Reviewed by Judy Richter
Oscar Wilde's play "The Importance
of Being Earnest"
has amused audiences with its wit and satire on English society, romance and
human foibles since 1895. Now it is the basis for a world premiere musical,
"Being Earnest," presented by TheatreWorks.
Composers
Paul Gordon and
Jay Gruska have
updated the setting to 1965, a time perfectly captured by Fumiko Bielefeldt's costume designs, which are
inspired by Carnaby Street denizens. Unfortunately, the costumes are more
appropriate to the times than the music. While the Beatles and other such
groups were dominating pop charts with bouncy, hummable tunes, Gordon and
Gruska's score seems bland and repetitious.
Thanks
to a topnotch cast and Robert Kelley's direction, however, the show still has entertainment value. It
also benefits enormously from Wilde's words, which Gordon has incorporated into
his book and some of the lyrics.
The
plot focuses on two young English gentlemen, Algernon Moncrieff (Euan Morton) and Jack Worthing (Hayden
Tee), who resort
to deception to woo the young women to which they're attracted. Algernon
pursues Cecily Cardew (Riley Krull), who is Jack's ward, while Jack is in love with
Gwendolen Fairfax (Mindy Lym), Algernon's cousin. One of the obstacles they face is
Gwendolen's mother, Lady Bracknell (Maureen McVerry), who's very concerned about
being proper and maintaining her social status.
Completing
the cast are Diana Torres Koss as Miss Prism, Cecily's tutor; and Brian Herndon as three male characters.
All
of the performers are fine singers, but Morton's unflappable Algernon and
McVerry's Lady Bracknell are especially noteworthy. A mainstay of Bay Area
theater, McVerry also may be familiar to Peninsulans because of her musical
theater work with middle school students.
Another
reason why she is a standout is that Bielefeldt has given her some gorgeous
costumes, especially her outfit in the final scenes. Bielefeldt has also given
a show-stopper outfit to Lym, who appears in a Mary Quant-inspired ensemble in
the second act. Both Lym and Krull sport the go-go boots so popular at that
time.
Musical
director William Liberatore conducts four other musicians from the pit. The flexible
set is by Joe Ragey with lighting by Steven B. Mannshardt. The sound design by Jeff
Mockus is
sometimes too loud. It was plagued by some microphone pops at the reviewed
performance.
Gordon
successfully turned "Emma" and "Jane Eyre" into award-winning
musicals, but with "Being Earnest," the costumes are more memorable
than the music.