My Illustrious Wasteland
My Illustrious Wasteland
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Tod Kimbro
Directed by John DiDonna
Staring Chris McIntyre, Brittany Berkowitz, Tod Kimbro
Beth Marshall and Tod Kimbro at the Orlando Shakespeare Festival</strong>
It’s big, it’s noisy, it’s ambitious, and while “My Illustrious Wasteland” doesn’t quite make it to the stars, it at least makes it to the upper ionosphere. In the not too distant future implanted chips allow instant internet access and handset free cell phone communication. While the minutes are unlimited, it comes with instant government control of the subject’s already short attention span. History is measured by People Magazine and pop stars obsess a nation incapable of hanging up the phone for 5 minutes and talking about something important, like the weather. Mogs McCallsiter-Itch (McIntyre) can’t seem to remember who won Best Soap Opera Star for 1991 until he falls in love with Sunny Day (Berkowitz), recently married to evil President Reverend, MD (Kimbro). Early on, PRMD announced his plans to remain faithful until a better looking babe showed, so he’s a little miffed when Sunny takes up with Mogs. The Realists abduct Mogs, remove his implant, and improve his relation with his pill popping mother (Beth Marshall). What’s the message? Hang up your cell phones and think for yourself. This IS a speculative fiction.
If the story sounds complicated, it is and it’s not until the second act that the show settles on a principle story line that you can identify with. Kimbro is an effective villain, and a much better singer than your average bad guy. Berkowitz nails the blond bimbo look, but adds a spectacular voice to go with it. She stuns when she sings “As Real as It Can Get” and “Wake Up / Suspicious Sunny Day”, even with the bottom heavy sound mix that made most of the lyrics indecipherable. Mogs fit well into the Lost Boy of the Future, but he wasn’t very likeable until he got that implant removed. Backing band Lucifer-Itch did well with Kimbro’s quirky brand of rock and roll, and there’s a nice touch of choreography courtesy of Blue. A huge video screen provided running ads and commentary that parodied the information overload that takes over our lives. Some of the ads were hysterical, and some just weird. Interestingly, I didn’t detect a single cell phone ring during the show.
The fundamental hurdle My Illustrious Wasteland faces it its attempt to cover politics; love, pop culture, government conspiracy and slacker apathy in one go. While the commentary is funny and to the point, it’s not until Wasteland settles into the traditional musical themes of mixed up love and powerful pop ballads that it really takes off.
For more information on My Illustrious Wasteland, please visit http://todkimbro.com/</a</em>>
