Matunuck — If you love musical theatre, you won't want to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the world premiere of a brand new musical, Love and Other Fables, at Theatre By the Sea! This is the first world premiere for Bill Haney's historic barn theatre.
The show's creator, Jay Jeffries, started the project in the 1970s as a group of songs written for glee clubs based on Aesop's Fables. But after revisions, rewrites, and the addition of a story arc, he and John McMahon created a comedic musical with plans to go to Broadway.
Other Theatre By the Sea newcomers include Brian Sears (who audiences may have seen in the hit Broadway show Book of Mormon) as the charming Aesop, Landree Fleming as the brassy Lycaena (who performs the amusing "Some Perfect Stranger"), Brad Bellamy (who shows a true mastery of deadpan comedy) as Xanthus, and the humerous Peter Saide (who gets laughs even from his simple catchphrase "I play the lyre" every time he says it) as Philocalus.
Like all Theatre By the Sea productions, Love and Other Fables has great scenic and lighting designs by Kyle Dixon and Jose Santiago (who designed the scenery and lighting for last year's hit Mamma Mia!), as well as great costumes by Tony Award nominated Bobby Pearce.
In Love and Other Fables, the lustful slave Lycaena is a perfect match for brainless, brawny slave Philocalus. But her master Xanthus and his new slave Aesop have other plans for who she should marry.
Although Aesop has only just met her, he doesn't let her objections discourage him and he continues to pursue her, convinced she just needs to be persuaded to give him a chance.
Xanthus (purple tunic) purchases Aesop (center) to be his slave's new husband, while Philocalus (left) looks on
Although Aesop has only just met her, he doesn't let her objections discourage him and he continues to pursue her, convinced she just needs to be persuaded to give him a chance.
Aesop pursuing an uninterested Lycaena
Meanwhile, Philocalus finds himself in the employ of King Croesus of Lydia, who is receiving riddles he must solve to avoid invasion of his money-vaults by an Egyptian pharaoh. Luckily, Philocaslus knows Aesop, whose knowledge of storytelling can help solve the riddles.
An hommage to classic Broadway musicals, Love and Other Fables has something for everyone: a story set in a long-ago time and a far away land (like Les Miserables, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, etc.), unrequited love (like The Music Man), a slave solving riddles for a king (like Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat), the learning of a silly dance purportedly from a character's homeland (like "Der Guten Tag Hop-Clop" from The Producers), an I Want song in the form of "Some Perfect Stranger," an I Am song in the form of "I've Got Fables," and a jazzy, Mel Brooksian show-stopper called "Legs," which is reminiscent of a combination of "When You've Got It, Flaunt It" and "Make It Gay" from The Producers.
The ensemble during "Legs"
The show even includes a great humorous villain song "Only Unimportant Things," perfectly performed by the very funny Blake Hammond as King Croesus of Lydia, a Theatre By the Sea newcomer but no stranger to Broadway.
King Croesus (Hammond) and his guards during "Only Unimportant Things"
Other Theatre By the Sea newcomers include Brian Sears (who audiences may have seen in the hit Broadway show Book of Mormon) as the charming Aesop, Landree Fleming as the brassy Lycaena (who performs the amusing "Some Perfect Stranger"), Brad Bellamy (who shows a true mastery of deadpan comedy) as Xanthus, and the humerous Peter Saide (who gets laughs even from his simple catchphrase "I play the lyre" every time he says it) as Philocalus.
Like all Theatre By the Sea productions, Love and Other Fables has great scenic and lighting designs by Kyle Dixon and Jose Santiago (who designed the scenery and lighting for last year's hit Mamma Mia!), as well as great costumes by Tony Award nominated Bobby Pearce.
Love and Other Fables will be playing at Theatre By the Sea Tuesdays through Sundays through June 16th; showtimes vary. Parents should note that despite the show's origins in fables, the musical features adult situations and slavery, and may not be appropriate for some younger viewers. Tickets are $54 to $77 and can be purchased in person or by phone at the box office (401-782-8587) or by visiting their website www.theatrebythesea.com.
Photos by Steven Richardson Photography
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