OFF-BROADWAY REVIEW
FRECKLEFACE STRAWBERRY THE MUSICAL
Reviewed by Sasha Pensanti
Published 2010-10-04
Freckleface Strawberry The Musical is a kids show
based on a series of children's books written by actress Julianne Moore. The
story follows a young redheaded girl with freckles named Strawberry who is
constantly teased by the other children at her school who have deemed her
"freckleface." More than anything in the world, Strawberry wants to
get rid of her dreaded freckles and be "normal" like the other kids.
She's tried everything she can think of from covering them up to scrubbing her
cheeks until they're raw, nothing seems to work. Throughout the show,
Strawberry and her friends learn that almost everyone has the desire to change
something about themselves, but in the end, it's the differences that make them
special and wonderfully perfect.
The musical features nine adults actors playing the roles of Strawberry and her
classmates, as well as one who doubles as her mother and teacher. Over the loud
speaker before the show began, the turn-off-your-cell announcement was clearly
made by a real child, so I was surprised to see all the kids played by grown-ups.
However, as the show went on, I saw that it was absolutely necessary for them
to be played by adults, as 90% of the characters in the show are kids. They
dressed each of these child-like adults to look like kids, fitting them in
outfits you'd imagine your little brother or sister wearing.
There are three central locations that the kids bounce between in the show:
school, Strawberry's house, and dance class. They move between them by turning
the pages of a large book, which sets the scene so beautifully for the story to
take place inside an actual story-book. I was impressed with house they made
use of a small amount of space and actually made it seems like three distinct
locations. Everytime they turned those pages, something else shows up, I wasn't
expecting that at all.
The stand out actors in the show were Joey Haro (Danny) and Mykal Kilgore
(Harry). Both are full grown adults who, outside the show, would never pass for
kids, or never be mistaken for children at the very least. And yet, in the show,
they did the best job of bringing their characters to life. But it wasn't just
the young characters they did so well with. The two also join a troop of
"freckles" who pop off of Strawberry's face to tell her that they
really like her and they aren't there to cause her harm, but to make her
unique. They engage in a little bit of audience interaction, entertaining not
only the kids, but the parents in the audience as well, as they look for a new
face, arm or even leg to live on. Taking everything a step further than you'd
expect, Mykal Kilgore gave the best vocals of the entire show. Not only did he
outshine his cast mates, he outshone the actors down the street working on
Broadway. His voice is a true gift and I would venture to say, wherever he goes
with it, audiences will follow quickly.
The entire cast was good, for the most part, fulfilling exactly what they were
meant to. None of the others stood out particularly good or bad, except for
Jessica Bishop who plays the "Ballet Girl" who eventually becomes
friends with Strawberry after an act of kindness on the part of our favorite
freckleface. She is clearly a talented dancer, however, I'm not sure that it
would have made much of a difference in a show where everyone was dancing. But,
nonetheless, for a kid's show, she did exactly what was needed and I have no
doubt every little girl in the audience was mesmerized by her ability. My only
critique would be to Linda Gabler who played Strawberry's mother. She had a few
pitch problems and I was disappointed to see that she was a blond, rather than
a red head (there is a "photo" on the wall in Strawberry's room which
shows her mother as a redhead).
Most of the score worked well. The songs were not ground breaking by any means,
however, this is a kids show, and if they were too difficult or cutting edge,
it might be hard to keep the children's attention. The song, "Perfectly
Perfect/Imperfectly Perfect" which is sung by Strawberry and her mother
seemed awkward in the beginning, as the lyrics her mom had seemed to be
muddled, but when Hayley Podschun finally came in to sing Strawberry's part, I
was drawn into the song and quite enjoyed it from there out.
Overall, it was much more than I expected from a kid's show, and I must say,
writers Gary Kupper and Rose Caiola really know their audience. Just when the
kids would start to squirm in their seats, something would come along, grab
their attention and calm them right back down. The choreography in most numbers
was normal, something that would get the attention of the children briefly, but
the basketball number was excellent. I would have been impressed to see that in
any show.
I'm not sure it's a show you'd want to go to on the weekend with your friends,
but if you've got kids, this is the place to go. It's got dancing, singing,
talking freckles, and most importantly: kids who learn that being themselves
makes them perfectly perfect in every way, despite their imperfections.
Click here to buy tickets.
Click here to buy group tickets.
