BWW Reviews: ROAR! from Metro Parks' Young Actors Program

Thanks to Carolyn German and her efforts to engage younger performers through musical theater and cabaret, Nashville area producers and directors should have a consistent supply of new and interesting actors (who clearly comprehend the history and legacy of musical theater) for their shows for years to come. No further proof of this is needed than the latest production from German and her cohorts: Roar!, which bears the telling and descriptive subtitle of "the fringe, the flappers, the jazz...the '20s!"

Featuring an impossibly young - though certainly game and enthusiastic - ensemble, Roar! is an entertaining look at the 1920s, providing some historical persepective not only for the youthful cast, but for their audiences as well. While German and her collaborators - who include music director Jeff Lisenby, who conducts the impressive orchestra made up of some of Nashville's best players, technical director/scenic and lighting designer Kirk Brown (his design work for the show should be applauded)  and costume designer Joy Tilley-Perryman who is responsible for the veritable cavalcade of gorgeous period fashions we see onstage - could easily have relied on the tried-and-true, the chestnuts we all remember from the '20s, they have instead plucked some little-know tunes from that musical catalogue that gives deeper resonance and meaning to the musical show onstage.

The revue's slight book opens with a look at post-World War I America and the sense of adventure and wanderlust unleashed by the Great War, taking the audience on a musical journey through the revolutionary, transformative decade which is wonderfully represented by the transition from silent movies to talkies, Prohibition, dance marathons, the Great Depression and the rise of the supper club entertainer.

Opening with the original and aptly named "Roar," written by German and Russell Davis, which helps to set the scene and captures the spirit of the jazz-filled decade, the musical revue features memorable tunes such as "I Ain't Got Nobody," "Charleston," "Crazy Rhythm," "Hard-Hearted Hannah," "Honeysuckle Rose" and "Let's Misbehave." But in addition to these easily recognizable songs, you'll also hear the far more obscure "I'm Wild About Horns," "Prohibition Blues," "Sittin' on the Rubbish Can," "Crazy Words, Crazy Tune" and "Goin' Down That Road."

Obviously, German knows what she's doing - she's an impressive cabaret artist and one of the region's most respected actors - and she telegraphs her own love for musicals, in particular, and theater, in general, as she provides new vistas for performers raised on Disney Channel musicals and a constant barrage of media of all sorts. In doing so, she indentifies some very talented young people who will most assuredly make their own marks onstage throughout the coming years. I'm uncertain of the age range of the actors in Roar!, but I suspect the youngest is around nine or ten, the oldest 16 or 17 - but what's really impressive is every young actor's commitment and focus throughout the show. These kids are real troupers!

And since I don't want any angry parents calling me up (Cowardly? Perhaps, but I like to think of it as pragmatic instead), I won't single out any of the performers, although it's obvious which ones are in the first stages of their love affair with the stage and which ones are already seasoned veterans. Applause is due all of them for their remarkable stage presence and youthful exuberance: Erin Amlicke, MaryKathryn Kopp, Kristen Large, Caitlin Dobbins, Phillip Baker, Robin Contos, Matthew Jaconetta, Maddie Mae Cartwright, Anna Mains, Kira Hinchey, Samantha Weckerly, Rachel Hinchey, Katherine Large, Brittan Gilmore, Emily Contos, Sofia Sherman and Shannon Strand.

If there are any missteps along the way during this trip through the roaring '20s, it's the three original videos, which also features the talented cast, that stop the music to demand the audience's attention. The two silent films (scored by Rolin Mains) - A Day in the Park and The Gardener - are clever evocations of the real silent movie era, but they're also rather slow and not as compelling as they could be. The one "talkie" in the set - the aptly titled Zelda Makes a Talkie - has a slightly edgier comic tone, but still falls somewhat flat. More music, please! Can you imagine what German and her creative team could have come up with for her singers and that amazing band?

Roar! Written, directed and choreographed by Carolyn German. Music direction by Jeff Lisenby. Presented by Metro Parks and Arts in the Parks. At Z. Alexander Looby Theatre, 2301 Rosa Parks Boulevard, Nashville. Through June 25.

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