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Sundown What new laurels and accolades can be bestowed upon Lyric Stage that haven’t already been said? Lyric Stage is the only theater company in Texas to offer totally fresh, new and never before produced shows as the bulk of their offerings. The company does occassionaly produce a well known show (past titles include Gypsy and Brigadoon), but they primarily produce brand new musicals. This should make any musical theater fan yelp with glee. Lyric Stage has brought some of the finest musical theater productions to its audiences, including Richard Cory and Abyissina. The company has now ventured into New York, co-producing with the York Theatre Company the musical Roadside, which the metroplex audience had first dibs to see when it was produced here earlier this season. This time around, Lyric Stage presents the world premiere of the new musical Sundown, which centers around Doc Holliday and that well-known shootout at the OK Corral. I must confess that I am not a huge fan of those John Wayne western films and I haven’t seen that many films dealing with cowboys, gunslingers, and the such. So I walked into the Dupree Theater not really knowing a lot about Holliday and the OK battle. Director Cheryl Denson continues to take artistic risks and has not once dropped the ball. She is consistantly assigned new or hardly ever produced musicals and the end results are artistic gems, even if the material is weak (Allegro, for instance). Denson’s direction overcomes the perfunctory material and still presents a glorious production. With no blueprints from previous productions, Denson must rely on her talent, vision, artistry, as well as her cast and production team to bring the new material to life. Denson has a grand eye for visually enhancing the emotion of the piece that she is working on, and in Sundown you can really see it, from the opening number of foreshadowing to the cryptic and dark ending of act one to the tour de force act two with breathtaking blocking, vision, costumes, lighting, set, and performances. From the beginning number, “Poisoned Water,” to the end, it is magical theater at its finest, but that’s what come to be expected from a Denson directed production. One of the best elements of the production is the score itself. There are nineteen songs in Sundown, and for the most part they are powerful and beautifully written pieces of music. The score’s best moments come from the solos sung throughout the evening; the ensemble numbers are a mixed bag. While some of the group numbers do create mood and add to character development, others stop the action and do not truly comment on the scene itself, or they come out of nowhere and simply do not set up anything. Oddly, some of the songs do not sound or give the proper feeling or emotion to the scene before or after in which it is sung. Case in point: in act two there is a brutal rape in the jail (with Kate, a wallet picking gal who falls for Doc). Right after that scene there is a reprise of an earlier comedy number titled, “We Ain’t Never Had It So Good.” The saloon/country flavor of the song simply sounds distorted and totally not connecting with the emotion of the scene that just happened. The comedy numbers are lackadaisical at best. While they do provide amusement, they do not reach high levels of humor or aid in moving the plot. Such numbers as “Fly in the Ointment,” “Politickin',” and “We Ain’t Never Had it So Good,” while sung and performed superbly, feel and sound out of place. But Peter Link’s score mostly hits great a emotional arc, and the music coming from the orchestra pit (conducted again by the marvelous Nyela Basney) is both impressive and exquisite. Easily the best ensemble number of the evening is “Poisoned Water”; the lush harmonies of the singers and the commitment of the entire cast to understanding the emotion of the number is wonderful to see and hear. Link’s strongest work is revealed in the majestic solos for various characters. Some of my favorite arias include “Arizona Morning,” “The Rest of My Life,” “Bridges,” “Sundown,” “Prisoner,” “Men Ain't What They Used to Be,” and the haunting “Another Time.” These solos are gold nuggets! The music written for them is moving, with a light air of country and western mixed in with pop/rock overtones.I wish, however, that the Woman in Black had a solo of her own. The character truly begs for one. It takes a while to realize that the character is the Angel of Death, but she has not one song to establish her purpose or reason within the plot. The book for Sundown is decent, but at times appears to not know which way it wants to go, and I think that’s where some of the songs have problems - how they are set within the book scenes. You can’t tell if this the show is a 'kick up your boots' saloon comedy or a dark, inner character piece. The first act is a bit long, while the second act zooms too fast; it feels disjointed and uneven, thus some characters and the emotional arc