Review
Anne of Green Gables
Lucille Lortel Theatre
March 31, 2007
Morgan Wycks
mwycks@nyconstage.org
Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables was to yesteryear's
adolescent girls what Wicked is to today's. Here's a displaced girl
blossoming into womanhood who through sheer pluck, ingenuity, and heart, made
small dreams come true and was able to teach her elders lessons long forgotten
as well as a few new tricks. In TheatreworksUSA's production, Anne has been
reduced to a somewhat pushy and obnoxious klutz who somehow turns lemons into
lemonade and her saga is squished into 90 minutes of song and dance for the
attention deficit disorderly. Gretchen Cryer's and Nancy Ford's songs are
instantly forgettable while Ms. Cryer's book maintains enough of the sentiment
to move even the most cold-hearted. Directed swiftly, if not swiftly enough, by
Tyler Marchant on a sweet set by Beowulf Boritt, the cast, except for Piper
Goodeve in the title role, never pushes, thereby educing the required effects.
As Ms. Goodeve settles down into the role she too becomes a welcome presence and
the production makes the pyrotechnics of Wicked look cheap.
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