BWW Review; In Tandem Closes Spectacular Season with Endearing ERNEST IN LOVE

"Life is too important to be taken seriously," quoted Oscar Wilde, the famous and infamous author who wrote the ever popular "The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People" in 1895. In Tandem provides an endearing musical version of Wilde's play produced from an original 1960 Ernest in Love by collaborating with Milwaukee Opera Theatre. In an adaptation written by Anne Croswell with music composed by Lee Pockriss, the performance had been revived in the early 2000's. on Broadway Director Jane Flieller hits all the right notes with touching humor when she assembled an accomplished, elegant cast to revive Wilde's clever romantic tale of social class and turn of the 20th century society.

Joe Brehl's inventive set design literally unfolds similar to pages in a book so the period scenes create a grand ambiance in the intimate Tenth Street Theatre where the cast easily transforms the furniture in every scene. In addition to the lush decor, Kathy Smith's costumes give a playful twist to Victorian/Edwardian gowns or country wear while Choreographer James Zager cavorts this "Wilde" crowd on set with stylish moves that again entertain in a contained space. The performance appears larger than life while still capturing the intimacy and nuances to these characters dependent on the status quo and the men being named Earnest. As Wilde says in life and on stage: "The truth is rarely pure and never simple."

The cast breathes charming life to every scene--Milwaukee favorite Angela Iannone imparts a regal air to the play's matriarch, Lady Bracknell, the person whom the fates of these four characters lie with. Especially when Lady Bracknell's daughter Gwendolen, the fetching Kristen Hammergren, declares her affections for the orphan Jack Worthing. Jack's marriageability has been undermined by his lack of suitable parentage, here played with droll English manners by Zachary Thomas Woods. When Jack proposes to Gwendolen, Lady Bracknell and Jack reiterate his uncertain heritage, unsuitable for beloved Gwendolen, in the duet "Handbag," because as the lyrics define," A mother is not a handbag, a father not a train station."

When Jack's friend Algernon Moncrieff (the perfectly bewitching Doug Clemons plays this part where Algy is constantly hungry) mistakenly uncovers Jack has a beautiful young ward named Cecily, more proposals ensue. Debuting Peyton Oseth gives her character's innocence a sophisticated warmth, and these four 'deeply in love young people" develop the on stage chemistry necessary for Wilde's romances to spark with his wit, including the two women, Hammergren and Oseth, who ultimately declare themselves "like sisters."

However, the other two Wilde romances are equally divine. Carol Greiff's Miss Prism pairs in a lovely coupling with David Flores' Dr. Chasuble and culminates in the song, "Metaphorically Speaking." The lower classes in Wilde's comedy also undress their due in the song "You Can't Make Love," sung with abandon and bravado by the irrepressible Katherine Duffy playing the maid Effie and her counterpart James Nathan as Algy's valet Lane...Of course, the couple sings the perfect place for this after dinner activity becomes the kitchen pantry or the stables because no one is watching, and there are no corsets to undo..."

In Tandem's Musical Director/Accompanist David Bonofiglio plays the keyboard for live music and the dozen or more songs for this completely adorable and fetching Ernest In Love where the key points to the possibility of these marriages culminate in being christened Ernest. Wilde could appreciate his play being called "adorable" in every good sense, because life was too important to be taken without captivating charm and bewitching appeal, where that quality to be earnest in what humanity does and how they live can be of great significance. Lives where romance can be important regardless of someone's economic class without the encumbrances of society's artifices.

What a musically marvelous and wondrous production to close In Tandem's season and spend a spring evening with! In today's culture, Wilde seriously inspires living life wholeheartedly through earnest sincerity plus a bit of style, none actually trivial. Though more than 100 years later, one might understand the truth remains highly complex, rarely pure and then perhaps believes as Wilde did, "For first time in my life I've realized the vital importance of being earnest (Ernest)."

In Tandem presents Ernest in Love at the Tenth Street Theatre, 628 North Tenth Street, through May 21. For information on In Tandem's 2016-2017 season or tickets for the performance, please call: 262.560.3172 or www.intandemtheatre.org.

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