Anne of Green Gables

As children's books go, Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables is probably more dramatic than most. The titular heroine, cursed (in her own eyes) with freckles, red hair, and a dreamy disposition is blessed with intelligence, wit, and fierce determination that get her through an awkward and painful childhood in which she is shuttled from foster home to foster home after the death of her parents. When she finally lands at the eponymous Green Gables farm on Canada's Prince Edward Island, she still must struggle to find her place as a young female at the turn of the century. Throughout the course of the book, she matures from a gawky child to a mature teenager, learning from her mistakes and blossoming into a heroine who was progressive even for 1908.

With such dramatic-- though universal-- themes, it's no wonder that the book has been adapted many times for stage and screen.  The latest incarnation is a new 90-minute musical at TheatreworksUSA, one of New York's premiere family theatre companies. With book and lyrics by Gretchen Cryer and music by Nancy Ford (late of I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking it On The Road)  and an intimate cast of eight, this production feels like a Cliff's Notes version of the classic novel, glossing over the major moments but missing the most emotional ones. Scenes that should sing are presented in dialogue, while the few songs that do further the plot or character development repeat the same ideas, if not the actual words and music. There is only so much story that can neatly fit into 90 minutes, but a song about the use of a colon in punctuation, while cute, doesn't move the story along as much as it should. The following moment—a battle between Anne and her nemesis Gilbert—fares much better, but the emotional ground covered in that song is repeated in the next.

On the other hand, for all its structural problems, the show remains engaging and fun, and reminds us why companies like TheatreworksUSA should set the model for family theatrical entertainment rather than Disney. There are no wild special effects or belted powerhouse ballads; instead, they present an apt adaptation of a classic book that, hopefully, will send kids scurrying to their library. The audience at the performance I attended was a healthy mix of children and adults, and there was very little squirming, whining, or whispering to be heard. The show held the kids' attention, and if it gets the next generation of audiences to enjoy musical theatre, so much the better. At $25 per seat, less than half the cost of the least expensive seat at the New Amsterdam, parents can afford to bring their children to the Lucille Lortel Theatre and teach them to love the art form.

Piper Goodeve, who demonstrated her excellent comic timing in Peter Mills' The Pursuit of Persephone several seasons ago, is winsome and endearing as Anne, growing stronger in the role as the character gets older. Her Persephone co-star, Jessica Grové, is very charming as Anne's "bosom friend" Diana, and sings as beautifully as ever.  Bethe B. Austin is sturdy and solid as Anne's unwitting new mother, letting Marilla's intense emotions show only through cracks in her grim façade. Erick Devine is quietly powerful as the gently persuasive Matthew, making it easy to see how such a reticent man could get his way so often. Broadway vet Heather MacRae, late of Falsettos, is appropriately pompous and blustery as the gossipy Mrs. Lynde, and gets to show off more colors of her excellent singing voice. Serving as everyone else on Prince Edward Island, Michael Mendiola and Alison Faircloth are appropriately chameleon-esque, shifting from character to character effortlessly enough to make the cast seem larger than it is.  Dustin Sullivan, alas, doesn't get very much to do as Anne's nemesis (and romantic interest) Gilbert Blythe, and it's a pity—his voice is pure and clear, and he makes his character nicely sympathetic. Perhaps in a future re-write, Gilbert will get a good solo song. Tyler Marchant's direction is simple and effective, and if Beowulf Borritt's sets are not as ingenious as his work usually is, he is still able to transform the Lortell's stage into an array of locations with minimal work.

If children are to learn to love theatre, they need to be exposed to quality productions early and often. (And stories about active girls are also terribly important for balancing the many male-heavy fairy tales children learn.) This adaptation and production of Anne of Green Gables, while not as strong as it could be, still has plenty of good music and fun banter, and is an ideal entryway to theatre for young minds.

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