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Matt Doyle and Allison Scagliotti in 'Jasper in Deadland'
Photo by Matt Murphy
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To commandeer a quote from Stephen Sondheim, “They do an
awful lot of dancing, the dead.” They do a lot
of singing, too, in the Prospect Theater Company’s production of the rollicking
new rock musical Jasper in Deadland, on stage at the West End Theater in the
Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew.
The show, boasting a score by Ryan Scott Oliver (a Jonathan
Larson grant recipient) and a book penned by Mr. Oliver and Hunter Foster (yes,
that Hunter Foster, now treading the boards in Broadway’s The Bridges of
Madison County), is a thrilling ride through the Underworld as its title
character seeks to rescue his best friend and bring her back with him to the land
of the living.
Jasper in Deadland, a mashup of Dante’s Inferno and assorted myths
about the Netherworld, may owe a nod to Larson’s megahit Rent, which also borrowed
its plot from a classical source. But
its musical inspiration is surely Spring Awakening; if you should happen not to catch the
connection to “The Bitch of Living” through the music and choreography, one of
the characters is there to remind us that “life is a bitch.”
Unlike its predecessors, however, Jasper in Deadland eschews
a tone of overbearing angst for one that is far more upbeat. Oh, there are moments where we may briefly
fear that Jasper will fail at his quest and either return empty-handed (like
Orpheus) or remain among the dead until he becomes one of them permanently.
But, really, it’s OK to ignore Dante’s warning; do not “abandon all hope, ye
who enter here.”
So forget the ugly stuff under the rock. Jasper’s main torment is “the noise” of a
teenager’s daily life, exacerbated by the breakup of his parents and a gnawing sense
of responsibility when his friend Agnes (who is in love with him) dives off a
cliff into a lake—either in an act of conquering her fear or one of
desperation.
It is through his attempt to save her that Jasper (Matt
Doyle)—a star swimmer—finds himself at the entrance to Deadland, a world that
is surprisingly similar to the one he left behind, with plenty of “noise” of
its own. Here he experiences a multitude of adventures
as he wends his way through the six zones (reduced from Dante’s nine circles of
hell) leading eventually to Elysium, all the while looking for Agnes.
The problem is, one of the side effects of hanging out with
the dead is that you tend to forget things—which can either be a curse or a
blessing, depending on what it is you start to forget. In this instance, forgetfulness is
purposefully promulgated by a fiendish character known as Mr. Lethe (Ben
Crawford), who has cornered the market on bottled water from the River
Lethe. If Jasper had been paying
attention in his Humanities class, he might have known that one of the properties
of the water in that river is that it promotes forgetfulness in all those who
drink from it. And so, with each sip,
Agnes starts to fade from his mind.
Fortunately, Jasper has had the good fortune to hook up with
a sympathetic tour guide, Gretchen (Allison Scagliotti, best known for TV work
but who takes to the musical theater stage like a seasoned veteran).
Poor Agnes. Whoever
she is, she can’t possibly hold a candle to Gretchen for friendship, sacrifice,
and love. It is Gretchen who guides Jasper safely past the dangers posed by the
likes of Mr. Lethe and his aide-de-camp, the Chuckster (F. Michael Haynie, a
talented and comically eccentric actor); the Egyptian demoness Ammut (Danyel
Fulton, a powerful belter), known—for good reason—as the “Eater of Hearts;” and
the oddball pair from Norse mythology, Loki (Mr. Haynie again) and Hel (Bonnie
Milligan). These two pop up
periodically, like Lewis Carroll’s Tweedledee and Tweedledum—thereby providing
the connection between the musical’s title and Carroll’s Alice In Wonderland
(though with a touch of Wagner in their singing).
In the end, with a last-minute intervention by the goddess
Persephone (Andi Alhadeff), who, after all, is well acquainted with entering
and exiting the Underworld on a regular basis, Jasper is allowed to return to
the land of the living (With Agnes? With
Gretchen? Please—no spoilers here!), and
all ends on a most hopeful note with the joyful and spirited song “One More Day
of Snow.”
Commendations all around for this production, which makes full
use of the small stage area at the West End Theater—from Lorin Latarro’s
choreography, to Patrick Rizzotti’s scenic design (which makes clever use of a breakaway
platform), to the costume design by Bobby Pearce, who makes the world of the
living rather bland looking and the world of the dead a most colorful place to
be, sort of the costumer’s version of the switch from sepia tones to
Technicolor in The Wizard of Oz. Thumbs
up, too, to the fine band, conducted by Ryan Fielding Garrett.
Under Brandon Ivie’s fast-paced directing, the cast is
excellent, starting with Mr. Doyle (a boy-next-door charmer who has played the role
of Elder Price in The Book of Mormon on Broadway and whose singing brings to
mind Aaron Tveit), and Ms. Scagliotti (who really must do more musical theater),
and including all the rest of the high caliber performers.
One last thing before I end.
At the performance I attended, I sat next to a young woman named Amara,
an up-and-coming actress from Chicago who clearly loves the theater. I give a shout-out to Amara and to all of the
members of the mostly youthful audience who are living proof that the musical
theater is vibrant, alive, and well—and far from heading to Deadland.
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