‘Coraline’ a clever take on the novel
Musical version tamer than Gaiman’s classic kid’s book
Narnia, Wonderland and Oz: Filled with danger as well as magic, each of these elsewheres ultimately underscores the advantages of home, for even the most bored and neglected of children.
None of them is as weird or scary as the alternative world featured in “Coraline,” largely because the other place featured in Neil Gaiman’s classic novel is right next door and therefore disarmingly familiar. It’s the other side of a multiunit dwelling that looks exactly like young Coraline’s home; it’s populated by near replicas of the parents and neighbors she’s left behind.
That doubling makes “Coraline” ideal for the stage; one can use a single set, slightly altered, to represent both worlds. And that’s what we get in the Wisconsin premiere of Stephen Merritt and David Greenspan’s musical adaptation, which opened Thursday in a staging by Bad Example Productions directed by David Kaye.
Played by University School of Milwaukee senior Madeline McNichols, Coraline is bored and friendless. While her busy parents (Edward Lupella and Samantha Paige) may love her, they largely leave her to her own devices, allowing Coraline to open a door that conjures images of that famous wardrobe portal to Narnia.
What Coraline discovers on the other side is her Other Mother (Kendall Yorkey) and Other Father (Lupella again), joined by off-kilter versions of her eccentric neighbors: two aging female actors (a crossdressing Zachary Dean and Tess Masias in both worlds) and a would-be circus impresario (Josh Perkins in both worlds).
In both Gaiman’s novel and Henry Selick’s excellent stopmotion film adaptation, Coraline’s fantasy world is initially attractive before turning nightmarishly scary. That makes sense; one must explain why Coraline is drawn to the dark side, while also driving home why she eventually runs for her life.
But Kaye and cast have camped up Coraline’s magical kingdom; its inhabitants aren’t alluring or frightening doubles but a collection of zombies and crazies. And despite the bent notes and twisted tinkling produced by pianist Donna Kummer on altered and toy pianos, the soundscape and the songs are clever without being either compelling or creepy. Only at the very end of this 90-minute, intermission-free piece does the vocally strong Yorkey manage to give us the willies.
No wonder McNichols seems nonplussed by her new surroundings; if she wants to go home it’s less because she’s scared than because this offbeat world is actually less interesting than the one she left. McNichols is best when conveying how lonely Coraline feels, regardless of which world she happens to be in.
Thank goodness for her spirit guide: Gaiman’s version of the Cheshire Cat. Embodied by Rob Schreiner, this feline has the night’s best gag and sings the best song, telling us about his claws in an often bloodless show that needs to be sharper and scratch more.