "the fairest." Zeus sends the apple to the mortal Paris (Sean Gannon) via his messenger Mercury (Cailan Orn) and the two engage in a sensual dance as he learns he must decide who truly deserves it.

The three goddesses, all possessing dramatic soprano voices, individually sing of their worthiness as their images are projected across the wide and deep playing space with live video cameras. They also lure Paris with troupes of enticing dancers performing in steamy pageantry.

Finally, Venus offers the most beautiful of mortals, Helen, played by the most charismatic and dramatically interesting of Company XIV's actor/dancers, Laura Careless. Unfortunately, the decision to give Helen a rather short and not very flashy dance moment, especially after giving her such a big buildup, ends the piece with a bit of a letdown.

But until that point, Judge Me Paris is full of opulent splendor, soft eroticism and moments of cheery playfulness. A lush and lovely fantasy.

Photos by Corey Tatarczuk: Top: Jeff Takacs, Sean Gannon and Amber Youell; Bottom: Company.

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