by Michael Buzzelli
Kwame Kwei-Armah and Shaina Taub dust off William Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” and transform it into a joyous musical, setting Illyria in New Orleans’ French Quarter with a sizable cast of extras guaranteed to make Dino De Laurentiis proud.
The story stays the same:
A shipwrecked Viola (Chelse Zeno) lands on the shores of Illyria, fearing her brother Sebastian (Ethan Davis Butler) has been drowned. To survive the foreign city, she disguises herself as a boy, Cesario, and goes to work for the lovesick Duke Orsino (Michael Campayno), who pines for the Countess Olivia (Housso Sémon).
Things are chaotic at Olivia’s palace. She has a large household with a major domo, Malvolio (Connor McCanlus), Maria (Georgia Taylor) and a court jester, Feste (Caro Dubberly). Her drunk uncle, Sir Toby Belch (Garbie Dukes) invites his best pal, Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Brenden Peifer) to woo his niece.
P.S. Sebastian didn’t drown. He’s on his way to Illyria with his faithful servant, Antonio (Victor M. Aponte).
The story has all of the excitement of the original with outrageous songs, daring dances and even silk performers, included in that aforementioned cast of thousands.
Sidenote: The opening number plays out like a “Where’s Waldo” of local talent. You will find Mike McBurney, John Feightner, Parker Stephens and more!
The cast is nearly flawless.
Sémon is magnificent as Olivia. Beautiful with a mellifluous voice, and the right amount of stage presence to believe that she is a countess.
Zeno is adorable as Viola. Her performance is riveting. She’s just a little too pretty to pull off being a boy, but it doesn’t matter. She’s wonderful.
Side note: Zeno doesn’t go full drag king. She’s more like Lucille Ball when she disguised herself as man on “I Love Lucy,” and still wore lipstick.
It’s a joy to watch Dukes fumble around on stage as the drunken uncle. He revels in the part. Equally matched by Piefer’s foppish Aguecheek. Their chemistry together is hilarious. They are a dynamic duo.
Dubberly gets some of the best lines as Feste and delivers them with aplomb. She also has a fantastic singing voice.
McCanlus pulls a star turn as Malvolio. He puffs out his chest, struts on the stage and thrusts himself into greatness. A sizzle reel from the show could catapult him to Broadway.
Campayno returns to the Pittsburgh stage with the gravitas to play the Shakespearean duke. The only shame of the production is that his character is sidelined for much of the show. There’s an important moment missing from this reimagined version; The streamlined script cuts down the part where the duke realizes that he might be falling for Cesario.
Try to hold in an “Aww,” when the tiny Rhea Briggs shows up as the Illyrian Taekwondo kid. It’s impossible.
The expansive cast is directed by Marya Sea Kaminski and choreographed by Gustavo Zajac (I would imagine it to be similar to herding cats). The third part of the trifecta is Tiffany Underwood Holmes, the musical director, leading an amazing orchestra hiding under the floorboards.
Shakespearean scholars might wince at a big tent, musical version of “Twelfth Night,” but it is gloriously fun. You might find yourself humming on the way home.
The only criticism is that the run is far too short. Catch it while you can.
-MB
“Twelfth Night” runs from June 26 to the 20 at the O’Reilly Theater, inside the Pittsburgh Public Theater, 621 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. For tickets and more information, click here.
