Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?
Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?
Book by John R. Powers
Music and Lyrics by James Quinn and Alaric Jans
Directed and Choreographed by Earl Weaver
Musical Direction by Susan Glerum
Starring David Klein and Helena Whittaker
Theatre UCF, Orlando FL</strong>
I never saw a show about Teen Age Lust with leads who seemed less interested in sex. Eddy Ryan (Klein) returns to St. Bastion’s Catholic School for a reunion; he’s half way looking for his semi-sweetheart Becky Bukowski (Whittaker). They had a bumpy romance; she was the fat girl who bloomed, he pursued her but never very hard or fast so she commits sexual suicide and joined a convent. But ten years later she changed her mind (didn’t know you could do that, but then I’m just a protestant kid) and now there’s hope for a chaste kiss and maybe some hot sweaty hand holding. But where’s the drama in that?
We’re not here to see love bloom but to recall our awkward grade school years, Catholic or otherwise. Tough Nun Number One is the strident Sister Lee (Kate Ingram), she rings the audience in to submission preshow; stragglers and cell phone users are shamed into line and if they don’t shape up it’s five “Our Fathers”, ten “Hail Mary’s” and a couple of laps around The Stations of the Cross. Tough as she is, she does take the time to give Becky self confidence when she needs it and discipline when she’s just a kid. Mark Brotherton plays the other responsible adult as Father O’Reilly; he actually dances a jig when school’s out for the summer. Klein seems as lost and awkward at 28 as at 18, but I will give high marks to Trevor Starr as Louis Schlang: he did a wonderful doowop fantasy number at the big high school dance number in act two. Mike Depki (Alex Hehr) is packed with naughty advice and Felix Lindor (Evan Jones) has his mortal sins backing up faster than he can repent. The popular girls (Meredith Pughe, Alecsa Kazenas and Sami Cunningham) are brutally nasty, especially when they smell weakness among their peers.
Bits of the sets look familiar, I think parts of “Nine” and “Arcadia” are back and the silver metal chairs are fast becoming my friends. There’s limited live music tonight; Susan Glerum works a piano backstage producing the helpful music needed for teen aged hymns when hitting a reliable note is just an even bet. Catholic School survivors will relive the past through a plate of safety glass, us other sinners will have our suspicions confirmed: The nuns are tough, but they really do want you to succeed in life and relations. Neither the jailers nor the jailed want to be here, but its all for their eternal good. But will you cheer for true love? Hard to say; if they don’t why should we?
For more information on Theatre UCF visit http://www.theatre.ucf.edu
