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THERE should always be a place in Honolulu theater for clean and wholesome family shows. Army Community Theatre's season-opening production of "State Fair" is one such show. ACT’s ‘State Fair’
serves up good,
clean funBy John Berger
Special to the Star-BulletinACT is presenting the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical in its Hawaii debut and director Vernon Campbell tells the story of a farm family's eventful visit to the 1946 Iowa State Fair without mocking the hard-working family by viewing them from a trendy "politically correct" perspective.
"State Fair" is set in a time and milieu far removed from contemporary Hawaii, but the concerns of Abel Frake and his family -- such as whether or not to add alcohol to Mrs. Frake's mincemeat pie recipe -- remain universal enough to involve the audience and to get the story rolling.
Abel (John Mount) is concerned about his prize boar's chances of taking the blue ribbon in the hog contest. Mrs. Frake (Ella Law Edwards) dreams of finally beating the obnoxious perennial winner of the baking contest.
Their son, Wayne (Noah Johnson) is going to the fair after breaking up with his college-bound girlfriend. Daughter Margy (Jenny Unno) doesn't feel an emotional connection with her practical but geeky boyfriend, Harry (Daren Kimura), but isn't sure what to do about it.
Fate enters the scene soon enough. Wayne meets a sophisticated older woman (Jade Glover), while Margy catches the lustful eye of a cynical journalist, Pat Gilbert (Dawe Glover), who's not interested in doing a "human interest" story on the yokels attending the fair.
Unno is a scene stealer and is thoroughly convincing as a young woman who is not aware of what she's looking for or how to find it. She is particularly good at projecting a believable innocence untainted by contemporary "boy toy" artifice. She could have used a bit more volume from the sound crew when she first sang in Act I, but came through beautifully on her final number, "The Next Time it Happens," in Act II.
Mount is a powerful presence throughout, delivering comic and romantic numbers alike with unmatched dramatic impact. "More Than Just A Friend" is interpreted perfectly as the farmers' ode to their championship livestock, while Mount's duets with Edwards ("When I'm Walking With My Baby" and "Boys And Girls Like You and Me") are two of the show's strongest numbers. He and Edwards are also appealing as a long-time couple still in love.
Credit Mount also with being one of two singers on opening night who were able to consistently project clearly over the orchestra. Johnson, who turned another solid performance as a serviceable young lead, was the other.
Choreographer Derek Daniels adds to the story rather than simply adding running time. Unno and Dawe Glover are the stars in "Isn't It Kinda Fun?" as Daniels interprets the budding relationship between Margy and Pat.
The multi-talented Glover gets fine support from his daughter, Aubrey Lee Glover, and Alison Maldonado, in "The Man I Used To Be." The song-and-dance number makes it clear that Aubrey Lee is one to keep an eye on.
Dawe Glover also successfully negotiates a demanding and improbable character change as he morphs from cynical journalist into a one-woman man almost immediately. He makes the transformation look real.
Musical ride
What: "State Fair," presented by Army Community Theatre
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