July 12, 2014 – AD Players
The Band Was Too Loud
July 12, 2014 — There was an instant of genius lighting lighting the frozen actors and set. Oh, my! This is going to be a great version of Godspell. But then the lighting was more utilitarian and the opening numbers seemed muddled. In these days, to make the decision to use no vocal mikes is bold and brave and a way of trusting the abilities of the cast to project and modulate. When you don’t use mikes though, all the amplitude regulation is live on the stage by the cast. The opening numbers didn’t seem to regulate well the relative volume of the vocals. I saw the muddle and asked myself “where is the rebellious fun and whimsy?” It showed up right after that when Stephanie did her thing. What a talented group of actors playing on the stage. Some nice movement. Lots of great timing and gags. It was amusing. I chuckled and laughed out loud. “In the Willows” did not disappoint. I liked the set more and more as I saw the set pieces being used. I’m not able to recognize the faces of the actors in the program to give them the high individual praise that most of them deserve. They all had some great moments onstage and worked well as an ensemble.