|
Burn, baby, burn. That’s what happens when you sell your
soul to the devil. Especially when you do it at the height of the disco era.
Thus is the setting of Disco Inferno, the jukebox musical filled with
disco hits good and bad, an update to the Faust story that playwright Anastasia
Serdsev clearly made a deal with the devil to get published. But hey, can a
night of live disco music, 70s clothing, and a lit-up disco dance floor ever be
that bad?
Nyack High School, who last spring became one of the first
schools in the country to perform Phantom of the Opera, this spring went
for something a little lighter and sillier and discoer. And if you don’t pay
too much attention to the dialogue and plot line and character development,
it’s a fun, groovy show.
The setting is the summer of 1976 in London. Jack (Christian Rulon) is a bartender hoping to
get his chance on stage so he can become “the next David Cassidy.” But who
could make sure Jack’s sky-high dream comes true? Enter a Hot Stuff demon
named Lady Marmalade, with sister soul Daisy Krikun bringing it all with
vocals and attitude and fiery red dress. It becomes even harder not to root for the devils over the
foolish mortals when we’re later introduced to her boss Nick Diablo, a gaily dapper boogieman all dressed up in a pink suit, gold platform shoes, a fur
wrap, and a white kitty sitting in his lap like the prototypical James Bond
villain. James Greenberg makes for a hilarious character as he talks
about pop, pop, Pop Muzic (while the heads of other stars on Nick’s wall
of captured souls pop out of their pictures to sing the pop, pop, pop muzic
chorus).
The foolish mortals include Jack’s girlfriend Jane, with Georgette
Vaillancourt getting one of the biggest ovations for her rendition of I
Will Survive. Best friend Tom (Charles Caster-Dudzick) smoothly delivers most
of the more amusing lines as far as the mortals are concerned. Nice that he can
keep his sense of humor after dating Maggie (Veronica Torres) six years
without so much as a kiss. Matthew Glover is Jack’s moody and bitter
rival Heathcliff, a personality combination that makes it tough to be his
girlfriend, with Edy Modica starring as All Out of Love Kathy who
finds it easy to dump him when it appears someone nicer may have a better chance
becoming a star. Ben Birkeland is Duke, the club owner, who wistfully
remembers the Crocodile Rock days when rock was young and he and Suzie
had so much fun (performed with some diverting choreography as he’s joined by
his three-man chorus).
Greg Baccarini
had a lot of fun with the choreography throughout the show, adding much to many
of the scenes with humor and a variety of 70s-inspired dancing, though not much
variety for Jack’s devil girl backup singers the Fallen Angels who seem doomed to perform the same movement
throughout the show. Greg also designed a number of great period wigs that,
with Costume Designer Liz Prince's creative help, transport us back to the
days of Saturday Night Fever. And if all that weren’t enough to transport
you, there’s always Andrew Gmoser’s fantastic lighting, from the disco
floor to the disco ball to the very depths of disco hell. The entire cast adds
laughter and great dancing to many scenes, which is especially impressive when
they’re doing it on platform shoes on a slanted disco floor. Some standout scenes
include the amusing Some Girls sung in a guys’ urinal, Instant Replay,
Ballroom Blitz, Boogie Wonderland, and the opening and closing
numbers that include a big Celebration and, of course, a towering Disco
Inferno.
Performed March 6 - 14, 2009.
Rob Hopper
Executive Director
National Youth Theatre
~ Cast ~
Jack: Christian Rulon
Jane: Georgette Vaillancourt
Tom: Charles Caster-Dudzick
Maggie: Veronica Torres
Heathcliffe: Matthew Glover
Kathy: Edy Modica
Terry: Chris Guardaro
Duke: Ben Birkeland
Lady Marmalade: Daisy Krikun
Nick Diablo: James Greenberg
Dick Clark: Martin Reinhardsen
Priest: Tyler Moson
Photographer/Producer: Alec Biello
Fallen Angels:
Raina Gonzalez
Emily McCloskey
Brittany Petronella
Ensemble:
Naima Aguayo-Pohl
Alexander Baehr
Alec Biello
Talia Bosley
Alana Brolly
Colin Brophy
Olivia Chanyungco
Caroline Cummings
Kim Edelsberg
Christina Farrugia
Tyler Forrest
Jeremy Gottfried
Justin Green
Tamar MacCallan-Finkelman
Tyler Moson
Brittany Raglin
Martin Reinhardsen
Anastasia Serdsev
Hannah Towers
Director: Joseph J. Egan
Associate Director/Choreographer: Greg Baccarini
Musical Director/Conductor: Kurt Kelley
Set Design: Joseph J. Egan
Sound Design: Bryan McPartlan
Lighting Design: Andrew Gmoser
Costume Design: Liz Prince
Wig Design: Greg Bacarini
|
