This rabbit not so rich
Let’s get one thing straight right away: Corrine Koslo plays such an adorable tabby that a one- woman revival of Cats ought to be assembled for her immediately. As Chester, the interfering feline in the production of Bunnicula that opened yesterday afternoon at the Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People, Koslo delivers one of those eat- her- upwitha- spoon performances that makes you grin from ear to ear. The rest of the cast are pretty darned appealing as well, but it’s Koslo — channelling Garfield’s younger, hyperactive sister — who steals the show. And that’s a pretty good thing, because this stage adaptation of the beloved 1979 book by Deborah and James Howe is a little on the limp side. The premise remains funny: a family has their lives turned around when the rabbit they brought home from a night at the movies seeing Dracula seems to have vampirical tendencies.
All the vegetables are drained of “ blood” and wind up as whitened shells of what they used to be. Chester the cat and Harold the dog finally solve the mystery, and not a moment too soon.
It’s all gentle whimsy and it’s potentially very appealing, but Jon Klein’s stage version seems a little low- key. I first thought it might have been written shortly after the book, since it seems so retro in feeling, but it actually premiered in 1996.
There are also some disposable songs by Klein and Chris Jeffries that slow the action to a halt and make things seem even more old- fashioned.
Director Allen MacInnis bravely bucks the cobwebby feel with a bright and ingratiating production, which insures that the overall experience is a pleasant one.
In addition to Ms Koslo’s pedigreed turn, mention must be made of Richard Binsley’s amiable mutt, Harold, with a delicious charm of his own. The family is headed by David Collins as Mr. Monroe. Casting the sardonic Collins as a bland academic is a lot like asking a bottle of Jack Daniels to play a milkshake, but he does an amusing job. So does Deann de Gruijter as the Barbieish Mrs. Monroe, who is supposedly a lawyer but wears pink slingbacks the likes of which I’ve never seen in court.
Isaiah Grant and Peyson B. Rock are both lots of fun as the kids, Toby and Pete, and Mike Petersen deftly manages to make Bunnicula come to life. The bottom line is that Bunniculaprovides 90 minutes of amiable entertainment with one performance from Koslo that is worth the price of admission.
Sure, it might have been better, but it also could have been a lot worse. Count your blessings.