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The People’s THE SWORD IN THE STONE
Adapted and Directed by Andrew Park
Book & Lyrics by Andrew Park
Composition & Musical Direction by Scott Lamps
Produced by Quest Theatre Ensemble
At The Blue Theatre
1609 w. Gregory
Chicago, IL
Call 312-458-0895 for reservations
FREE tickets—donations accepted
Fridays & Saturdays at 8 pm
Sundays at 2 pm
Running time is 2 hours, 10 minutes with intermission
Through August 19, 2007
Tom Wlliams’ mini-review of The People’s The Sword In The Stone
The ambitious Quest Theatre Ensemble has a near-miss with The Sword In The Stone. The amazing full-sized puppets and the unique masks together with the worthy and, at times, thrilling score added up to a promising new musical. With a small budget and free tickets, it is remarkable that such an extensive and complicated show would be offered. Andrew Park’s book and lyrics run from dark to sophisticated while Scott Lamp’s score has several sweeping anthems worthy of a mini-spectacle. Lamps has several tuneful numbers such as “It Must Be Done,” “Follow Me,” “Arthur’s Lament “ and the danceable English folk tune “The Day of Sir Kay.” The songs offer a nice basis from which a workable new musical could emerge. 
Vincent L. Lonegran was an apt Merlin but his limited vocal range hurts the show. Scott Sumerak is an excellent Arthur as he is the charming, smiley and naďve young serf who becomes king. For this show to move to the next lever (and it should), it will necessitate strong singers, particularly the king and his bride.
I was pleasantly surprised at the technical level and sophisticated pacing in a church basement space with Sword. If you can get over some poor singing early on, The Sword In The Stone will entertain you. Quest Theatre Ensemble has attempted to push the envelop of storefront theatre with their ambitious new musical. With tighter vocals, Sword could be a terrific show. It sure is worth a look now. Since it is FREE, don’t forget to drop some cash in the bucket. We need groups of creative artists not afraid to take changes with their art.
Recommended
Tom Williams
Date Reviewed: July 14, 2007
Editor’s Note: Randy Hardwick is our new reviewer. Randy has reviewed theatre in Denver and he has a nice refreshing take on theatre. Welcome, Randy.
Review by Randy Hardwick
Sword in the Stone: Quest’s Quest for Arthur
Somewhere between amazingly ambitious undertaking and self-indulgent schtick, you will find Quest Theatre Ensemble’s adaptation of Sword in the Stone. This production has a certain dose of distractions common in under-funded companies: limited technical capabilities, marginal physical space and, especially in this case, questionable casting; however, there are also some highlights that make for an enjoyable evening, depending on one’s tastes. If, as many people do, you love the story of King Arthur and never tire of its retelling, the Quest Ensemble’s version should tickle your fantasy despite its shortcomings.
Probably the strongest element to recommend Sword is the creative use of large scale puppetry to forge a world at least directed, if not outright controlled, by spirits and creatures of the forest. Writer/Director Andrew Park does a skillful job moving the action around a sparse set with a lot of help from puppet designers Nick Rupard and Jason Bowen and some clever and effective fight choreography from David Korzatkowski, David Tarzon and Scott Sumerak. There are also several strong performances among the cast, most notably veteran Vincent Lonegran as a troubled Merlin and still-boyish Irish tenor Scott Sumerak as Arthur.
Unfortunately, the best that can be said about the 16 musical numbers in the show is that they are uniformly brief. Musical director Scott C. Lamps does journeyman’s work with his three piece orchestra and gets a lift from several strong voices in the chorus, but their efforts cannot hide lyrics and melody that range from merely mundane to cheesily clichéd. There is a definite children’s theatre quality to the music which contributes to a schizophrenic quality in the work. It’s too long and too complicated to be intended for little children, yet they are the only audience who could possibly not groan as they anticipate the next painful rhyme. Admittedly, a central part of Quest Ensemble’s identity is that their shows are for everyone. On the evening I attended there were several quite young audience members who were mesmerized by the puppets and a couple of technical triumphs with the Lady of the Lake, but these same kids were lying down and nearly asleep during other parts of the show. Sword is not really children’s theatre.
There are problems with the book as well. While I confess that the King Arthur story has never made much sense to me (Why does one become king for withdrawing this sword?), this latest interpretation from Andrew Park confuses me more than most. I have no idea why Merlin stole Arthur from his father and forced him to endure 18 or so years with, a single-faceted, goofy step-dad and an equally superficial, selfish step-brother. If this was supposed to be a period during which Merlin tutors Arthur in the mystical mastery of being human, it all takes place well offstage. Worse yet, Park’s version delivers an Arthur that is not only insecure, but actually a bit on the stupid side. I had trouble liking any of the characters during much of the show and that bothered me more than the other difficulties together.
So, you might imagine that my advice is to skip Sword in the Stone altogether, but that is not the case. The puppetry and choreography are at times charming enough on their own to warrant purchasing a ticket; however, you won’t have to do that because this show is FREE!…and that is something that must be noted. For a company that relies on donations, coming up with and producing an original musical is quite an incredible accomplishment that can only happen in a theatre town with depth of dedicated talent. There is a lot of creativity in this company and there are spots in Sword where that talent shines. If you are a theatre-goer who can look past obvious flaws, appreciates clever staging and don’t’ mind yet another version of the King Arthur story, take a chance. The price is certainly right.
SOMEWHAT RECOMMENDED
Randy Hardwick
Date Reviewed: July 14, 2007
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