BWW Previews: AMELIE: THE MUSICAL at Out Of The Box Theatre Company

After years cloistered in a suburban Paris backyard, the victim of cruel jokes by local children and the over-attentive smothering of his landlord/guardian, one intrepid lawn gnome has set off for adventure. Keep your eyes open downtown: you'll see him trying the various wine, cheese, and patisserie offerings of our petite Riviera by the Pacific. Cheerful and charming, he adds a hint of whimsy to anyone's Instagram feed. You can also see his stage debut (playing himself) in Out of the Box Theatre Company's upcoming musical, Amelie, at Center Stage Theater from November 9-18.

Beyond the promise of a solo from a giant lawn-gnome puppet, Amelie is more broadly about the joys of a vivid imagination--and the importance of balancing the comfort of an inner life with a rich social life. The musical is an adaptation of the well-loved 2001 French film of the same name. The titular character, Amelie Poulin, is a spritely, socially awkward French woman who touches the lives of those around her with unique and anonymous acts of affection. "It's colorful and imaginative," says Samantha Eve, who directs and stars in the production. "We want to keep the film's sense of whimsy alive."

Amelie, played as a young girl by Ember Reiter and Hattie Ugoretz, is a sensitive girl raised by cold, neurotic parents (Deborah Bertling and Bill Egen). They lack the function to appreciate their daughter's wild imagination or appropriately nurture her social skills. As an adult, Amelie lacks the skills or self-reliance to connect with others on a meaningful level. "She's isolated herself," says Eve, who plays adult Amelie. "She's very lonely...once a relationship is real, it's not a magic moment anymore. What if it's not perfect, like it was in your head? What if you ruin it? It's intensely psychological, relatable, and human."

Rather than gamble on the responsibility of maintained interpersonal connection, Amelie affects people's lives in subtle, untraceable ways: she leaves notes for mourning lovers, returns lost treasures, and quietly encourages connection between the players in her life. When Amelie meets a man who challenges her lifestyle, she must decide whether or not to take the leap of faith that a real relationship demands.

The subject matter is fitting for musical adaptation, since suspension of realism is intrinsic to both the musical-theatre form and Amelie's vibrant and bizarre vignettes of imagination. Out of the Box's production utilizes props, puppetry, and cleverly interpreted scenic elements to turn Center Stage's black box into a representation of the character's inner life. "There's a lot of stuff," says Eve. This includes projection magic, free-form carousel horses, and large puppets (made by Christina McCarthy) depicting suicidal tourists, Elton John, and a sassy, singing goldfish.

Eve describes the production's aesthetic as inspired by a French version of a Wes Anderson motif. It's peculiar and folksy, and exists in a charmed world of make-believe brought to motion. "The show is about the importance of connecting with the people around you," says Eve. "Everyone has something that makes them unique, that affects the way they see and deal with the world...It's important to live a life worth living, worth trying to live."

Hear the interview with Director/Actor Samantha Eve at TheatrixSB

Amelie: the Musical
Directed by Samantha Eve
Center Stage Theater
November 9-18
Tickets