Review: Public Works' THE ODYSSEY, a Wondrous Community Effort

There's a special kind of joy to be felt at productions by the The Public Theater's Public Works project. There's that warmth you feel when watching a senior citizen, who probably never dreamed of being asked to act in a play at the Delacorte Theater, speaking a line with a somewhat stilted, but nevertheless enthused delivery, and getting a reaction from the audience for a job well done.

Or when you see a little kid in the front row of an enormous chorus, showing no fear at being asked to dance in front of hundreds of people, but always with an eye on the older kid next to her who helps her remember her steps.

Public Works debuted three years ago with a mission to further Joseph Papp's dream of creating free theatre that truly reflected the diverse population of New York City. As with their previous productions of new musical versions of THE TEMPEST and THE WINTER'S TALE, the company of THE ODYSSEY was made up of only a handful of Equity actors who were joined by members of five community partner organizations: The Children's Aid Society (Manhattan); DreamYard Project (Bronx);Fortune Society (Queens); Brownsville Recreation Center (Brooklyn) and Domestic Workers United (all boroughs). Members and their families formed a big beautiful singing and dancing chorus and some even spoke a few lines.

And as with the two previous productions, the evening was conceived and directed by Lear deBessonet, with composer Todd Almond writing the music, an eclectic cityscape of styles, and performing with a fun, easy-going grace in a narrator-like role.

Based on Homer's ancient epic poem, the story has the great warrior, King Odysseus, taking ten years of misguided travel and encounters with such obstacles as a man-eating Cyclops, a sorceress that turns sailors to beasts and the dangerously seductive song of the Sirens to make his way back to his home of Ithaca after needing ten years to emerge victorious from The Trojan War. With no word about his whereabouts, his wife, Penelope, regretfully feels she may have to take a new husband for the good of her people and his son Telemachus goes uncertainly through life without a father.

Brandon Victor Dixon was indeed a commanding force as Odysseus, and Almond gave him the kind of 11 o'clocker that allowed his rich and powerful baritone to set the night sky ablaze. Karen Olivo was wonderfully touching and dignified as the self-sacrificing Penelope, and made for a fun seductress, Circe, who tests the king's fidelity.

Circe was accompanied by an ensemble of dancers from Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana II, one of six New York performing arts groups that were worked into the plot, including gospel singers from The Bobby Lewis Ensemble, hip hop dancers from The D.R.E.A.M. Ring, The Marching Cobras marching band, kids from TADA! Youth Theater and musicians from the The New York Youth Symphony.

When an unruly gang of brutes were needed to play Penelope's suitors, they were taken from the ranks of The Old Bones Motorcycle Club.

DeBessonet and Almond have said this would be their last year creating a musical for Public Works. They've set the project off to a wondrous start.

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