Taking another break from the all-Hugos-all-the-time blogging, last night in New York I saw the MCC Theater's musical production of Neil Gaiman's young adult novel, Coraline, directed by Leigh Silverman with music and lyrics by Stephin Merritt (of the Magnetic Fields) and book by David Greenspan, who also plays the Other Mother. I haven't seen the film adaptation, though I expect I'll get around to it if (when?) it turns up on next year's Hugo ballot. But I was quite curious to see how they'd handle such a fantasy in live-action in a tiny theater without special effects. The answer is: quite well.
This is not intended as a realistic adaptation. Coraline, a young girl, is played by the not-remotely-young Jayne Houdyshell, and the other roles are cast with a fine disregard for age, gender, body type, ethnicity, and species. Acted so effectively, this is more workable than you'd expect, even with an adult audience (and, given that it was Pride Weekend, this was an entirely adult audience). Children, presumably, with the imagination that lets them turn a tree into a castle and bring their toys to life, would have no trouble with this show, where a few quick changes of props, costume pieces, and body language let a cast of only seven (!!) play nearly two dozen roles, often switching without even leaving the stage. Adults, less blessed, have to depend on the sheer skill of the actors to forget that (for example) the bald guy in the shawl (Francis Jue) is actually Miss Forcible. It's a tribute to the skill of the cast and director that I had no trouble at all seeing everything with theatrical double vision that let me be simultaneously absorbed in the story and impressed by the stagecraft.
(Above left, the cast; click to enlarge.)
The set is fascinating; a maze of odd-sized pianos in various states of repair and surrounded by clutter and knick-knacks, with a single talented musician (Phyllis Chen) off in one corner providing all the musical accompaniment. Costuming, as mentioned, is modest, rather like the sort of random things a child would pull out to play dress-up. That fits. And the button-eyes on the Other Mother and Father are genuinely creepy, as is the latter's doughy transformation in the cellar.
With no set changes and few props, Ms. Houdyshell rises to the responsibility of narrating the scenes and occasional props as well, ably conveying an emotional range from eagerness as she describes and consumes an imaginary plate of food to preteen ennui as she declares heavily "I am outside now." It's an amazing performance.
I also have to particularly mention Julian Fleisher's pitch-perfect turn as the green-and-black-clad Cat: yawning, slinking casually across the stage, lounging on top of a piano, catching the odd rodent, and walking on piano keys as part of a song that ends abruptly because (catlike) he's lost interest in it. He nearly steals the show.
While the songs are probably not future classics, they move the story along well and open up a few scenes delightfully. I was particularly amused by the moment when Coraline's roomful of toys in her Other Bedroom come to full-scale life and start a joyfully chaotic parade around the room and when the Other Miss Spink (January LaVoy) and Miss Forcible reenact a delicious Shakespearean mishmash for the theater scene (from which the quote above is taken). Greenspan has created an excellent adaptation which covers all the important plot details without either making a reader of the novel feel shortchanged or bogging down in narration.
Puppetry is used effectively, particularly for the ghosts of the three children previously taken by the Other Mother, which look exactly like larger versions of the tied-off-tissue ghosts I used to make as a kid and put eyes on with a black marker every year at Halloween. Combined with the skillful vocal acting and spooky lighting, this is a genuinely creepy scene.
(Left, Coraline with the ghosts of the children.)
In short, the show manages to successfully combine childlike fantasy with enough sophistication to appeal to adults. The New York Times gave it a positive but somewhat cooler review; I liked it more than their critic did. I sincerely hope that most of the performances have a younger audience, since this is the sort of thing that got me hooked on theater in the first place as a young child. It's running for another week (extended through July 5th), and wasn't sold out; I got a rush ticket. It's well worth seeing if you're in the area and can find the time this week.
Edited to add: Vanity Fair has a short article on the piece with some nifty set pictures.
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