Summary
As Spielpalast's cocreator, Sonin developed some of the scenes that most pointedly combine comedy and commentary. In "Choice," based on Bertolt Brecht's "Abortion is Illegal," he plays a farcical singing doctor, telling a destitute woman she must have her unwanted baby, because "He's a hunk of cannon fodder and that's what your stomach's for." But he's soon exposed as a fraud, posing and pontificating as an MD. In "Light Box," Sonin warns the audience away from the dangerous "cathode ray gun" concealed in the ingenious Greek-Latin hybrid "Tele-Vision." But buxom shadow puppets behind the screen seduce him with a beer and the siren call: "Tired after a long day at the Spielpalast?"
Two other dance performances stand out. "Shaken Not Stirred" is a tap number that would make Fred Astaire proud. Shawn Lipenski, Zyck Baggett and Kim Jordan have frothy fun as sloppy drunks who just happen to be wearing tap shoes. At one point, they flop on their chairs to dance lying down on a sign for "Gilda's Hangover Elixir." In "Simb Thiosan," Dembe Sene leaps and prowls as the jaguar-god in a magician's trick. Sene is a former member of Senegal's National Ballet, and his jaguar is one lithe, sexy beast.The show's technical aspects are universally strong. Jessie Owens has put together trunkloads of inventive costumes ranging from slinky to madcap, dressing rebellious marionettes, lab-coated "Correctors" (sort of all-purpose mad scientists) and a reluctant human cannonball - not to mention the corseted. gartered and stockinged dancing ladies. The program credits Kathleen DeSimone as the "costume genius" behind the gorgeously depicted "Myth Garden" scene, which opens the second act. Here, flesh-toned body stockings and a halcyon color palette conjure an ambiance of allegory, as two-person satyrs slink in from the audience and a phoenix rises above the stage.See the full content of this document
Extract
Decadent Dissent; Theater Review: Spielpalast Cabaret
In an era of rampant hypocrisy, the disaffected and marginalized often take refuge in satire, sex and song. Think Germany's fragile Weimar Republic circa 1930, or another endangered democracy a little closer to here and now. At Vermont's revue Spielpalast Cabaret, entertainment always trumps politics. But the master of ceremonies wears fascist garb while issuing his Willkommen to the...
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