Serenade: Bodacious Tateh

Jaradoa (Just A Roomful of Artists Doing Outreach And) Theater has been organizing theatre-related community service for the past year, and are now presenting their first production, an ambitious new musical called Serenade.

The play is about a young silhouette artist named Thomas (Joshua Henry), who comes to the Big City (the program says it's a fictional one, in a fictional time) with optimistic dreams of making it big.  He falls in love with a girl he sees in the street (Anika Larsen) who, having no change, gives a flute player her necklace in lieu of money.  He explores the city, meeting all manner of colorful characters, and charming them all.  Eventually he meets the girl again, finds out her name, and begins courting her, all the while pawning more and more of his belongings and trying to keep himself afloat in a harsh city. 

The book by Rachel Sheinkin (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) is clever and profound; the play is reminiscent of satirical fables such as Candide and The Little Prince; touching at times and howlingly funny at others.  Her lyrics occasionally tend toward the repetitive and maudlin, especially in the second half, though she has many sincere moments of glory, and a lovely poetic touch.
The music by Nils Olaf Dolven is fascinating- mixing electronica, pop and classical elements.  It gives the talented actors room to shine and belt out some great stuff, while never stinting in complexity.  It's very story-oriented, hardly a moment is wasted.  The 7-piece live band, conducted by Jared Stein, rocks it out.

The cast is perhaps the best thing about the show- Mr. Henry is a delight, constantly brimming with optimism even as the hurdles he's jumping get higher and higher. Ms. Larsen (a co-founder of the company) is exquisite as Hannah, his inamorata; her dulcet tones are only matched by her beatific countenance.  Rob Sapp is hilarious in a slew of minor roles, especially as Boo, a guy who just loves his job.  Eileen Rivera has a brilliant comic turn as Hannah's snarky bedridden aunt.  The entire cast (18 in total) is accomplished, singing and dancing their little hearts out.

Scenic design by Tobin Ost makes much out of simple elements of wooden crates and plain white flats (which naturally serve for projecting silhouettes).  Andrea Varga's costumes are drawn from several eras, giving no clue as to the time (though neither does the script)- the already large cast plays several characters apiece, and it seems they have a discrete costume for each one; possibly overkill.

April Nickell's direction keeps the show flying along. Although the play does bog down a little bit, early in the second half, it's a bouncy and light confection, which is ecstatically realized by some powerful performers.  If this is what Jaradoa does for their inaugural production, they'll certainly be a company to watch in future.

Serenade
Produced by Jaradoa Theater
At Teatro La Tea (107 Suffolk Street, between Delancey & Rivington) with performances through December 15.

The remaining playing schedule for Serenade is:
Mon. 12/10 at 8 p.m.
Wed. 12/12 at noon & 8 p.m.
Thurs. 12/13 at 8 p.m.
Fri. 12/14 at 8 p.m.
Sat. 12/15 at 2 & 8 p.m.

Tickets are $18 and are available through SmartTix.com (212) 868-4444.


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