A rousing reception for the “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”
Photo Credit: Act One, Too Ltc.
by Brad Richason, Twin Cities Performance Art Examiner
Asking an audience to cheer for protagonists that use mass abduction as a means of romantic courtship is a daunting challenge, but the Chanhassen Dinner Theatres’ new production of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers manages to pull off the sympathetic trick by depicting the plot point as yet another example of the characters’ amusingly absurd misunderstanding of polite society and the opposite sex. The process of turning mountain men into gentlemen is a potentially preposterous premise, one from which this production derives full comedic worth even if the more dramatic foundations sometimes feel weak by comparison.
At its core, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is a grand romance of sorts. Adam Pontipee, the eldest of seven brothers, lives with his siblings in the rugged wilderness of Oregon, circa 1850. Evincing all the social graces of cavemen, the brothers wrestle in the living room, toss unwashed clothes about the house, and sleep wherever they happen to collapse after a hard day’s work. It’s an ideal life, except that the food is rotten and the squalor is getting oppressive, even for their lax standards. Adam, being the oldest, is tasked with the burden of finding a wife to rectify this situation. He accomplishes this goal with a deadpan pragmatism, wedding the equally practical Milly, without a single word about his six brothers. Upon learning of her co-inhabitants, Milly doesn't run from wedded bliss, but determines to socialize the savages and marry them off.
Playing the lead romance of Milly and Adam are, respectfully, Norah Long and Keith Rice. Both performers establish just the right comedic tone wavering between self-reliance and vulnerability. Norah Long brings out Milly’s harried but humored school mom persona, making her like the lone authority figure in a class of habitual delinquents. Keith Rice plays Adam as a swaggering mountain man, part Grizzly Adams and part Elvis Presley. During the play’s lighter moments, the banter between the two actors projects a delightfully charged chemistry. Unfortunately this chemistry largely dissipates when the play goes for a more dramatic tone.
The fault of this dramatic handicap has less to do with the actors than with the play’s construction. Aside from a nicely screwball first night together, the audience is not made privy to the growth of Milly and Adams’ relationship. Consequently, the shift from lighthearted breeziness into serious drama feels like an unwelcome jolt. Thankfully the comedic momentum established in the first half is strong enough to carry through such dramatic shortcomings without losing the production’s overall charm.
Because, excepting such minor dramatic difficulties, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is a vastly entertaining piece of theater. Both the brothers (Michael Fielder, Mark King, Michael Matthew Ferrell, Dieter Bierbrauer, Tony Vierling, and Chad M. Anderson) and their destined brides (Krysti Wiita, Kirsten Iiams, Julianna Mundale, Ann Michels, Cindy Milow, and Anne Lukaska) display a deft comedic timing that kept the audience laughing. And while the supporting characters are broadly drawn with ridiculously eccentric flourishes, the approach benefits a work dependent upon women falling in love with the very same men that carried them away under burlap sacs.
As a musical, the individual solos work well enough, but the greater impact is made by such large company pieces as Goin’ Co’tin. This particular production does feature a handful of new songs by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn, all of which fit in well enough with the original numbers. Even so, the real selling point for this musical production is the thrillingly ambitious choreography from Tamara Kangas Erickson that fuses traditional ballet with modern swing. Such full stage sequences dazzle with movement and raise the energy of the production several degrees.
The isolation of the Oregon wilderness is further conjured by Nayna Ramey’s set design which features a flexibly detailed backdrop evocative of a rustic world. With efficient fluidity, walls open up or enclose tight, equally capable of depicting the close quarters of a secluded cabin or the open space of a social hall.
Whatever the dramatic shortcomings, the Chanhassen Dinner Theatres' production of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers remains a highly enjoyable comedic ode to antiquated courtship rituals. And based on the response of the capacity audience during my performance, contemporary audiences will have no trouble finding the humor, even if burlap sacs are no longer a standard part of the dating scene.
