Some Enchanted Evening
Some Enchanted Evening
Music by Richard Rogers
Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Concept by Jeffery B. Moss
Directed by Roy Alan
Musical Direction by Chris Leavy
Winter Park Playhouse
Winter Park FL
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Plot? Who needs a plot when you’ve got the entire Rodgers and Hammerstein songbook to work with? As in many WPPH productions, this show is all about keeping the audience from singing along. Large swaths of “Oklahoma!,” “The King and I,” “The Sound of Music” and “Carousel” fill the evening. The run order aims more for emotional continuity and less for story, but each of these songs has a tale to tell all by itself. The on-stage talent mixes our old favorites like Kevin Kelly and Natalie Cordone, the less often sighted Heather Kopp and Monica Titus, and the surprisingly good newcomer Dustin Cunningham. Rumor has it Mr. C works high end cruises and national touring companies, and I totally believe it. He did my favorite number tonight: “Lonely Room” is a rather sad lament that’s often cut from “Oklahoma!” Other rarities I loved include Ms. Titus version of “The Gentleman is a Dope” from the rarely seen “Allegro”, The Heather Kopp/Kevin K “Don’t Mary Me” medley, and Ms. Cordone and Ms. Titus’s “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” from “The Sound of Music.” It’s the middle of summer, and no one is in a mood to deconstruct anything. “Some Enchanted Evening” is a Mimosa spritzer in the summer heat, and even with a full page of fine print songs, it flies by faster than you can swat a mosquito.
For more information on Winter Park Playhouse, please visit http://www.winterparkplayhouse.org
