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THEATER REVIEW:
‘Fellowship!’ pleasing but dated
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| Sam (Peter Allen Vogt), Frodo (Cory Rouse), Pippin (Kelly Holden-Bashar) and Merry (Ryan Smith) in "Fellowship! The Musical Parody of The Fellowship of the Ring" at the Falcon Theatre. (Photo by Mark Baer.) |
By James Petrillo
The revival of “Fellowship!” at the Falcon Theatre touches down this week amid extremely friendly surroundings. The Burbank venue has recently become a showcase almost exclusively for musical parodies of pop culture benchmarks. After a show about “Happy Days” and lampoons of Shakespeare and other classic stories set to Billboard hits, J.R.R. Tolkien’s endless saga about a magical ring is the latest to get the royal mistreatment.
Maybe I’ve been overly spoiled by the scorched-earth anything-goes mash-ups from Matt Walker’s Troubadour Theater Company, but the featherweight and obvious satire of “Fellowship!” pales in comparison.
Even the title of writer Kelly Holden-Bashar’s previous work “Who’s Afraid of Christmas at Virginia Woolf’s?” isn’t as creatively inspired as Troubie titles like “Fleetwood Macbeth” and “It’s a Stevie Wonderful Life.”
Some strong improvisational acting nearly pulls the production through, but in the end, their working is too reverential to the source material. And way too dude-friendly. It’s musical theater for people who don’t like plays, mainly stoners who appreciate jokes about flatulence and secret gay love.
As the big red eye of Sauron explains at the start, “Lord of the Rings” was a book, then a movie and now a musical! Focusing mainly on the first part of Tolkien’s trilogy, “Fellowship!” gives fans all their favorite characters reduced to one-note performances. Bilbo (Steve Purnick) recites tired shtick from the vaudeville era. Pippin (writer Holden-Bashar) tells bad jokes that get identical responses the entire show. Arwen (Edi Patterson) and Strider (Matthew Stephen Young) have some nice chemistry as the tragic lovers, but like I said, their one-note interpretations become tiresome.
At the center is an understated but ultimately forgettable Frodo (Cory Rouse). This hobbit of destiny gets completely obliterated by the over-sized presence of Sam (Paul C. Vogt). His interminable pining over Frodo seems left over from a failed “Saturday Night Live” skit.
To be fair, Vogt triumphs in his brief take on the monster Balrog. He performs the show-stopping “Balrog Blues” better than the best local drag queens.
Everyone involved tries valiantly to overcome the easy targets and stale humor.
Allen Simpson’s songs are pleasant enough. Mike Jespersen’s technical direction and Matt Gourley’s video artwork add a professional sheen to the judiciously used special effects. The costumes of Sandra Burns are uniformly terrific.
Even some of the magic inherent in Tolkien’s epic bleeds through toward the open-ended conclusion.
But the focus and tight timing of a talented cast is undone by tired jokes, which probably would have killed — in 2002.
JAMES PETRILLO is an actor and screenwriter from Los Angeles.
Maybe I’ve been overly spoiled by the scorched-earth anything-goes mash-ups from Matt Walker’s Troubadour Theater Company, but the featherweight and obvious satire of “Fellowship!” pales in comparison.
Even the title of writer Kelly Holden-Bashar’s previous work “Who’s Afraid of Christmas at Virginia Woolf’s?” isn’t as creatively inspired as Troubie titles like “Fleetwood Macbeth” and “It’s a Stevie Wonderful Life.”
Some strong improvisational acting nearly pulls the production through, but in the end, their working is too reverential to the source material. And way too dude-friendly. It’s musical theater for people who don’t like plays, mainly stoners who appreciate jokes about flatulence and secret gay love.
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At the center is an understated but ultimately forgettable Frodo (Cory Rouse). This hobbit of destiny gets completely obliterated by the over-sized presence of Sam (Paul C. Vogt). His interminable pining over Frodo seems left over from a failed “Saturday Night Live” skit.
To be fair, Vogt triumphs in his brief take on the monster Balrog. He performs the show-stopping “Balrog Blues” better than the best local drag queens.
