‘Ya gotta spin to win’: Rumpelstiltskin, Alberta Musical Theatre. A review

By Liz Nicholls, .ca

“Ya gotta spin to win,” sings the be-sequinned hustler TV host (Jayden Leung) in the opening number of Rumpelstiltskin. And, hey, it turns out that if you’ve already got a good thing going, you gotta spin to lose, too.

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As you’ll see in Ellen Chorley’s revival of this smart, sassy little Alberta Musical Theatre Company original for kids, which premiered more than a decade ago, the musical writing team of Farren Timoteo (book and lyrics) and the late Jeff Unger (music), have a puckish, not to say subversive, relationship with the Brothers Grimm and their morbid fairy tale canon.

The Timoteo/Unger musicals for AMTC approach fairy tales obliquely, with a contemporary sense of humour, and the kind of theatrical savvy that makes them cool for the adults in the crowd too. And in Rumpelstiltskin, the kind of old-school wacky showbiz comedy — bold strokes, outsized performance energy, multiple characters in motion, fab costumes and quick changes — evidently suits AMTC’s new artistic director just fine. Chorley, the Nextfest director, an actor/playwright herself, has a kids’ theatre company (Promise Productions).

Her high-speed high-energy debut production with AMTC lands onstage at the Varscona this weekend and next, before the cast of three extremely limber young triple-threats — Leung, Kohen Foley and Avery Przyswitt — set forth on a school tour that’s so long (October to June!) it makes other theatre tours look like temporary, fly-by-night affairs, and the Von Trapps’ walking tour across the Alps look like the broad jump.

Taking their cue from the spinning of straw into gold that’s the central motif in Rumpelstiltskin, the Timoteo/Unger duo take the Grimm tale into the world of cheesy television and loony game shows. And Leo Schwesinger’s rainbow-hued set, lighted by Rae McCallum, is dominated by one of those outsized wheels of fortune where contestants spin to win big, or (oh, shucks, too bad) lose everything. Hey, it’s all about greed, needing more, and the odds against winning a pile.

Jayden Leung in Rumpelstiltskin, Alberta Musical Theatre. Photo by Ian Jackson, EPIC Photography

The manic huckster Skip Goldman presides, captured hilariously in a comic high-style performance by Leung. His entry through the theatre is a veritable solo pageant in self-congratulation. And Foley and Przyswitt are amusing too, as Mr. and Mrs. Miller, the perfect couple who have a perfect life that delights them perfectly, a perfect baby (he looks like a plastic doll to Skip), and complete satisfaction — until they really really don’t. As soon as Mr. Miller, who thrives on over-time and working harder than everyone else, goes to the boss to cinch a slam-dunk deal about the raise he’s been gunning for, and richly deserves, and is dead certain he’s going to get, and then, well … as a little boy sitting near me on opening night couldn’t help saying, O no!. The bank shows up immediately. And Mrs. Miller in desperation consults a goofball private detective cut from Philip Marlowe noir-esque cloth.

The performances are backed up by Logan Stefura’s eye-popping costumes, lots and lots of them (with major bow ties), and Bethany Hughes’ vintage choreography, which has all sorts of period references, in every cartoon dip and kick. And the actors are accompanied, as well, by a sort of Greek chorus of adorable, spirited kids, audience volunteers I’m thinking, who appear intermittently to lip-synch old-timey radio ads.

The script is smart and fun, full of wiseacre throwaways. And I’ve always admired the sophistication of Unger’s music for kids in that it isn’t actually “for kids”-type music. Rumpelstiltskin turns on the musical theatre axis (musical director: Cathy Derkach); it’s a bona fide 60-minute musical comedy, with a score that includes a doo-wop lullaby, G&S and Rodgers and Hammerstein pastiches — all with the benefit of an onstage pianist, Caitlin Grant.

“It’s a lot easier to appreciate winning something if you lose something first.” Skip Goldman’s advice to Mrs. Miller almost makes sense, but not quite. Try this take-away instead: the time to appreciate Alberta Musical Theatre is now, before they hit the road for months. Take a kid with you. Or not. You’ll have fun anyway.

REVIEW

Rumpelstiltskin

Theatre: Alberta Musical Theatre Company

Written by: Farren Timoteo (book and lyrics) and Jeff Unger (music)

Directed by: Ellen Chorley

Starring: Kohen Foley, Jayden Leung, Avery Przyswitt, with musician Caitlin Grant

Where: Varscona Theatre, 10329 83 Ave.

Running: Sunday, plus Sept. 19 and 20

Tickets: tickets.varsonatheatre.com