Classic 'Seven Brides' takes the cake for corniness
by Dominic P. Papatola, Pioneer Press
February 17, 2009
No, it's not PC. Yes, it is fun.
Going to the theater means engaging in "willing suspension of disbelief," choosing to accept soliloquies or people busting into song and dance to enter the world of the play. Seeing Chanhassen Dinner Theatres' production of "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" involves taking that a step further, toward "willing suspension of enlightened thinking."
That means no rolling your eyes when 1850's Oregon Territory backwoodsman Adam Pontipee sings about wanting to find a wife with "heavenly eyes and just the right size." No shaking your head when his brothers plot to sneak into town and kidnap some women who might initially seem unwilling, "but secretly they was overjoyed." And absolutely no tittering when the lonely men bemoan the fact that "A man can't sleep when he sleeps with sheep."
If you can do all that, you're likely to have a good time at Chan's entertainingly energetic undertaking of this stageplay based on the popular 1954 movie musical. For all its shortcomings – and it has plenty – the show is simple and solid as a log cabin. Though it doesn't have any hit songs, tunes like "Bless Yore Beautiful Hide," "Wonderful Day" and "Sobbin' Women" do tend to stick in your ear.
Chanhassen director Michael Brindisi knows that if cornpone like this is to work, the company has to play it straight: Any wink or nod, any hint that the characters are somehow in on the un-PC joke, and all is lost.
And so, there's Norah Long – returning to Chan after an absence of six years – singing her heart out and smiling a wry, can't-help-loving-that-man-of-mine smile as her oblivious husband sloooowly learns about what it means to be married. It's a tougher acting job than it seems, but Long nicely trods the line between dutiful frontier wife and proto-feminist.
With his big baritone voice and chiseled jawline, Chanhassen veteran Keith Rice was the only choice to play Adam. He, too, delivers the goods, though it's a little disappointing to see him reaching back into his leading-man bag of tricks - the growled line, the arched brow - after a couple years in which he's stretched out admirably in some memorable supporting roles.
Choreographer Tamara Kangas Erickson adroitly realizes that one reason people are lighting up the box office phones to see "Seven Brides" is because they remember the energetic choreography from the film. She borrows liberally from the source – men still jump axes and arm-wrestle on wobbly timbers – but she adds some athletic touches of her own, and the tireless Chanhassen ensemble makes it all sparkle.
It's fitting that a dinner theater is doing this show since, when you get right down to it, "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" is a gigantic ring of baloney. But there's no denying that Chanhassen's production puts a nice garnish on and serves it up with a smile.
Theater critic Dominic P, Papatola can be reached at 651-228-2165.
[return to Seven Brides press page]
February 17, 2009
No, it's not PC. Yes, it is fun.
Going to the theater means engaging in "willing suspension of disbelief," choosing to accept soliloquies or people busting into song and dance to enter the world of the play. Seeing Chanhassen Dinner Theatres' production of "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" involves taking that a step further, toward "willing suspension of enlightened thinking."
That means no rolling your eyes when 1850's Oregon Territory backwoodsman Adam Pontipee sings about wanting to find a wife with "heavenly eyes and just the right size." No shaking your head when his brothers plot to sneak into town and kidnap some women who might initially seem unwilling, "but secretly they was overjoyed." And absolutely no tittering when the lonely men bemoan the fact that "A man can't sleep when he sleeps with sheep."
If you can do all that, you're likely to have a good time at Chan's entertainingly energetic undertaking of this stageplay based on the popular 1954 movie musical. For all its shortcomings – and it has plenty – the show is simple and solid as a log cabin. Though it doesn't have any hit songs, tunes like "Bless Yore Beautiful Hide," "Wonderful Day" and "Sobbin' Women" do tend to stick in your ear.
Chanhassen director Michael Brindisi knows that if cornpone like this is to work, the company has to play it straight: Any wink or nod, any hint that the characters are somehow in on the un-PC joke, and all is lost.
And so, there's Norah Long – returning to Chan after an absence of six years – singing her heart out and smiling a wry, can't-help-loving-that-man-of-mine smile as her oblivious husband sloooowly learns about what it means to be married. It's a tougher acting job than it seems, but Long nicely trods the line between dutiful frontier wife and proto-feminist.
With his big baritone voice and chiseled jawline, Chanhassen veteran Keith Rice was the only choice to play Adam. He, too, delivers the goods, though it's a little disappointing to see him reaching back into his leading-man bag of tricks - the growled line, the arched brow - after a couple years in which he's stretched out admirably in some memorable supporting roles.
Choreographer Tamara Kangas Erickson adroitly realizes that one reason people are lighting up the box office phones to see "Seven Brides" is because they remember the energetic choreography from the film. She borrows liberally from the source – men still jump axes and arm-wrestle on wobbly timbers – but she adds some athletic touches of her own, and the tireless Chanhassen ensemble makes it all sparkle.
It's fitting that a dinner theater is doing this show since, when you get right down to it, "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" is a gigantic ring of baloney. But there's no denying that Chanhassen's production puts a nice garnish on and serves it up with a smile.
Theater critic Dominic P, Papatola can be reached at 651-228-2165.
[return to Seven Brides press page]