Review: THE SPARROW, An Intriguing Performance Piece Not Quite Ready for Flight

THE SPARROW/by Chris Mathews, Jake Minton & Nathan Allen/directed by Joseph V. Calarco/Lankershim Arts Center/thru November 21, 2015

Coeurage Theatre Company's west coast premiere of THE SPARROW successfully intrigues as a stylistic performance art piece with some stunning visuals utilizing backlite scrims, clever choreography and inventive staging, with some haunting original music by Gregory Nabours. Kudos to Kristin Browning Campbell's scenic design and Tasheena Medina's choreography using school desks as percussive accents and balls and books as dancing props. THE SPARROW depicts the return of Emily (Katie Pelensky) years after her entire high school class met their demise in a fatal accident involving a train and their schoolbus. Without giving away the too much of the plot, suffice to say the Joseph V. Calarco directed THE SPARROW's a combination Carrie and "Supergirl," cast with the same eye as "Beverly Hills 90210," with much older actors playing high schoolers. While Malika Williams and Joel Gelman both score in their adult roles as parents of one of the deceased students, they and the other adult actors stretch credibility portraying teenagers. The two other stand-outs in this 13-member ensemble- John McKetta as the concerned, empathetic biology teacher/counselor Mr. Christopher and Lillian Solange, perfectly cast as the popular class president and head cheerleader Jenny.

The sure-footed ensemble ably handling the eye-catching dance routines include: David Crane, Audrey Flegel, Katelyn Gault, Nardeep Khurmi, Jane Lui, Jeffrey Nichols, Danni Spring, and Cyrus Wilcox.

www.coeurage.org/sparrow