In Tandem’s ‘Carnival’ delivers musical magic
Theater’s production of 1961 gem shines
Lili is an orphaned refugee from a town where everyone knew her name.
Paul is a formerly famous French dancer, his career cut short by a war in which nearly everyone lost something. Embittered and alone, he’s making ends meet as a puppeteer in a fifth-rate 1920s carnival that he aptly describes as “a hiding place for all the misfits of the world.”
That’s where Lili and Paul meet in “Carnival” (music and lyrics by Bob Merrill; book by Michael Stewart), now on stage courtesy of In Tandem Theatre. Following her memorable production last spring of the 1960 musical “Ernest in Love,” director Jane Flieller has delivered a splendid encore with this mustsee production of a 1961 gem.
Lili and Paul may be stuck in a fifth-rate carnival, but everything about this production is first-class, from Josh Robinson’s four-piece orchestra to Karl Miller’s ambitious choreography, delivered by an ensemble making big-stage miracles in a much smaller space.
The recreation of a carnival midway in the lobby (free popcorn included), as well as the reconfigured, three-sided seating and striped awning within the theater itself, create a big-top feel (set design by Chad Abramowski), even as Kathy Smith’s outstanding, spot-on costumes underscore the makeshift nature of a carnival delivering a good time on a limited budget.
Smith’s costuming captures the disconnect between aspiration and reality — between big, bright dreams of bright lights and a threadbare, sometimes tawdry backstage world. Or, as Paul derisively says with reference to Marco the Magnificent, the difference between genuine magic and cheap tricks.
Hence the tired and sad looks from David Ferrie’s impresario and Steve Koehler’s Marco, each haunted by visions of renown they’ll never know, even as they again perform acts that have become routine. Which, in Marco’s case, includes continually cheating on longtime partner Rosalie (Beth Mulkerron, exquisitely balancing tough talk and a tender heart).
Little wonder that Marco and the even sadder Paul (J. Keegan Siebken, devastating in channeling Paul’s life of quiet desperation) are both taken with Lili. When Susan Wiedmeyer opens her mouth and sings — in a show that Lili largely carries — so was I.
But Wiedmeyer is equally impressive in presenting a character whose naïve and even daft moments as an untutored girl credibly exist alongside the pluck and ingenuity of the woman we watch her become.
Paul undergoes a transition of his own, presented through the puppets that both hide and reveal his true self.
Designed by Smith and presented by Paul and fellow puppeteer Jacquot (Nathan Marinan), the puppets are an apt metaphor for the various personae through which these characters and each of us play the game of life. I highly recommend making this “Carnival” one of the moves in yours, before it folds its tent and leaves town.
In Tandem Theatre in collaboration with Milwaukee Public Theatre performs “Carnival” through May 14 at the Tenth Street Theatre, 628 N. 10th St. For tickets, visit www.intandemtheatre.org. Read more about this production at TapMilwaukee.com.