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Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik's eight Tony Award-winning, no-holds-barred musical is at the Welk Resort Theatre? Blistering songs about repressed youth and obsessive moral authority - not to mention abuse, rape, and teenage suicide - aren't the sort of subjects one associates with the theater north of Escondido.
In the lobby, next to photos from the Lawrence Welk Show and a life-sized replica of the maestro with a baton, signs announce "this is not a Welk production" and explain why.
Shaun T. Evans, managing artistic director of CYCT, gave a speech before the curtain last night. "We aren't doing The Wizard of Oz," he cautioned, then carefully reiterated that the staging and themes won't flinch.
He offered tickets to CYCT's next show if people, who hadn't known what to expect, wanted to leave.
None did. And most stayed for a production that, though often quite well sung, needed to pick up the pace.
Based on Frank Wedekind's drama, the musical takes place in 1891. Teenagers at the onset of puberty haven't a clue what's going on. Their parents and teachers, embracing the Victorian veneer of propriety, refuse to explain. The ones we see, in fact, despise the "creeping sensuality of liberal-minded youth." They conspire to thwart growth. The result: Wedekind subtitled his play "a tragedy of childhood."
Faced with nature propelling them into uncharted territory, and society holding them back, young Melchior Gabor, Wendla Bergman, Moritz, and others crack under the pressure. Others, like Martha and Ilse, suffer abuse so unimaginable it has no name (described in one of Spring's most haunting songs, "The Dark I Know Well").
Song titles tell the story: "The World of Your Body," "Bitch of Living," "Touch Me," "Totally [f-bombed]," "The Guilty Ones."
This is a show where the leads can shine. And Cassandra Lopez (Wendla), Ivan Pena (Melchior), and Josh Pinkowski (Moritz) certain do, vocally (Pinkowski's version of "Don't Do Sadness," one of the best I've heard).
Backed by a talented band - many from the San Diego School of Performing Arts - Emily Hoolihan, Ethan Eichman, and Francesco Valenti add valuable support.
Along with better miking (a bane all evening long), the cast needs to move this show faster. For such volatile subject matter, the pace is far too slow. The acting is often stiff, more enunciated than felt. And the group as a whole needs to speak more rapidly and forcefully, and pick up cues faster as well.
Welk Resort Theatre, 8860 Lawrence Welk Drive, Escondido. Playing through January 15: Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 1:00 p.m. 888-802-7469.
Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik's eight Tony Award-winning, no-holds-barred musical is at the Welk Resort Theatre? Blistering songs about repressed youth and obsessive moral authority - not to mention abuse, rape, and teenage suicide - aren't the sort of subjects one associates with the theater north of Escondido.
In the lobby, next to photos from the Lawrence Welk Show and a life-sized replica of the maestro with a baton, signs announce "this is not a Welk production" and explain why.
Shaun T. Evans, managing artistic director of CYCT, gave a speech before the curtain last night. "We aren't doing The Wizard of Oz," he cautioned, then carefully reiterated that the staging and themes won't flinch.
He offered tickets to CYCT's next show if people, who hadn't known what to expect, wanted to leave.
None did. And most stayed for a production that, though often quite well sung, needed to pick up the pace.
Based on Frank Wedekind's drama, the musical takes place in 1891. Teenagers at the onset of puberty haven't a clue what's going on. Their parents and teachers, embracing the Victorian veneer of propriety, refuse to explain. The ones we see, in fact, despise the "creeping sensuality of liberal-minded youth." They conspire to thwart growth. The result: Wedekind subtitled his play "a tragedy of childhood."
Faced with nature propelling them into uncharted territory, and society holding them back, young Melchior Gabor, Wendla Bergman, Moritz, and others crack under the pressure. Others, like Martha and Ilse, suffer abuse so unimaginable it has no name (described in one of Spring's most haunting songs, "The Dark I Know Well").
Song titles tell the story: "The World of Your Body," "Bitch of Living," "Touch Me," "Totally [f-bombed]," "The Guilty Ones."
This is a show where the leads can shine. And Cassandra Lopez (Wendla), Ivan Pena (Melchior), and Josh Pinkowski (Moritz) certain do, vocally (Pinkowski's version of "Don't Do Sadness," one of the best I've heard).
Backed by a talented band - many from the San Diego School of Performing Arts - Emily Hoolihan, Ethan Eichman, and Francesco Valenti add valuable support.
Along with better miking (a bane all evening long), the cast needs to move this show faster. For such volatile subject matter, the pace is far too slow. The acting is often stiff, more enunciated than felt. And the group as a whole needs to speak more rapidly and forcefully, and pick up cues faster as well.
Welk Resort Theatre, 8860 Lawrence Welk Drive, Escondido. Playing through January 15: Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 1:00 p.m. 888-802-7469.