Review: Ogunquit's SEVEN BRIDES Offers Sweetness and Smiles

One of the most popular movie musicals adapted for the stage, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers has enjoyed several notable regional productions in the past few seasons, and the Ogunquit Playhouse's current staging demonstrates once again the nostalgic appeal of this sweet and folksy romantic tale set in America's pioneer days. The Kasha/Landay/Mercer/DePaul/Hirschhorn 1954 movie musical based on a Stephen Vincent Benet story, though it proved a disappointment when first adapted for the musical theatre stage in 1982, seems in the turbulent first decades of the 21st century to have struck chords in audiences who may hunger for the innocence and vibrant energy at its core.

Directed by BT McNicholl, Ogunquit's staging opts to focus on a honeyed blend of sweetness and toughness, presented with the unabashed fondness of wistful memory. MNcNicholl demonstrates his skill as a storyteller, keeping the narrative lean and forward propelled, and giving a script, that could be seen as a mere framework for big show numbers, a structure and coherence far beyond the material itself. McNicholl is adept at eliciting fine individual characterizations from each of the fourteen principals. Similarly, Music Director Jeffrey Campos avails himself of the strong vocal talents of his cast to shape an aurally pleasing performance, and leads the seven-person orchestra in shaping the score, with its echoes of Copland and American folksong, into a lovely quilted tapestry.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, however, is very much a dance show, which, in its best incarnations, becomes a daring, dazzling choreographic extravaganza. Parker Esse's dances are vibrant and characterful, relying heavily on antecedants like Agnes De Mille and Jerome Robbins, but for this reviewer's taste, they lack the sheer muscular, envigorating energy or the bold technical challenges of some other recent productions. So, too, do the fight sequences by Jacob Grigolia-Rosenbaum seem a little bland and stagy. Nevertheless, the young cast executes these numbers with a joyous commitment.

The very beautiful, cinematic décor by Anna Louizos creates a magical Northwoods environment with towering pine trees and snow-capped mountains, and the excellent technical crew manages the numerous transitions of flies and heavy units on tracking with well-choreographed precision, thereby contributing to the overall tight pacing of the production. The problem lies in the fact that the scenery itself in its size and scale becomes a character of its own, and as such often seems to dominate the action in a way that this reviewer found a bit distracting. José M. Rivera's costumes (with hair and wigs by April Spain) are attractive evocations of the period - patchquilt and floral ginghams for the brides and earthtones and color-coded brights for the brothers. Richard Latta's lighting design captures the changing seasons, as well as the crisp colors of the Pacific Northwest. As Sound Designer, however, John Emmett-O'Brien is faced with a more knotty challenge of balancing the singers with the orchestra, who play from behind the upstage scrim and are carried into the house through downstage speakers. The effect, while crisp and modulated, has the curious feeling of sounding recorded rather than live - more electronic than natural.

Any of these quibbles are happily erased by the excellent performances of the two leads. Nathaniel Hackmann possesses an impressive, rich baritone, which he uses to full effect in solo moments like "Love Never Goes Away." Hackmann chooses to play Adam Pontipee as straightforward, macho, stubborn, but ultimately honest and gentle. Analisa Leaming makes a radiant, sure-voiced Milly, just tough enough to make a contemporary audience smile, without foregoing the essential period "womanliness" embraced by the script.

Among the six other brothers, Justin Schuman as a gawky, loveable Gideon stands out, while Kevin Munhall (Benjamin), Colin Bradbury (Caleb), BrIan Martin (Daniel), Abe Hegewald (Ephraim), and Jeff Smith (Frank) make for a dynamic group. Their girls- Shelby Putlak (Liza), Chloe Tiso (Martha), Lizz Picini (Ruth), Becky Grace Kalman (Sarah), Cristina Slye (Dorcas) - bring a freshness and youthful energy with Kelly Berman's Alice adding a nice comic cameo. The remainder of the ensemble of town boys - Christopher Brand (Luke), Matthew Wiercinski (Jeb), Drew Humphrey (Joel), Michael Callahan (Matt), Tim Wessel (Nathan), and Robbie Roby (Zeke) prove strong dancers and offer a fitting contrast to the woodsmen. Rounding our the cast are the onstage instrumentalists - Ed Romanoff, Nathan Yates Douglass, Kara Mikula, Nancy Slusser) - who also add color by playing several older townsfolk.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers offers its audience a delightful opportunity to step back in time - not only into the mythos of the American West, but also to a different age of musical theatre.

Photos courtesy Ogunquit Playhouse, Julia Russell, photographer

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers runs from September 7-October 1, 2016 at the Ogunquit Playhouse 10 Main St., Ogunquit, ME www.OgunquitPlayhouse.org 207-646-5511

To post a comment, you must register and login.