Roars of laughter were heard at the Falcon Theater in Burbank on Friday night, as the Troubie’s debuted their original rendition of “Frosty the Snow Manilow”. The fresh and always innovative comedy troupe continues to put a creative twist on the timeless holiday television special by Bass & Rankin. In typical tradition, we follow a group of quirky kids as they build a snowman after school. This isn’t just any snowman, there is something special about this pile of winter snow. Frosty becomes animated once a magical hat is place upon his head and he begins to dance around. Staying true to the program, Frosty’s first words are “Happy Birthday”. And Happy Birthday is a correct expression for this evening. This marks the 10th “birthday” of the Troubadours performing their whimsical and original renditions of beloved holiday stories.
Well, no story would be complete without the antagonist, the sneaky magician plots to get his hat back at any cost. Going off script kept the play light and fun, with jokes that poked fun at current events, such as, Tiger Woods infidelity, the White House party crashers, and even added quick jabs about the narrator’s colorful acting career. The audience was constantly engaged in the program because the one thing the Troubies do well is eliminating the fourth wall barrier. They march through the audience, grabbing purses and personal items to keep the energy alive and relish in the “shock and awes” and the moans and groans of the crowd.
The holiday musical that aptly defines the title combines classic tunes from Manilow’s catalog, including hits like, “I Write the Songs”, “Mandy”, and “Ready to Take a Chance”. The famous “Copacabana” gets a name change to “Greenhouse Cabana”, a huge and well-executed choreographed number full of high energy and thrills. Giving credit to the love-song crooner’s beginnings as a very successful jingle writer, the cast incorporated routines to the famous tunes he created for Coca Cola, McDonalds, and Band-AIDS during brief commercial breaks throughout the play.
This one-of-a-kind musical masterpiece couldn’t be pulled off with just any talent. This all-star cast is a blending of new faces and veterans to the acting world. The musical was brilliantly written by Matt Wells, who also played the conniving and murky magician. Wells is a veteran to this venue and his professional stage prescence was apparent with his ability to interact with the audience, nail every dance step, and literally pull a rabbit out of his hat. Speaking of rabbits, there would be no accuracy to the script without Hocus Pocus, the overtly sex-crazed rabbit who loves charades and humping anything that walked was played by the sensational Lorin Shapiro. Paul C. Vogt is originally clever as the lovable title character whose personality is far from chilly. His quick witted comments and banter with a young school girl named Karen, played by the talented Christine Lakin kept the audience in stitches. (If that name sounds familiar, she played Suzanne Sommers stepdaughter in the ABC comedy, “Step by Step” in the ‘90’s.) Lakin doesn’t miss a beat transitioning from bratty school girl to female lead with ease. Mixing even more originality into the storyline we meet the Winter Warlock performed by Beth Kennedy who steals the show with her unforgettable high-pitch voice and elaborate sparkly suit that covered stilts making her tower over the rest of the cast.
Rick Batalla could definitely land a gig as a Manilow impersonator in Vegas. His impeccable vocal styling sounded so much like the love-song legend that if you closed your eyes, you’d think Barry himself was belting out the tunes. Batalla went from post office worker to Jack Frost and was right on point with every note.
Casting seasoned actor, Jack McGee as the cranky, sarcastic narrator was genius. McGee is best known for his character of Chief Jerry Reilly on FX’s “Rescue Me”, aside from his lengthy imdb credits. The play pokes fun at McGee’s acting career in a playful manner, with mentions of his appearances on everything from MacGyver to Basic Instinct. McGee does double duty in professional style, as he transforms from the ornery storyteller to hip-hop Santa.
To round out the sensational cast, the Troubadours were accompanied by their amazing band led by Eric Heinly. The band added the sound effects for every character’s thought, movement, and emotion. Costumer, Sharon McGunigle brought the cast to life with each character’s whimsical ensemble, while Sherry Santillano created the beautiful two-dimensional town to life with her creative set. The character of Karen was perfectly precise as the television show adorned from head to toe in her orange coat and fuzzy earmuffs that kept her true to the storybook tale. Nadine Ellis and Ameenah Kaplan choreographed the show and gave even the mellowest Manilow tunes a makeover that kept the steps inventive and new.
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