TROGG! A MUSICAL! REVIEWS
LGA's Giddy TROGG! A Musical Accentuates the Primitive
Christopher Soden,
November 17, 2011
How could you not savor the range, flexibility, ingenuity
and gusto of Level Ground Arts?
Every new season they push the envelope, staging everything from homage to
pathos to comedy to high camp, often combining them in loopy, satisfying
mashups. Currently hoppin and bobbin at LGA is Trogg! A Musical!, a spoof
inspired by the 1970 British film Trog (directed by Freddie Francis and
featuring Joan Crawford in her last big screen appearance.) I can’t vouch for
how closely Trogg! follows the original source material, but I can tell you it’s
delightfully silly from start to finish, brimming with lively nonsense and comic
bliss.
In a small, seaside
Providing a great deal of brilliant, improvised,
accompaniment for the numerous songs are The Band : Thiago Nascimento (
Keyboard) Michael Ragsdale (Guitar) Tyler Hagen (Bass Guitar) and Patrick
Herring (Drums). It’s not easy to describe the crazy rush you feel when you see
the actors rocking out with Emily Shaw’s Love Generation choreography and
jamming with Trogg, who sports a long black wig and leopard loincloth. Needless
to say, Trogg is over-the-top spoofery and the more excessive and far-fetched,
the better. There’s more than a little cross-dressing mischief going on, what
with two of the female leads being played by men, and the Sheriff being played
by the versatile and talented Ande Bewley. What better to set the tone than
Amongst the consistently enthusiastic, convivial cast
members, Cassidy Crown (Peanut) Jared Brewer (Rex Huntington) Marcus Jaurgui
(Carol Ann) and
Level Ground Arts (at the KD Studio Theatre) proudly
presents Trogg! A Musical! playing Friday, November 11 at 8:15 PM until
Saturday, December 3, 2011. 2600 N
Stemmons Frwy,
________________________TROGG! A
MUSICAL________________________
Reviewed by Daniel Macchietto, Associate Theater Critic for
John Garcia's THE COLUMN
In taking on my first writing assignment for THE COLUMN I
was intent on being well-prepared for my viewing of the stage production, TROGG
A MUSICAL.
In my research of this camp musical adaptation of the 1970
grade-Z science fiction horror film Trog, starring Joan Crawford, I curiously
searched the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) for nuggets of what I might be
getting myself into.
IMDB describes the plot as follows: "Anthropologist Dr.
Brockton [Dr. Joan in the musical] unearths a troglodyte (an Ice Age `missing
link" half-caveman, half-ape) and manages to domesticate him – until he's let
loose by an irate land developer to go on a rampage and kidnap a little girl".
The stage version, book and music by David Cerda, takes certain liberties with
these details but I stress that the plot of Trogg should be of little importance
to any patron that walks into The KD Studios Theatre in support of the Level
Ground Arts theatre troupe. Mr. Cerda makes this quite clear when he writes one
of his characters to be swiftly tranquilized for 16 hours for daring to even
question a character's motives, continuity of the story, and the bludgeoning
mystery of how Dr. Joan's daughter, Barbara, was ever conceived. How!? I say!
As I walked into the black box theatre I knew immediately
what director Bill Fountain had in store for me. The deliberately clunky and
sparse set designed by Jim Scroggins had me anticipating the reveal of a show
that would be a love letter to bad, cheesy cinema, the background lined with two
covered rolling platforms leading to a charmingly fake Styrofoam fireplace.
The play opened with a live four-piece band playing surf
rock throughout as transitional accompaniment. We were introduced to an assorted
crew of confused, teenage misfits. As the horny adolescents enjoyed their
fireside bonding, no time was wasted in unleashing the terror that was Trogg,
fittingly played by Jordan Pokladnik. It was here that we heard the first of the
show's nine musical numbers, "There's a Big Furry Monster in the Cave that is
Under the Dock".
In these first few minutes the show encapsulated what
worked so well in this energetic romp and also what this reviewer wished could
have been better. First, what worked was that the cast was eager and game in a
tricky genre that posed a double-edged sword to any actor. I had not seen the
original source material but the trailer, and what I'd read suggested the sort
of cinema that was so bad it was great, in part because the actors inhabiting
the roles were oblivious to the fact that they were performing in junk, lending
the techniques of the story telling more accountability than it deserved. In
Trogg! A Musical the actors were consciously aware of the shows intentions to
embrace that same campy spirit.
So how did the actors approach such a challenge? Do they
play it straight with the utmost of convictions, allowing the comedy to rise
organically? Or, do they play it broad and go for the jugular with any attempt
for a laugh? Bill Fountain seemed to have directed his actors to tow the line
between both these scenarios.
The result was mostly successful as the actors kept my
interest in their comedic shenanigans throughout. A standout in this department
was Cassidy Crown playing the part of Peanut, trusty sidekick to Barbara played
by Emily Shaw, the kidnapped daughter. Ms. Crown was like a bouncing ball of
controlled energy in which she seemed to be channeling the spirit of the late
and great comedienne, Gilda Radner. Marcus J. Jauregui excelled in this area
too, playing the role of Carol Ann successfully in drag. As Carol Ann, Mr.
Jauregui, had me chuckling at the most random of lines with a consistently
thoughtful earnestness to his delivery. Even a throwaway line such as "How many
ccs of nitric oxide?" was handled by Mr. Jaurgui with just the right amount of
sincerity, with still a knowing wink to the audience that allowed us to welcome
much of the silly dialogue.
