Samantha and Roger Talmage
This was truly community theater, as in Samantha Talmage was the composer (I think? maybe they both were? maybe they both were responsible for book/music/lyrics?) but she was at least the Music Director and conductor of keyboard, bass, and drums. She was also the Older Annie Sullivan. Oh, did I forget to mention that this was, ostensibly, the story of Annie Sullivan, tutor and mentor to Helen Keller? Well it was. Unfortunately, and maybe because this was touted as a Musical Reading, we didn’t see much spitfire. Yes, there were a few blow-ups between hot-headed Annie and her hot-headed father, an Irish man who fell prey to the drink (hmm, is there truth to stereotypes?). But not enough to create a spitfire.
Musically speaking, clocking in at twenty-one musical numbers, this is way too many. And most were generic, sitting within the same key/tonality, with not much interesting movement. I actually was moved by the moments in the score and show when Annie’s mother, and her brother, died. Nicely done, if a bit too pat.
The performances (and I don’t usually do this) ranged from OK to passable to ‘gosh let’s put on a show’—not that there’s anything wrong with that. But at twenty-one musical numbers, it was somewhat numbing. What else to say? I’m thinking and hoping that additional dialogue could flesh out some of it. To me, this is a musical that would need lots and lots of work—trimming, focus, something—to make some better improvements. Even the title number didn’t have the oomph it needed. Back to the drawing board, I think.
ConcertMeister
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