Review: COME GET MAGGIE at Rogue Machine Theatre At The Matrix

Time: 1930s & 1950s

Place: Earth & The Space around the Earth.

Ok. Let's start there...

Love may be real and not science fiction. But Rogue Machine's attempt at a first musical is so bubble gum, pop-retro, Flash Gordon-y, it's almost guaranteed to be a runaway hit.

Never mind the low-barometer canned music, the predictably misogynistic thin-minty storyline, the dated, go-to tropes, or the underwhelmingly, slow-paced melodies. COME GET MAGGIE is a powerhouse of intellectually, politically, and emotionally, unchallenging, non-threatening, audience-pleasing insta-feel-good with a gleeful, if not logically sound ending for all. What could be better?

I certainly thought every element in this two-hour, world-premiere was exceedingly well-executed. The actor performances were, by and large, some of the most stunning I've seen up close in a musical. And that's tough for a performer - keeping your big stage cool and playing a large personality on a dimensionally limited stage when the audience is sitting right on top of you. But they did it. And it was "good to the last drop".

Maggie, a brilliant young woman stuck in 1950's suburbia, is out of sync with her times. She wonders if her real home might be somewhere else. When an alien answers her call to the stars for help, she begins an intergalactic romance that will change her, the world she lives in, and the whole universe.

Melanie Neilan as the title character, Maggie, is vocally as well as dramatically exceptional. It is quite obvious from her first tendu demi-pointe on stage that she is a classically trained ballerina (oh those feet!). But the girl can also act and sing! And for this sometimes musical, sometimes operetta-ish production she is a perfectly packaged, triple threat.

The entire cast is really, quite funny, thanks in no small way to their collective 1000% talent and ensemble delivery, also book by Diane Folov, direction by Michael Pressman, lyrics by Folov and Susan Justin and choreography by Brooke Wendle. Additional cast members (in order of appearance) Melissa Jobe, Bruce Nozick, Philip Casnoff, Dennis Renard, Chase Ramsey, Eddie Vona, Jacquelin Lorraine Schofield, Beth Egan, Nicole Ledoux, [Sarah Hinrichsen (is the female swing)] and Alan Trinca bring A-game high energy and lots of laughs, assisted by both period savvy costumes and over-the-top sci-funny fashion by Dana Rebecca Woods. The overall production design by Stephanie Kerley Schwartz, lighting by Rick Zimmerman and sound by Christopher Moscatiello is on point.

If I have one criticism...the first act kind of drags. I did yawn a little bit. But once the lights come up on the second act it's like riding a game-changing 1959 Lotus Elite race car. And when Detective Ziskin (Philip Casnoff) finally gets to make his entrance the gags get good. Endowed with some of the best writing in the script, Casnoff puts in a solidly hysterical character coup de gras, as does COME GET MAGGIE's other tough guy, Bruce Nozick (General Winthrop/Mr. Wyberry).

The show does become a "little bit of everything soup" at the finale. But it keeps to its preposterously comic theme and I did feel won over in the end. The score is genuinely varietal and the play overall, is very enjoyable. ...And, they all live happily ever after.

Creative Team: Joe McClean & Dana Bowman (Technical Co-Directors), Stephanie Kerley Schwartz (Set Design), Ric Zimmerman (Lighting Design), Chris Moscatiello (Sound Design), Dana Rebecca Woods (Costume Design), Michelle Do (Music Director), Albin Konopka (Music Supervisor and Incidental Music), Brooke Wendle (Choreographer), Nicholas Santiago (Video Design), Glenn Michael Baker (Assistant Set Design & Props Head).

COME GET MAGGIE opens at 8pm on Saturday, February 11, and runs at 8 pm Fridays, Saturdays, Mondays; 3 pm Sundays through March 26, 2023 (no performance Monday, Feb. 13).

Rogue Machine (in the Matrix Theatre), is located at 7657 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046.

Tickets are $60 for general seating. Reserved seating Saturday and Sundays only: $75 (Seniors: $50; Students with ID: $40; Children under 18: $40). Pay-What-You-Can Fridays Feb. 17 ($10+), Feb. 24 ($15+), Mar. 3 ($20+).

Reservations: https://www.roguemachinetheatre.org/ or for more information 855-585-5185.

Run time approximately 2 hours (includes one intermission)

Photo by John Perrin Flynn: Melanie Neilan, Dennis Renard