Marcus J. Jaurgui was also the show's music director. It
was in the presentation of the musical numbers that I wished the director and
music director handled better. Both Mr. Fountain and Mr. Jargui had a difficult
logistical feat working against them. The script of the production required most
of the musical numbers to be sung in-between scenes, and since most of the
actors pulled double-duty as scene changers, it meant that the flow and
continuity of any momentum for the show would always be interrupted. Often
times, as each musical number began, we as the audience still felt like we were
witnessing an extension of the set change, as the lighting effects indicated
little or no change from the dimness that you expected to see during a scene
transition.
This was a bit of a shame because, as performed, the music
was fun and lively. Praise was deserved for some of the actors that clearly did
not have polished voices for any sort of musical theatre, but moxie won in
spades for them as they illustrated that you could still sell a song with gusto.
The conviction with which the actors belted out their notes was infectious as
the music was catchy and the cast member's love of performance transferred into
this reviewer's listening enjoyment.
Highlights of the show's musical numbers were Whitney
Wilson as Juju ("My Baby Likes to Rock" and "A Real Gone Gal"), singing with a
well-armed, bluesy and sultry alto that was a perfect throwback to the surfer
rock of the 1960's. Brooke Riley as reporter Katie King also shined with "We Got
Your Action News Here" and "Run, Run, Run, You Better Run".
Because Trogg! A Musical covered the gamut of comedy, in
good taste and bad, I've offered a few random samplings of choice scenes that
had me laughing and smiling:
·The characters Barbara and Rex Huntington (Jared Brewer)
have done for cheese doodles what Meg Ryan did for deli sandwiches in When Harry
Met Sally.
·
·The sight of Dr. Joan masochistically holding her hand in
anguish over a Bunsen burner.
That last anecdote was illustrative of the key performance
that held everything together. Michael B. Moore played the role of Dr. Joan,
rightfully played in drag, a complete send-up of every glorious, indulgent and
excessive crime against acting (at least in her later years) that the late
actress Joan Crawford ever committed against the craft.
Trog, the movie version, was the last film that Joan
Crawford starred in. It was perhaps a film she might have wished to take with
her to the grave. Trogg! A Musical simply wanted nothing more than to shine a
light on one of the ugly ducklings of cinema, and from it create an
entertainment that was a mindless, comic-musical homage, good for a couple of
big laughs, some minor chuckles, and a handful of musical numbers that I dare
anyone to try and get out of their head. These very base ambitions may seem just
that but they were no less noble to the theatrical art form.
Trog Queen
Joan Crawford plus caveman plus drag equals delicious camp in Level Ground Arts' Trogg! A Musical.
Trogg! A Musical! presented by Level Ground Arts review by Martha Heimberg for Theater Jones published Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Joan Crawford fans are gonna love the high-spirited, camped up, rocked out
show onstage at Level Ground
Arts. Trogg! A
Musical, written by David Cerda with Cheryl Snodgrass and Tyler E.
Ross, is billed as "a wonderful musical based on a horrible film starring the
amazing Joan Crawford!" The show premiered last May at
Trogg! A Musical remains
ridiculously absurd, but is a lot more fun than the movie—and it has a happy
ending! Directed by Bill Fountain in its regional premiere with musical
direction by Marcus Jauregui, the action is set in Sunset Cove in 1967 where a
big hairy monster has crawled out of a cave under the docks. The whole town goes
berserk. The 14-member cast runs down from the exits and across the stage,
hollering about the monster and singing marvelously goofy songs and twisting the
night away to the rock music. It's a hoot!
Enter Dr. Joan Cannon, the dedicated scientist played in hissing drag by the
talented Michael B. Moore. With a husky voice and good legs beneath her lab
coat, Dr. Cannon is determined to prove that this big naked ape-like creature is
a Troglodyte, a prehistoric man and should be recognized as such. Her lab
assistant and maid Carol Ann (Marcus J. Jauregui strutting in low heels) likes
sidling up to Trogg's cage and getting a big growl and more! The Sheriff (a
huffing Ande Bewley) wants to throw the beast in jail, and says he's just
another "dirty old hippie." Jonas Huntington (Philip Bentham) the town mayor and
Joan's old flame, wants none of it, and claims "we're a God-fearing bunch."
Dr. Joan's daughter Barbara (Emily Shaw) feels neglected by her haughty mommy
dearest, and gets her emotional kicks from a rock band. Barbara's sweet on the
mayor's big sissy son (Jared Brewer) who flutters in her direction, and stuffs
big orange Cheese Doodles in his mouth in a silly and charming erotic spoof.
Trogg is a lovable hairy monster as played by Jordan Pokladnik in a humungous
beard and wearing a fake-fur half-toga—with a peek of designer briefs! He
hops up and down on the balls of his feet, and makes animal noises—especially
when introduced to rock and roll! How could anybody harm this utterly vulnerable
critter?
The silly dialogue rivals the baddie movie it celebrates, but the fun of the
show is in the energy and playfulness of the young cast, singing and dancing and
camping it up big time all night long. Whitney Wilson, a polished dancer, is
sexy and funny as the bikini-clad Juju, and Cassidy Crown spikes her scenes with
her huge rolling eyes and chin-out tough girl moves. The band bears down on the
rock score, and the four musicians even follow some of the dialogue artfully.
Good stuff.
The performance I saw was signed by two young women, both interns studying to
be registered interpreters for the deaf. Their movements weren't distracting,
and their faces were clearly reflecting the emotions and excitement on the
stage. ASL interpretation is offered at selected performances.