THE BOYS FROM SYRACUSE

KDHX Theatre Review (Neville Mur)

As a fan of, Rogers and Hart's music, I've always wanted to see The Boys From Syracuse, which was first presented on Broadway in the late 1930's and rarely seen in revivals.

For those that don't know it's a musical comedy adaptation of William Shakespeare's play, A Comedy of Errors, set in ancient Greece and dealing with mistaken identity involving two sets of twins. Book-wise it's not as good an adaptation of Shakespeare as Cole Porter's Kiss Me Kate which was an adaptation of, The Taming of the Shrew, that opened on Broadway in the late 1940's, but it is Music by Richard Rogers and Lyrics by Larry Hart which makes it all worthwhile.

This was my first visit to the Florissant Civic Center, which is a great theatre for putting on shows and the Alpha Players took full advantage of the generous stage and extended the apron to cover the orchestra pit. The scenic design by Justin Barisonek was very thoughtfully played out and worked well for the action of the play. The costumes by Teresa Doggett (who also directed) were extremely well done and did make you feel you were back in ancient Greece. Renee Sevier-Monsey who did the lighting believes in the old adage that comedy should be well lit, and it was. The combination of sets, lights, costumes and Miss Doggett's direction did make for a beautiful "stage picture."

The off-key at times, but kept the show moving. The cast of 27 8 piece orchestra conducted by Mary Wiley played with great enthusiasm and energy, albeit a little performers took advantage of the large stage, to show off the staging of the musical numbers and choreography by Cindy Duggan.

This show also highlights some great Rogers and Hart Standards as, "Falling in Love with Love," "This Can't be Love," and "Sing for your Supper", among others.

Some of the outstanding performances were by Christopher Hickey, an Equity actor brought in under a “Special Appearance Contract” and worth the money. I also enjoyed the singing voice of Kay love. Other performers who were notable were: Dennis E. Shelton, Gerry Love, Marc Strathman, Rachel Heidbreder, Aimee Davis and Chuck Lavazzi. The rest of the ensemble were varying degrees of talent as you get in many community theatre productions, but all contributed effectively to make for an enjoyable evening of Musical Comedy Theatre.

The Boys From Syracuse plays through Sunday/May 29th [2005]. With Friday and Saturday performances at 8:00 PM, and Sunday matinees at 2:00 PM. For Reservations phone 314-921-5678