Review: VOCA PEOPLE - Thrills with Electrifying Energy

Lior Kalfo's VOCA PEOPLE tells the story of eight aliens from the planet Voca who have crash landed on Earth. They attempt to communicate with the audience, but quickly learn that we simply do not understand their Dubstep like language. Scratcher selects a member of the audience, and by holding hands with him Scratcher learns the history of the Earth, Earth's music, and the primary language of the audience. What follows is a delightful and completely a capella and beat box romp through over 70 songs that includes hits by Beethoven, Mozart, Queen, Madonna, The Black Eyed Peas, and more. As if the thrilling arrangements by Shai Fishman weren't fascinating enough, the VOCA PEOPLE frequently interact with the audience, making us just as much a part of the show as they are.

Direction and Choreography by Lior Kalfo is invigorating and fresh, creating a high-octane, hilarious show that is bursting with electrifying energy. Under his reigns, the cast excels in creating dynamically different characters that are mesmerizing and wholly entertaining.

Shai Fishman's Music Direction is superb. The cast constantly and consistently blows the mind of the audience with their impressive vocal skills. They land on every pitch with pinpoint precision, creating simply gorgeous harmonies. Likewise, the cast has been directed to have amazing control over volume, blending and mixing together with impeccable talent. Under Shai Fishman's Music Direction, the true star of the show is the cast's astounding vocal ability.

Adi Kozlovsky steals the show as the hilarious and amiable Alta, who is all over the place. When seeing the performance in Bryant Park, I instantly fell in love with the spunky character. Seeing the full performance at the Cullen Theatre, I found myself completely enthralled by Alta. Played by Adi Kozlovsky, the showstealing Alta is sprightly, witty, and entrancing. Moreover, her alto singing voice is put through the ringer, impressing audiences every time she opens her mouth, whether she is singing Bizet, Queen, or Lady Gaga!

As Tubas, Bryant Charles Vance delivers a memorable and strong performance. His deep Russian Bass notes thrill the audience while shaking the seats with their power. Also, his flirty Tubas is dopey, which constantly puts him in comedic situations as Alta vies for his affections.

Scratcher, played by Tiago Grade, is charismatic and full of infectious energy. His ability to make sound effects that defy human understanding of the vocal chords and our innate linguistic technology, he stuns the audience time and time again with extraordinary proficiency.

Undoubtedly, the entire cast does amazing jobs creating characters that stand on their own and beguile for various reasons. Michal Reshef's Soprana is radiant and ebullient, like her immaculate soprano voice. As Mezzo, Sapir Breier is sultry and impassioned, and her mezzo-soprano voice is simply dazzling. Chris Dilley's Bari-tone is soulful like his rich R&B infused baritone voice. As Tenoro, Omer Shaish is charming, and his voice spins through the air with a magnificent light effervescence. Mark Martin's Beat On is the fearless leader of the group and is impeccably accomplished in his ability to be a human beat box.

Roy Milo's flashy and pulsating Lighting Design pops with incredible intricacy and complexity. It expertly captures the concert vibe, but is also emotionally and thematically in tune with the music selections. Blues, pinks, oranges, greens, reds, yellows, strobing whites, a mirror ball effect, and more are all combined into the 90-minute performance to heighten the mood while following the light, brisk, and bouncy tone of the performance.

Hana Yefet's clever costumes clad the entire cast in white suits over white full body spandex suits with the face cut out. Paired with the white makeup and vibrant red lipstick, the characters of the VOCA PEOPLE are similar to humans while being completely blank canvases. This smartly allows every member of the audience regardless of sex and race to identify with at least one of the characters and project themselves onto their personal favorite character(s) in the show.

Sadly, VOCA PEOPLE was in Houston for one night only. One can only hope that they can come back to town again, as they nearly sold out the 1,100 seat Cullen Theatre at the Wortham Center.

As Society for the Performing Arts (SPA) Houston continues its commitment to bring quality performance events and artists to Houston, audiences can look forward to seeing Lila Downs on Friday, April 5, 2013, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo on Wednesday, April 17, 2013, Philip Glass and the Philip Glass Ensemble in Dracula on Friday, May 10, 2013, and many others. For more information and tickets to SPA's exciting upcoming programs, visit www.spahouston.org or call (713) 227 - 4772.