BWW Reviews: Willkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome to FITZWALKERSTAN

There's always some sort of debate regarding Scott Walker brewing in Madison. Despite what anyone thinks of him as a politician, there is a fairly large disdain for the man in the artistic community. This could not be clearer than in Broom Street's newest production written by former Wisconsinite Brian Leahy Doyle. Doyle, along with composer Michael Dilthey, has created a musical parodying Walker's first term that hovers around the massive protests in 2011.

Greetings from Fitzwalkerstan is a timeline. From the day that Tone Deaf FitzFitz and Witless FitzFitz (played by Director Odari Kimani and Eric Futon) take on Walker as a political hatchling to the day that Walker sets his sights on the presidency is covered. Walker is portrayed as a pawn in the monetary end of politics under the thumb of the 'coke' (Koch) brothers as well as his political affiliates. Bringing in some campy musical numbers, Fitzwalkerstan essentially picks apart the mechanics of Wisconsin's government from the inside out.

Despite rumblings that this show can appeal to both sides of the fence - that's simply untrue. Staunch supporters of camp Walker, or any firm Republicans, will probably not take too kindly to the humor in this particular production. Unlike a parody from something like South Park, Fitzwalkerstan is not universally offensive. It only stands as passive if your shade is blue.

Luckily for Broom Street, this particular observer does not stand firmly on either side and can take the show's points at face value without objective bias.

As with most original productions, this show needs tightening. Long black outs with no real purpose, scenes that do not add to the overall plot, and a combination of several of the songs near the end are all easily removable. The piece could be solid at 90 minutes instead of its current two hour run time.

Musicals with simple melodies can help performers like Lee Hayes (as Walker affiliate Marcy Moonbeam O'Hara Linkowski) shine with their strong singing abilities. Hayes' gorgeous soprano and sharp wit made her moments pop. Amit Jalan (as Muammar Rabinoqitz) too, particularly as a newcomer to Madison theatre, rose to the occasion with his crisp vocals. With others, the piano became the enemy rather than a partner. Despite the theatre's small space, certain performers were all but drowned out by the accompaniment.

Humor in this show is found in the tongue twisting lingo. Strings of words that are usually meaningless when coming from the smarmy Walker camp. Director Kimani takes these mazes of phrases and delivers them well. Annunciating every vowel, making sure that audiences can at least follow what he's saying even if the lingo doesn't register as truth. This dialogue proves to be a challenge for fellow actors. Slowing down each moment to ensure that audiences can follow what is going on will not only alleviate some of the obvious stress of recalling every word, but also make the scenes flow together more easily.

As Kimani mentions in the beginning, an actor was unable to perform in the run which left the cast in a bit of a lurch. Despite this difficulty they have taken their show and gotten into the run. For those who had to alter characters in some way, continue to grow the personalities of said characters. This show has the potential to be a great deal of fun - enjoy it.

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