suffer in the process. Two examples of book problems are the Woman in Black and Kate characters. There is nothing in either book or song to let the audience know who the Woman in Black is; we assume she represents “death,” but with no song and no real scene work to establish her, we're left to our own assumptions. This is too bad, because I honestly think it is a great idea to have this character in the piece. As mentioned before, Kate is raped in act two, but within a few minutes (after the ill conceived comic number reprise) Kate is back to herself, planning a jail escape. There is nothing in the book to help her segue from this horrific thing that has happened to her, to being all happy and talking about the coffee the Sheriff has just given her. Ann Roberston (British host of "The Weakest Link") would be sad to know that there is not one single weak link in the company! Each thespian is cast perfectly and all of them deliver first rate performances. Chip Wood gives a solid performance as the backstabbing and conniving Tom McLaury; Christopher Gleason is charming as Billy Clanton, who sadly does not have much upstairs in the brain department. Jon Morehouse is delightful as John Behan the bartender who, much against his will, becomes the new Sheriff, and Will Trice is perfect as the fancy dressed, yet evil Frank McLaury. Others in the cast who deliver excellent performances include Jay Taylor (Virgil Earp), Bradley Campbell (Ike Clanton), and especially Jimmy Nelson (Morgan Earp) as the comic sidekick to Wyatt Earp. Candace Evans is both sexy and dark as the Woman in Black. The actress has only parts of a couple of songs to sing in, and not much in dialogue. But her stage presence and performance is so strong that the character simply begs to be better written. Regardless of the character’s limitations, Evans is fantastic! Gina Biancardi is both tough and loving as Kate. While her character also suffers from weak book writing, this does not stop this terrific actress from giving it her all. Biancardi has a set of gold soprano vocal pipes that work wonders on the touching ballads “Bridges” and “Prisoner,” making them highlights of the evening. The actress goes from a tough cowgirl to an elegant lady in a yellow satin gold gown with ease and finesse - she is divine! The best performances of the evening, however, belong to Kevin Varner (Doc Holliday) and Steve Barcus (Wyatt Earp). Barcus, who has one of the most beautiful tenor voices within our artistic family, gives a radiant performance as the skirt chasing, hot tempered, massive alcoholic Wyatt Earp. I have seen Barcus in various productions over the seasons, starting with Jesus Christ Superstar and just this past season in Roadside and in each role he is outstanding. Barcus gives Wyatt a loveable side, but he can easily become a coldhearted robber and gunfighter. Barcus again adds another flawless performance to his resume. The book, score, and characters all circle around one major character - that of Doc Holliday, which is performed here with brilliance by Kevin Varner. Varner (who strongly resembles Nicholas Cage in Moonstruck) possesses a powerful baritone/tenor voice that soars onto the notes written in his stack of songs, the best songs of the evening, from the light and airy “Arizona Morning” to the fun and festive up-tempo “The Rest of My Life” to the tour de force and deeply emotional act one finale “Sundown”. The actor sings with passion and gives total commitment to his character. As you may remember, Wyatt was quite ill, thus Varner brings this element as well to the table. His harsh coughing and wheezing is extremely realistic and gives his act one and act two finales great subtext. Varner is magnificent in the role. The cast and director are greatly aided by the creative design team as well. Giva Taylor and Susan Mayes’ costumes are perfect in period and detail. The black velvet beaded gown for Evans and the yellow/gold satin creation for Biancardi are my personal favorites; both are rich in fabric and design. Susan A. White’s lighting design could rival any Broadway production. Her design of creating “emotional color” is to be admired greatly. Her design of act two‘s battle at the OK Corral is worth the price of admission alone. I loved it! Wade Giampa’s set involves platforms and major turntables on either side of the stage. The sets are designed with authenticity and are painted to reflect sun burnt, weathered wood that actually make these buildings look like they have been sitting out in the hot, western sun for years. Not many cities in the United States have theater companies that produce new musicals from scratch and we are indeed very lucky to have our very own such company right here in Dallas. Lyric Stage is currently in its ninth season, and with productions like Sundown, they will be here for many years to come! Sundown plays at the Dupree Theater in Irving through May 4. For tickets call 972-252-2787. Sundown CAST Woman In Black................Candace Evans |