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers runs through June 20th.
[return to Seven Brides press page]
Asking an audience to cheer for protagonists that use mass abduction as a means of romantic courtship is a daunting challenge, but the Chanhassen Dinner Theatres’ new production of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers manages to pull off the sympathetic trick by depicting the plot point as yet another example of the characters’ amusingly absurd misunderstanding of polite society and the opposite sex. The process of turning mountain men into gentlemen is a potentially preposterous premise, one from which this production derives full comedic worth even if the more dramatic foundations sometimes feel weak by comparison.
At its core, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is a grand romance of sorts. Adam Pontipee, the eldest of seven brothers, lives with his siblings in the rugged wilderness of Oregon, circa 1850. Evincing all the social graces of cavemen, the brothers wrestle in the living room, toss unwashed clothes about the house, and sleep wherever they happen to collapse after a hard day’s work. It’s an ideal life, except that the food is rotten and the squalor is getting oppressive, even for their lax standards. Adam, being the oldest, is tasked with the burden of finding a wife to rectify this situation. He accomplishes this goal with a deadpan pragmatism, wedding the equally practical Milly, without a single word about his six brothers. Upon learning of her co-inhabitants, Milly doesn't run from wedded bliss, but determines to socialize the savages and marry them off.
Playing the lead romance of Milly and Adam are, respectfully, Norah Long and Keith Rice. Both performers establish just the right comedic tone wavering between self-reliance and vulnerability. Norah Long brings out Milly’s harried but humored school mom persona, making her like the lone authority figure in a class of habitual delinquents. Keith Rice plays Adam as a swaggering mountain man, part Grizzly Adams and part Elvis Presley. During the play’s lighter moments, the banter between the two actors projects a delightfully charged chemistry. Unfortunately this chemistry largely dissipates when the play goes for a more dramatic tone.
The fault of this dramatic handicap has less to do with the actors than with the play’s construction. Aside from a nicely screwball first night together, the audience is not made privy to the growth of Milly and Adams’ relationship. Consequently, the shift from lighthearted breeziness into serious drama feels like an unwelcome jolt. Thankfully the comedic momentum established in the first half is strong enough to carry through such dramatic shortcomings without losing the production’s overall charm.
Because, excepting such minor dramatic difficulties, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is a vastly entertaining piece of theater. Both the brothers (Michael Fielder, Mark King, Michael Matthew Ferrell, Dieter Bierbrauer, Tony Vierling, and Chad M. Anderson) and their destined brides (Krysti Wiita, Kirsten Iiams, Julianna Mundale, Ann Michels, Cindy Milow, and Anne Lukaska) display a deft comedic timing that kept the audience laughing. And while the supporting characters are broadly drawn with ridiculously eccentric flourishes, the approach benefits a work dependent upon women falling in love with the very same men that carried them away under burlap sacs.
As a musical, the individual solos work well enough, but the greater impact is made by such large company pieces as Goin’ Co’tin. This particular production does feature a handful of new songs by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn, all of which fit in well enough with the original numbers. Even so, the real selling point for this musical production is the thrillingly ambitious choreography from Tamara Kangas Erickson that fuses traditional ballet with modern swing. Such full stage sequences dazzle with movement and raise the energy of the production several degrees.
The isolation of the Oregon wilderness is further conjured by Nayna Ramey’s set design which features a flexibly detailed backdrop evocative of a rustic world. With efficient fluidity, walls open up or enclose tight, equally capable of depicting the close quarters of a secluded cabin or the open space of a social hall.
Whatever the dramatic shortcomings, the Chanhassen Dinner Theatres' production of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers remains a highly enjoyable comedic ode to antiquated courtship rituals. And based on the response of the capacity audience during my performance, contemporary audiences will have no trouble finding the humor, even if burlap sacs are no longer a standard part of the dating scene.
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers runs through June 20th.
[return to Seven Brides press page]