Review: Good Theater Season Frolics To a Close with DESPERATE MEASURES

Portland's Good Theater's final offering of its nineteenth season is a deliciously zany and stylish production of Peter Kellogg and David Friedman's 2017 musical comedy, DESPERATE MEASURES, a witty, saucy sendup of Shakespeare's MEASURE FOR MEASURE set in the Wild West. Directed by Brian P. Allen and Cary Libkin with musical staging by Raymond Marc Dumont, the comedy written in rhyming verse is a rollicking, madcap adventure from start to finish.

Drawing his inspiration from the Bard's 1604 comedy about sexual politics, virtue, lust, and the complicted games men and women play, Peter Kellogg's book pares down the cast and thorny plot of the original into a six-character scenario with meaty roles for each of the actors and a delightful, fast-paced series of farcical twists and turns. His use of rhyming couplets throughout is not only a nod to Shakespeare's iambic pentameter, but also a stunning virtuosic device to use words in clever, ear-catching pairings and language to add to the seamless melodic flow of the piece. David Friedman's score is appropriately comprised largely of ballads - Western flavored or tinged with European ballad opera tradition like Weill's THREE PENNY OPERA. There are enough memorable moments to allow the singers to shine especially songs like Johnny's "It's Good to Be Alive" or the Sheriff's "Stop There," while the ensemble pieces offer stirring harmonies.

Allen and Libkin keep the action fast paced and sufficiently outrageous without being too camp, while the musical staging by Raymond Marc Dumont is breezy, clever, and visually attractive. The four musicians (J.D. Raines, Sam Schuth, and Joe Greene) under the expert musical direction of Victoria Stubbs provide the aural tapestry with its country cadences to underscore the antics, as well as the visual backdrop for the set, as they perform in Western garb on a raised platform at the rear of the stage.

Steve Underwood (Heather Irish, props) designs the very attractive unit set in pale sun-drenched desert hues that encompasses the various locales of the saloon, the jail, and the Governor's home. Iain Odlin's lighting adds just the right flaxen-pale pink hues to suggest the desert. Michelle Handley and Anna Grywalski provide the charming costumes with some colorful standouts in Bella's saloon attire and the Governor's foppish dress. Craig Robinson as Technical Director and Dalton Kimbal as Stage Manager round out the efficient team.

The cast is strong both vocally and dramatically and create a consistent Western-country ambiance in their accents and antics. John Lanham makes for an adorably roguish and winning anti-hero, Johnny Blood, and he sings with a vibrant tenor that brings down the house in "It's Good To Be Alive" and his duet with Bella, "Just For You." Smith Daniels is a brooding, alluring Sheriff who also demonstrates vocal brilliance in "Strop There" and his ensemble contributions. Tony Reilly gives a wickedly funny performance as the German Governor, complete with thick accent, lecherous mannerisms, and a risqué rendition of "What a Night." Glenn Anderson plays the tipsy, irreverent, Nietzche-loving Father Morse with Gaelic glee. Colleen Clark is a gutsy, lusty, endearing Bella Rose who is sultry in "It's getting Hot In Here" yet sweet in her duet with Johnny, "Just For You." Gusta Johnson makes Susanna a novice with a core of steel yet a heart of compassion, and she uses her trained soprano to excellent effect in both lyric and comic moments.

As Brian P. Allen says in his program notes, "Laughter is the best medicine." DESPERATE MEASURES, which was the slated for 2020 when the pandemic shut everything down, has finally made it appearance at the Good Theater. It offers a light-hearted, warm, cathartic experience that is both frivolous froth and classy wit. As this 2021-22 season frolics to a close for the Good Theater, make time to go celebrate survival and art with this extraordinary company.

Photos courtesy Good Theater, Steven Underwood, photographer

DESPERATE MNEASURES runs from March 30 - April 24, 2022 at the Good Theater, 76 Congress Street, Portland, MA www.goodtheater.com 207-835-0895

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