Rep’s ‘Madagascar’ is utterly charming.
“I like to move it, move it … I like to move it, move it.”
My apologies. Since seeing Orlando Repertory Theatre’s production of “Madagascar: A Musical Adventure” a few days ago, that confounded song will not stop running through my brain.
The song is decidedly lightweight, but it puts a smile on your face. The same could be said of the Rep’s production, based on the hit 2005 DreamWorks film. It’s roughly an hour of silly fun, and it’s utterly charming.
A key selling point is the cast. The actors, dressed as cartoon animals, all seem to be having the time of their lives.
Visually, the show impresses. Tan Huaixiang’s whimsical costumes perfectly call the animated creatures to mind while keeping focus on the actors’ expressive faces. Tara Kromer’s puppet design is jaw-droppingly on point. Her penguins — key players in the silly plot and manipulated with stylish skill by the Rep performers — look as though they stepped right off the screen. They rank with the wonderful puppets created for the Rep’s production of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
Alyx Jacobs’ varied lighting offers surprises and enhances the enjoyment, especially during a trippy tranquilizer-dart scene.
Probably your 6-year-old could tell you the story points. A lion, giraffe, zebra and hippo escape from New York’s Central Park Zoo, along with the squadron of penguins. Shipwrecked on the African island of Madagascar, they encounter a goofy colony of lemurs and the dangerous mammals known as the foosa. In the end, the power of friendship saves the day.
I suppose that’s the lesson buried in the silliness — stand by your friends. In the wild kingdom, though, that message is muddied by the food chain of the great “circle of life,” to borrow a phrase from another African cartoon.
In any case, director Steve MacKinnon is more focused on having fun with the big numbers in this music-heavy adaptation, and rightly so.
Alina Alcantara gives hippo Gloria a pleasing mix of sass and motherly affection, Bryan Jager does his best nebbish routine as the hypochondriac giraffe. Rep vet Stephen Pugh shows a delightful comic side as the loopy leader of the lemurs (Say that three times fast).
The BFFs at the story’s center have a convincing relationship as played by Max Herskovitz and Matt Rothenberg. Herskovitz has zebra Marty’s laid-back vibe down, while Rothenberg draws laughs as he balances lion Alex’s charming mix of ego and cluelessness.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to “move it, move it. I like to move it, move it … ”