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Review
Click Clack Moo
Lucille Lortel Theatre
August 13, 2009
Morgan Wycks
mwycks@nyconstage.org
Barnyard animals form a union and strike against their unacceptable conditions and their boss, Farmer Brown, who is a throwback to the captains and the kings of the industrial revolution, but on a small scale. Suffice it to say, the strike is an outrage to the impervious Mr. Brown. Could children learn a better introduction to the values of communication and the need to support each other? Perhaps, but nothing as enjoyably as TheatreWorks USA's Click Clack Moo based on the book by Doreen Cronin and wittily adapted by Billy Aronson. Part of the title involves cows learning how to type out their grievances on a computer despite the encumbrances of their hooves. Nevertheless they manage to convey to the stubborn farmer that milk would be better served if the bovines were happier, and when the chickens realize their eggs are just as valuable they too join the union and march on their boss' inhumane behavior. The multi-talented cast, all of whom play more than one role on this hard-working farm, delivers the songs of Brad Alexander (music) and ingeniously clever lyrics of Kevin Del Aguila (some of which adults will appreciate more than kids - children, I mean) with a joyous esprit. The performers each deserve mention; Kristy Cates' rebelliously moooody cow, Michael Thomas Holmes' clumsy voracious calf; Gretchen Bieber's butter-wouldn't-melt-in-her-mouth heifer, DeMond B. Nason's duck who gets down (if you know what I mean) with attitude, Sarah Katherine Gee's furiously feisty chicklet, and of course Drew McVety's no-nonsense Farmer Brown. Beowulf Boritt's simple but charming set, and especially the individualized anthropomorphic costumes of Lora LaVon fit right in with John Rando's jaunty idea-crammed direction.
Having barely survived the indignities of doing a children's theatre tour many years ago, I'm glad to report that this is the second TheatreWorks USA production that proves the genre doesn't have to be painful. In fact, the experience here has put me in the mooood for more.
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