BWW Reviews: Theatre 40 Revives TANGLIN' HEARTS on the 20th Anniversary of its Original Production

Theatre 40 revives TANGLIN' HEARTS on the 20th anniversary of its original production. Very loosely based on Shakespeare's "As You Like It," it's a thoroughly modern country-western musical directed by Allison Bibicoff with assistant director Kyle Nudo.

Set in Texas, the story revolves around two brothers and their many lovelorn contemporaries. Ben Fredericks (Kevin Michael Moran), a greedy businessman, wants to establish a resort called Benworld, a place for good ol' boys with unrestricted hunting and fishing and a big honky tonk. Problem is, he also wants to build a toxic waste dump right behind it.

His brother, Duke Fredericks (Sean Smith), is a very different kind of good ol' boy, in love with the land. There are two opposing camps: Texans who want to preserve the piece of paradise they call home vs. greedy despoilers who will resort to any foul tactic in the interests of power and greed. This being Texas, there's plenty of toe-tapping country music and cowboys and cowgirls falling in and out of love.

Returning to his home town to check in on his brother's wrongdoing, Duke's plane is sabotaged by his brother Ben and he crashes just outside of town. His goal becomes getting into town without his brother finding out. As Duke wanders around town looking for his former flame Jackie (Susan Brindley), he runs into free-spirited dancer Phebe (Sarah Schulte) and her clueless, puppy dog admirer Rowdy (Trip Langley) who work in Jackie's honky tonk, the Tip Toe Inn. These two employ a rope during their love duet to great effect, generating a lot of laughs from the audience.

Duke's daughter, Rosalind (Heather Barr, who stepped into the role just 9 days prior to opening) wants to be a country-western singer, but gets stuck working for her Uncle Ben singing jingles for his Benworld project along with her cousin Celia (Cailan Rose). Barr and Rose embody the combination of sexy Southern vamp and youthful innocence called for to sell every song, which they both do to perfection.

To foil Ben's plans, Rosalind and Celia assume disguises and hide outside of town, during which time they test the fidelity of their men, brothers Jesse (Madison Cassaday, who carries a guitar and sings in brilliant Elvis style, all swagger and angst) and Webb Wells (Nick Denning). There are lots of well choreographed numbers for these young folk (who are up to the challenge) and lovely ballads about heartache and the fickleness of love.

Jackie struggles with her feelings for Duke, who left her to marry someone else in their early days while Rosalind bemoans her confusion in loving Jesse and his true feelings for her. Brindley and Barr sing a lovely duet about "The Heart of the Matter" in which they realize the way to have love is to be honest about your feelings.

Busted and broke preacher, Cal Mantee (Bruce Schroffel), is back in town to try and get Ben to back him in his latest get-rich-quick scheme. Schroffel takes us along his journey to the flood gates of prosperity, finally getting Ben to see the error of his ways, getting him to shake hands with his brother and give the land back to him. Cal convinces Ben of his marketing plan to use the internet to make themselves rich. And Duke and Jackie find their way back to each other, agreeing to crack open a new bottle of Advil and go middle age crazy together.

Scene changes are handled quickly while various cast couples flit across the stage either together or in search of each other, or with Cal pursuing Ben with a Low Jack device beeping and showing him the way to his goal. I do wish a song list was included in the program so I could recount some of the titles.

All in all, TANGLIN' HEARTS is a simple tale of brotherly rivalry and love's confusion told with lots of music and stereotypical Texas gold ol' boys and the women who love them. Those who know Shakespeare's comedy "As You Like It" will certainly appreciate this modern adaptation.

TANGLIN' HEARTS A musical with book and lyrics by Zora Margolis. Music by Peter Spelman. Story by Zora Margolis and Charlotte Houghton. Inspired by Shakespeare's "As You Like It." Directed by Allison Bibicoff. Musical director: Gonzalo Palacios. Produced by David Hunt Stafford for Theatre 40 in the Reuben Cordova Theatre, 241 S. Moreno Dr., Beverly Hills, CA 90212. This is on the campus of Beverly Hills High School. Theatre 40 is a professional company. There is ample free parking beneath the theatre. Performances July 25- August 25, 2013 on Thurs.- Sat. at 8:00, Sun. at 2:00.
Tickets are $24.00 on Thursdays and Fridays. $26.00 on Saturdays and Sundays.
RESERVATIONS: (310) 364-0535.
ONLINE TICKETING: www.theatre40.org

To post a comment, you must register and login.