Musical based on Roald Dahl book is a ‘Peach’ of a show
‘James and the Giant Peach’ gets fun, energetic turn in Berkeley
Things are looking grim for James Henry Trotter. The little boy’s loving parents have been killed by a runaway rhinoceros and he’s been sent to live with two cruel aunts who only keep him around for free labor. When offered the opportunity to travel overseas in a giant peach accompanied by an assortment of oversize insects, how could he possibly resist?
There’s a lot that’s hard to resist in the musical “Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach,” getting its East Bay premiere from Berkeley Playhouse at the Julia Morgan Theater.
British novelist Roald Dahl was a seemingly inexhaustible source of delightfully dark children’s stories. Most famous of these is surely “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” but his 1961 book “James and the Giant Peach” is right up there too, along with other beloved tales such as “Matilda,” “The Witches,” “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and “The BFG.”
The 2010 musical of “James,” substantially revamped in 2015, was conceived and written by Timothy Allen McDonald, who previously adapted Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” into a musical (not the Broadway one but “Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka,” incorporating
songs from the 1971 movie) and also creates a lot of children’s adaptations of classic musicals.
The real draw of this musical version is the songs by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the Oscar- and Tony Award-winning songwriting duo behind “Dear Evan Hansen” and “La La Land.” There are a bunch of boisterously catchy ditties here packed with old-fashioned razzle-dazzle, the kind that often end in a kick line — and yep, here comes the kick line.
Berkeley Playhouse gives the whole shebang a pleasingly lively production staged by founding artistic director Elizabeth McKoy. Mark Mendelson’s set is a mass of brightly-colored curving shapes that gives it all a slight ’60s psychedelic vibe. Melissa Martinez’s energetic choreography makes good use of the large adult and youth ensemble, impressively clad by costumer Lisa Danz in a wide variety of fanciful getups. The eight-piece orchestra under the direction
of Rachel Robinson does a bang-up job with the show’s several memorable numbers — and with the less memorable ones, too.
James D. Sasser serves as an impishly charismatic all-purpose combination of narrator, emcee, carny barker and magic man as the Ladahlord. In fact, it’s not at all clear who or what the Ladahlord is supposed to be, although he takes the place of the mysterious old man who sets James’ adventures in motion in the novel.
Fifth-grader Elliot Choate is a sympathetically timid and bewildered James, who gradually learns to show some spunk, alternating in the role with Jonah Horowitz. Heather Orth and Matt Standley make hilariously horrid aunties as Spiker and Sponge, here depicted as greedy and lazy party girls and part-time pickpockets who genuinely enjoy each other’s company but are downright vicious to everyone else.
The insects first show up as somewhat roughhewn
puppets (it’s hard to tell the centipede from the earthworm, for instance), but once they re-emerge in human form they’re a lively crew of big personalities. Vida Mae Fernandez is a sly and slinky Spider, and Montel Anthony Nord a sinisterly resentful Centipede, both nattily attired. Christian Arteaga is a hysterically cowardly Earthworm who steals the show in the late-breaking, Latinflavored musical number “Plump and Juicy.” Caroline Schneider and Brian E.A. Miller are pleasantly outgoing as Ladybug and Grasshopper, the more grounded members of the crew, while Maya Sherer withdraws quietly into the background as a Glowworm with lightup shoelaces.
As an adaptation of Dahl’s book it’s a little rough around the edges, and it’s occasionally unclear what exactly is going on. Still, the characters are so entertaining, and the songs so upbeat and hummable, that the fact that McDonald’s libretto could still stand a little polishing doesn’t keep “James” from being a peach of a show.