BWW Reviews: DON GIOVANNI: A NEW MUSICAL at Seattle Musical Theatre

Seattle Musical Theatre is presenting their inaugural "Second Season" production with a brand new musical rendition of Mozart's opera of the same name with "Don Giovanni: A New Musical" in conjunction with Cornish College's student interest group Fruition Productions.  And while there were glimmers of potential on stage what it ultimately amounted to was a few pretty voices but a lot of inexperienced storytelling.

The story is simple.  Lothario, Don Giovanni, has bedded every woman in town and has now set his sights on the soon to be wed Zerlina.  But when his advances are spurned, the wedding party becomes enraged and out for blood.  Meanwhile a former conquest of Giovanni's, Donna Anna, is out for her own revenge for the murder of her father Don Pedro at the hands of Don Giovanni.  Then there's Giovanni's wife Elvira who keeps popping up to try and either win back Giovanni or catch him in the act (I'm not sure which).  Yes, a simple story but told in such a haphazard way that is was next to impossible to determine what any of the characters intentions were.

The show itself lacks a focused and coherent structure and really doesn't know how it wants to be told.  At the beginning we are introduced to Giovanni's servant Leporello who tells us he wants to share the exploits of his master and so you get the feeling we are in for a flashback or storytelling device.  But then that device is completely abandoned leaving the audience looking for some kind of foothold.  I really got the impression that the author, Jesse Smith, simply thought he could take all of the moments and elements from the opera and just plunk them down into a musical.  The problem is, the storytelling devices in Opera are very different from Musical Theater and so the show just ends up confusing and half baked.  Characters would appear out of nowhere, sing a solo number and then disappear forever without any explanation of why they were there or who they were. 

This lack of focus in the story was only hampered by the melodramatic directing style by Sara Porkalob.  The opening sequence with the ensemble's animalistic crawling and menacing of each other lent nothing to the story and seemed completely out of place.  With so much wringing of the hands and two dimensional characters, the show only succeeded in bludgeoning us over the head with its attempt to be emotional. 

The cast did its best to keep the show moving along but even they seemed a little too inexperienced and at times entirely too young for the parts they were conveying.  There were a few stand outs such as Lindsey Hedberg as Elvira.  While also too young for the part she managed to hold her own and her solo in Act One while seeming to have ended a few times over, was one of the high points of the show.  Her rich and powerful voice and genuine presence were a welcome change.  Justine Stillwell as Zerlina also soared with an equally beautiful voice although I lost her intentions at times.  And Joe Clark as Leporello was likeable enough and had tons of presence but seemed to be a little too weak vocally for a part that was (I think) the narrator of the piece.

Now I know what you're thinking.  "It's a college production of a new work.  It's a work in progress.  You can't hold it up to the same standards as a professional production."  Ah, but I can and should.  These artists, many of them, are fresh out of college and looking to make a career in the arts which can be a very unforgiving industry.  And without honest criticism they can never be expected to grow and flourish into, I hope someday, very successful artists.  So while I applaud their attempt at this endeavor as well as Seattle Musical Theatre for giving this kind of exploration a chance, I wonder if a full production is the right way of going about it.  I also wonder if a full and ready production was the intention of SMT or if their intention was as a springboard to growing a new work.  If that is the case then the audience should have been prepared for that.  I would think workshops might be better for these "Second Season" productions.  Like I said, I saw moments of potential but not enough to sustain for an entire production.

"Don Giovanni: A New Musical" plays at Seattle Musical Theatre at Magnuson Park through January 23^rd.  For tickets or information contact the SMT box office at 206-363-2809 or visit them online at www.seattlemusicaltheatre.org.

Photo Credit: Carine Hutchison

 

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