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Cowboys! Also see John's recent review of As long as I am on this earth, I will always throw a rousing round of applause to any theatre that will mount a new & unseen musical in the metroplex. Pegasus Theatre took the challenge with the country & western flavored musical Cowboys. Sadly the end result was, at best, a decent overall production. While there were some wonderful performances scattered throughout the cast, the production had one major obstacle that they could not be overcome, singing. Musicals require superb vocals, no way around that. That one key element is what separates a musical from a play. So, when you hear a song, even in a spoof of country music, you want to hear strong, solid, belting, and gorgeous notes come from the throats of each & every person on that stage, from the leads down to the chorus, the audience can tell when you cheat with either a weak singing chorus and strong leads, or vice versa. The Pegasus Cowboys is severely crippled with extremely weak singers, with the exception of maybe two performers. The harmonies at times were off and various solos could not be heard at all; the piano alone (the only instrument used in the production) overpowered their weak singing technique. Finally, there was no solid diction in some of the numbers. I'm sure there were some laughable lyrics, but so many were lost in the muffled and swallowing of words and phrases. Andi Allen's choreography was very much "tongue in cheek", performed by most of the cast with delightful energy and flow. While some performers looked stiff and uncomfortable in their dancing techniques, others shined with energetic faces and charming disposition. I must say Allen's "wink, wink" to the audience was a major highlight of the evening, in the choreography for the festive number, "Cloggin' Onto Broadway" for example. Regan Adair as "Ranger Rick Rowdy" has achieved yet another wonderful notch to his impressive resume for this theatre season. He again shows his total commitment to a role. Adair's performance as the good guy in the musical is a humorous combination of "Dudley DooRight goes Gay". Adair never goes into flaming queen syndrome, but instead gives his character a true solid cowboy of the old westerns in both his speaking voice and walk. Adair's singing voice did strain a little in the beginning of the show, but by act two he was able to carry off, quite nicely I must say, his torch song d'jour "Ain't Never Had A Kiss Like His", his facial expressions were just perfect comic overlays to the song's lyrics. Speaking of "Lightning". The two actresses who played this horse, Elizabeth Van Winkle and Jennifer Crenshaw were the "unseen" stars of the evening. Although both were covered completely in a horse costume, they used their bodies to create hysterical physical images for the horse, these two girls indeed provided some of the major laughs of the evening! The best musical number in the show belong's to A. Raymond Banda's hysterical take on "Girl from Texarkana". Banda's perfect comic timing to the lyrics, and the use of his body and face to create laughter is just seeing a very gifted actor who knows what comedy is perform. Pat Watson as the villain "Black Bart" was downright hilarious. Watson used his face and body to contort into the most hysterical patterns and expressions that just brought the house down. The scene in Act One in which Watson's "Bart" is trying to seduce Adair's "Ranger Rick" is worth the price of admission alone, I just guffawed. But when he finally kisses Ranger Rick, his pratfall and facial expressions from that kiss just killed me in laughter. While Watson did not have a strong singing voice, he sold his songs with superb comic craftsmanship. In the torch song ballad trio of Watson, Adair, and Reed Robertson titled, "I Ain't no Good for You", I suggest you watch Watson as he sits on that piano and he becomes some saloon gal with a broken heart! Watson provided a comic tour de force performance in Cowboys last night. Both Adair and Watson both provided excellent chemistry between each other, and their ability to play off each other was just delightful to watch. Reed Robertson (Colt) was alas mis-cast in this production. While the character comments in the show that he is "18 yrs old", and Robertson does fit physically that part of the character, he just doesn't match the remainder of what is described about his character. This most likely would have not mattered, but Robertson has a song titled, "Everything's Bigger in Texas". The song's lyrics describe Colt as very tall, muscles for days, especially in his pecs and arms, and Robertson does not fit any of those characteristic descriptions at all, thus the song loses every ounce of comic innuendos and physical comedy that was written in the lyrics. Rachel Schnitzius as "lovely Lilly Luscious", while is quite pretty, she just does not perform nor fit the "femme fatale" look that the role is geared toward. Ms. Schnitzius looks too innocent to play such a tough broad. Also, a woman like Lilly would wear some major F.M. pumps, not character shoes. Schnitzius's weak vocal skills could not reach some of the high soprano notes the role required just didn't help in her characterization of the role. Reed Robertson, Ted Wold, and Matthew J. Edwards make up the singing and dancing trio called the caballeros, unfortunately, the three actors possess weak singing skills, they are shouldered with a majority of the tight harmonies that are written to back up the bulk of the musical numbers, but the vocal sounds are not tight, and at times off pitch, no crescendos were used, thus the vocal sounds just did not succeed as they were intended. But Wold did provide some hilarious comic gems with his facial expressions and comic one liners. Also, Wold proved he can dance! Wold is known primarily as just an actor in our area, never has he tackled musical theatre, thus any actor earns my respect when he challenges himself. The enjoyment on Wold's face as he was having fun with the choreography and one liners had the audience reward him with cheers at curtain call, and well deserved. Edwards and Schnitzius perform a musical number in act two titled, "Apache Dance" that requires expert comic timing and energy, but both performers look stiff, tired, and uneasy, and the number just doesn't hit comic pay dirt. I give strong praise to Ms. Allen who did try her best to make the book and score come alive. But the majority of the songs are written in that 3 chord country key, that after 2 or 3 of these songs, you want to hear more variety in the score. Paul L. Johnson's lyrics are witty and his use of double "hidden" meaning in the songs are priceless. Cowboys! provides some really energetic performances, but alas it also provides some weak performers and singing, and sadly that's what hurts the production overall, you just cannot overlook the fact that this is a musical, and that requires strong comedic actors and singers, which Cowboys! lacks in some of its cast. But brava to Ms. Allen and Pegasus for at least trying to offer a new and fresh musical to the audiences, and that alone is worth of your attendance. Cowboys! plays through June 23 call 214-821-6005 for tix and info. Written by Clint Jefferies Directed and Choreographed by Andi Allen CAST Regan Adair, Matthew J. Edwards, Ted Wold, Reed Robertson, Rebekah Durk, A. Raymond Banda, Rachel Schnitzius, Pat Watson, Ben Schroth, Elizabeth Van Winkle, and Jennifer Crenshaw. |
