By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Robert Larson portrays Obadiah and Andrea Hancock is Nicole in ASATAD'S production of "Infinite Jest."
Charming 'Jest' brings fresh perspective
By John Berger
Special to the Star-BulletinUNCONVENTIONAL, locally written plays aren't common. Original local musicals are rare. ASATAD's production of "Infinite Jest," an original musical by Nancy P. Moss and composer Howard Leshaw, lives up to its promise as something fresh and unusual on the local scene. It isn't "The Rutles" or "Naked Gun" but this musical comedy had the audience laughing in most of the right places on Saturday night.
Moss utilizes a surreal approach. The story opens with ailing novelist Laurence Sterne (David Kleist) attempting to seduce a French maid named Nicole (Andrea Hancock) by playing on her ambitions as an actress. Before long Sterne is narrating another story and becomes one of the characters in the story he's narrating. - Nicole is soon playing other roles as well - and sometimes complaining to Sterne about the roles he is writing for her. She finally takes quill in hand and writes scenes of her own.
Eventually Nicole and her cynical employer (Cecilia Fordham) have stepped into two completely different roles at Sterne's request. It's either before or after that episode that Nicole, who has left Sterne for the bright lights of Paris with a younger but less urbane man (Robert Larson), returns just in time to see Sterne die.
No, wait. Sterne doesn't die. He was just playing a character in yet another story.
Just sit back and enjoy it. Veteran director Jim Hutchison keeps things flowing smoothly, and Kleist and Hancock do stellar work in the biggest roles. Sterne's personal travails and pragmatic perspective on life and lust are clearly defined; he may seem a bit lecherous but Hutchison and Kleist keep him likable. Nicole is written as neither innocent victim nor manipulative tease; Hancock's renditions of her big musical numbers, "The Maid's Complaint (I Hate Men)" and "I Let Him Stay," are showstoppers.
Moss and Leshaw provide showcase numbers for others as well. Linda Ryan got the crowd going Saturday with "The Main Thing," a risque number about the most important thing a man brings to a marriage. Fordham comes through with dramatic performances in two duets, "Life Is" opposite Kleist, and "It Just Isn't Fair" opposite Hancock.
John Hunt figures prominently in one of the lighter and more risque vignettes. How can the respectable widow Wadman (Ryan) politely ask eligible old bachelor Captain Shandy (Hunt) if his war wound rendered him impotent? B. Lee Drew and Tom Lail complete the talented cast. ASATAD's multifaceted Rich McKinney provides musical accompaniment; eschewing conventional taped music adds to the charm of the show
Infinite Jest: At 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through Jan. 24, Tenney Theater, St. Andrew's Cathedral. Tickets $14-$17, discount tickets available at Tower Records and Diamond Head Video. Call 247-6939 or connect to http://www.lcc.hawaii.edu/org/th/asatad.html