Everyone involved tries valiantly to overcome the easy targets and stale humor.
Allen Simpson’s songs are pleasant enough. Mike Jespersen’s technical direction and Matt Gourley’s video artwork add a professional sheen to the judiciously used special effects. The costumes of Sandra Burns are uniformly terrific.
Even some of the magic inherent in Tolkien’s epic bleeds through toward the open-ended conclusion.
But the focus and tight timing of a talented cast is undone by tired jokes, which probably would have killed — in 2002.
JAMES PETRILLO is an actor and screenwriter from Los Angeles.
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The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of burbankleader.com.
peter a vogt wrote on Jun 18, 2009 4:30 PM:
" I certainly have no problem with less than favorable reviews! I have been acting long enough to read the good with the bad, all part of the job! What I do have a problem with is the inaccuracy of a review and this one is full of them! It all begins with the reference to "Happy Days the Musical"as a parody musical, it was not!
In Fellowship! there is no part of the opening where a " Red Eyed Sauron" tells any part of the tale.
Arwen and Strider are not "tragic lovers" as stated, and Paul C. Vogt did not perform in this show at all (he is the understudy and never has gone on stage in the role).It was Peter Allen Vogt as listed in the picture to the side of ths review!
Did the reviewer actually watch the show? I see he is listed as a screenwriter and actor as well - wow you would think he would get all his facts straight before he writes his review, since I am sure he would expect the same if he was getting reviewed. Again, I understand that not everything is for everyone, but you should have your facts correct if you are going to calll yourself a reporter.
Thanks for your time.
Peter Allen Vogt the over sized Sam! "
In Fellowship! there is no part of the opening where a " Red Eyed Sauron" tells any part of the tale.
Arwen and Strider are not "tragic lovers" as stated, and Paul C. Vogt did not perform in this show at all (he is the understudy and never has gone on stage in the role).It was Peter Allen Vogt as listed in the picture to the side of ths review!
Did the reviewer actually watch the show? I see he is listed as a screenwriter and actor as well - wow you would think he would get all his facts straight before he writes his review, since I am sure he would expect the same if he was getting reviewed. Again, I understand that not everything is for everyone, but you should have your facts correct if you are going to calll yourself a reporter.
Thanks for your time.
Peter Allen Vogt the over sized Sam! "
dano wrote on Jun 18, 2009 4:30 PM:
" I think Mr. Petrillo’s review really misses the mark about this terrific production of “Fellowship”. In spite of his tepid approval and acknowledgment of the strong improv chops of the cast he leaves me wondering if he watched the show or spent the evening reading the program and reminiscing about previous productions at the Falcon. All of which, it should be noted, were produced and performed by completely different people than those attached to “Fellowship”.
I don’t understand reviewing the merit of the title of a previous play by one of the writers of “Fellowship” to the titles of another theatre company’s work. It has nothing to do with the work being presented. I love the work of Matt Walker’s company but he has nothing to do with this production.
The review implies the show is “way too dude-friendly” and yet commends Peter Vogt (not Paul Vogt as listed in the review) for “the show-stopping “Balrog Blues” better than the best local drag queens”. It strikes me that the show has something for everyone regardless of what kind of “dude” you are. Hobbit, Troll or Orc it is wonderful evening with outstanding music that is thoroughly entertaining. Theatre reviews should be a critique of the work presented on the stage. Full disclosure I am married to one of the cast members.
Dan O’Connor "
I don’t understand reviewing the merit of the title of a previous play by one of the writers of “Fellowship” to the titles of another theatre company’s work. It has nothing to do with the work being presented. I love the work of Matt Walker’s company but he has nothing to do with this production.
The review implies the show is “way too dude-friendly” and yet commends Peter Vogt (not Paul Vogt as listed in the review) for “the show-stopping “Balrog Blues” better than the best local drag queens”. It strikes me that the show has something for everyone regardless of what kind of “dude” you are. Hobbit, Troll or Orc it is wonderful evening with outstanding music that is thoroughly entertaining. Theatre reviews should be a critique of the work presented on the stage. Full disclosure I am married to one of the cast members.
Dan O’Connor "
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