Review: Evergreen, A Musical Holiday Fantasy

Sometimes, Christmas vacations come at a terribly inconvenient time. For a personal example, I left New York for the holidays just as Prospect Theater Company's newest musical, Evergreen, debuted. As such, I only got to attend the show on the day it closed. This is somewhat of a tragedy, because given the opportunity, I would have returned several times and encouraged the rest of New York to do the same.

The musical, with music and lyrics by Prospect's resident scribe Peter Mills and book and direction by Prospect's Artistic Director Cara Reichel, is geared towards children, and features an ensemble of young actors and singers, but is smart and deep enough for adults to appreciate. The story takes place in some distant time and place-maybe the future, maybe the past, maybe another world entirely-in which a young girl sets off with her brother to see if her grandmother's stories of snow and trees are true. In this world, water has dried up, trees are long gone and food is becoming increasingly scarce. As they travel, the children learn more about the world around them, their place in it, and what they can do to make things better.

As ever, Mills' music and lyrics are the real stars of the show. Even when writing for childrens' voices, he makes the music beautifully intricate and the lyrics wonderfully intelligent. The otherworldly melodies immediately set the scene, and are very distinct from The Pursuit of Persephone, Honor, Illyria and The Rockae. (The lyrics, of course, are immediately recognizable as Mills'.) The book, co-written by Mills and Reichel, is simple enough for a child to understand, but witty and wise enough for an adult to appreciate. (In one scene, the brother is magically being turned to stone. His sister wails that she's scared. "You're scared?" he snaps back. "I'm petrified!" Also, many cheers to the writers for not only taking on the "Who's on First" routine, but adding variations of "What," "Which," "Would" and "Why.") Assuming the show goes on to a further life in community theaters and schools (and it really should), it will do much to encourage kids to be demanding in their musicals both as young audience members and when they grow up. 

As Maya, the heroine, Anita Vasan made her character at once innocent and wise, growing from a demanding child to a woman capable of enacting change by the power of storytelling. Whitney Kam Lee played her younger brother Joshi with plenty of humor and energy. As the wise grandmother of the rambunctious children, Lucy Sorlucco sang beautifully and conveyed a quiet strength. As the extended family of the brother and sister as well as people (and creatures) they meet on their journey, Francesca Choy-Kee; David Foley, Jr.; and Raphael Sacks all gave their different personas distinct personalities. The children's ensemble portrayed people, animals and elements, giving Mills' music a new-and delightfully youthful-sound.

The show is officially a "holiday musical," but except for the descriptions of snow and evergreen trees, there is nothing that makes the show appropriate for only one time of year. With luck, schools and other theaters will produce Evergreen year-round. With even more luck, Prospect will bring Evergreen back in the summer, right when we need a little Christmas most.