Theater Online - New York Theater Reviews

If you ask anyone walking down the street to tell you the story of Cinderella, you will have no problem. Everyone, no matter what age they are, can tell you all about Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, and all the other fairy tale characters they grew up reading stories about.                                          

Movies like Enchanted and Shrek are effective because everyone knows these fairy tales, yet those movies take a unique spin on them. Stephen Sondheim’s musical Into the Woods is effective for the same reason. They make a choice. Enchanted and Shrek choose to be parodies. Into the Woods chooses to be a darker spin on the light-hearted fairy tales.

All Folked Up is one of the approximately 40 plays put on at the Midtown International Theatre Festival this summer. Sidekick Productions presented All Folked Up, which ran last week at the Jewel Box Theatre on West 36^th Street.

All Folked Up is a very confusing adaptation of the fairy tales we all know and love. It is confusing because it is unclear what the story is attempting to say about fairy tales. It is not the fairy tales simply re-told, but it is not a clear parody. If we are going to re-tell the fairy tales that everyone already knows, we have to have a reason to do so. This show had no true production concept, unless you consider overacting and screaming really loudly to be a production concept.

To the defense of the actors, the script is not very helpful for them to figure out what they are trying to say about fairy tales. So the only thing they can possibly do is fish for cheap laughs because, well, what else can they do“ Some of it was truly difficult to watch. The audience was very uncomfortable and was unsure whether or not these over-the-top moments were supposed to be funny, ironic, or serious. Jill Maybruch (one of Cinderella’s stepsisters), Ron Barba (Cinderella’s father), and Danielle Connor (Cinderella) are the only cast members who made actual acting choices. Ms. Maybruch and Mr. Barbra also did a good job differentiating between the other roles they played by making different physical and vocal choices.

In his production notes, playwright and director Joshua Pangborn reminds the audience that this is “not Broadway” and to not hold it to that kind of standard. Clearly it is not Broadway, but this cast consisted of actors who obviously think themselves good enough to be on Broadway if they are pursuing an acting career. The standard of the acting should be the same. The theater may not be a Broadway theater and the budget might not be a Broadway budget, but one can still make strong and professional acting choices even if they are not playing to a Broadway audience.