![]() ![]() ![]() Plus, the play is just under an hour long and cheaper than a movie. I wouldn’t hesitate to return with one of my young nieces or nephews to the show. Judging by the frequent high-pitched laughter during the play and the excited chatter in the lobby afterwards, The Magical Adventures of Merlin was a success among the child and tween crowd. What matters is how the intended audience received the show. The character was a reasonable and child-appropriate villain.īeing a production aimed at elementary school audiences, it really doesn’t matter what an adult theatre critic thinks. ![]() Her performance as Morgana reminded me vaguely of Ursula from The Little Mermaid because of the way Morgana slinked around the stage and devised her evil plan. Tiffany Raines was another bright spot in the cast. ![]() Stockett’s strong decision to make Merlin childlike (without seeming foolish) is probably the show’s most successful aspect. In short, Merlin feels the way a lot of children feel on a rough day. In his first scene, Stockett created a character with whom children can relate to Merlin is not immediately good at tasks he tries, is burdened with chores, and wishes that things in his life were different. I also appreciated the performances of some of the cast members, especially Justin Stockett as Merlin. The set also blended beautifully with Seth Mergist’s lighting design, which added an eerie feeling to the opening scene and enhanced the magical moments throughout the play (especially the climax). Moreover, it encouraged audience members to use their imagination to complete the location, such as the forest or Morgana’s lair. The set (designed by Shawn Mortensen) encouraged scenes to flow together smoothly because no large pieces had to be pushed into the wings. Finally, I had problems with the aimless blocking and the lack of eye contact between performers in many of the scenes, such as Merlin and Arthur’s first forest scene.ĭespite the shortcomings in the script and directing, there are some bright spots in the show. It was not unusual to have two or three completely different acting styles on the stage at the same time, such as Aaron James’s Blues Clues style (as Arthur), Justin Stockett‘s more realistic acting (as Merlin), and Paige Erickson expansively broad style (as Nimue). Elison also failed to establish a consistent acting style of the play. The result was an incoherent group that neither felt threatening or terribly funny. The knights (Zach Chilcote, Josh Hopkin, and Brad Longmore) vacillated between being stooge-like buffoons and evil henchmen. Moreover, the score was completely forgettable, and the only song that had any noteworthy music (“Merlin Is My Name”) had some atrociously amateur lyrics.Ĭompounding these problems was Jerry Elison‘s unimaginative directing. It was never fully clear why, for example, Merlin and Arthur should be friends, or why Merlin would be tempted by Morgana’s offer. The play is full of plot holes and stilted dialogue. However, Vogt and Friedman’s script will likely bore parents. With a script and score written by Janet Yates Vogt and Mark Friedman, the hour-long play is written for children up to 12 years old. The Magical Adventures of Merlin is a musical retelling of the story of King Arthur and the sword in the stone. ![]()
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