BACKSTAGE WEST REVIEW - CRITIC'S PICK!

Side Show - Critic's Pick
July 25, 2007
By Eric Marchese

Henry Kriger and Bill Russell's 1997 musical about the lives of Siamese twins Daisy and Violet Hilton racked up several Tony nominations during a Broadway run that, at three months, was crushingly brief. Russell's libretto and lyrics explore the conflicts and complex feelings shared by the conjoined sisters while, Elephant Man-like, raising natural questions about their ability to function in life. Kriger's masterful score represents a high-water mark of recent contemporary musical theatre. The mixture of dark subject, psychological profile of two contrasting personalities, and potent songs makes for a captivating, highly original tuner -- an often poignant show that explores the nature of human needs, hopes, wishes, and desires at their most primal.

OC REGISTER REVIEW

'Side Show' welds odd subject with great score

Review: Dazzling Westminster staging showcases the 1997 musical's depth and heart.

Can the story of two women literally joined at the hip work as a musical?

It can, and does, in the musical "Side Show."

The lives of Siamese twins Daisy and Violet Hilton are a seemingly odd choice for a musical. Yet, Henry Kriger and Bill Russell's 1997 show racked up several Tony nominations during a Broadway run that, at three months, was crushingly brief.

The show's mixture of dark subject, psychological profile of two contrasting personalities and potent songs makes for a captivating, highly original and often poignant show that explores the nature of human needs, hopes, wishes and desires at their most primal.

At Westminster Community Theatre, director and choreographer T.J. Dawson's cast features Afton Quast as Daisy and Jeanette Phillips-Dawson as Violet. The striking resemblance of these two blonde lovelies matches the reality of their characters, who were in fact fraternal, not identical, twins.

Through their performances – rather than through a costuming trick – the duo creates the illusion of being conjoined. They portray the sisters as refined, soft-spoken ladies whose empathic, near-telepathic relationship is muddied when Terry (Steven Arlen), a handsome, well-dressed scout for vaudeville's Orpheum Circuit, woos Daisy while his little sidekick, Buddy (Sam Cavanaugh), falls for Violet.

Unfolding from 1928 to 1936, and with only minimal dialogue, "Side Show" plays out almost entirely in song. Russell's libretto and lyrics explore the conflicts and complex feelings shared by the conjoined sisters while raising questions about their ability to function in life. Kriger's masterful, expansive score represents a high-water mark of recent contemporary musical theater, with increasingly intense highs that elevate "Side Show" to the level of grand opera.

Dawson and company lend visual complexity to the lengthy opening number "Come Look at the Freaks." Steeped in bitterness and frustration, Daisy and Violet's song "Who Will Love Me As I Am?" is the duo's anthem. Coming at the height of a sibling battle, the sisters' song "Leave Me Alone" underscores a seemingly simple yet, for them, impossible request.

That song's ironic flip-side is "We Share Everything," a jazzy, raggy show tune that's the girls' first big vaudeville number. In this and other numbers, Dawson creates large-scale song-and-dance scenes most observers of the venue would deem a tall order.

Kriger's startling range of styles and moods is mastered by music director Arie Gonzalez and his eight-person orchestra in their pre-recorded score. Lavalier mikes or no, the cast of 22 has the pipes to blow the roof off the venue, delivering vocals that range from near-whispers to full-throttle.

Quast and Phillips-Dawson are practically mirror images of one another and, within their similar ranges, sweet, pure vocals and clear, bell-like tones. The actors create subtle differences in their mannerisms which project two similar-looking yet inwardly different personalities – Daisy outgoing, Violet more demure. Their work is, in a word, sensational.

Arlen is a handsome matinee idol, with a velvety singing voice to match. Cavanaugh, a light redhead of short stature, is a natural as his amiable sidekick, unfurling a delicate tenor is his songs.

Jay Donnell has a winning smile, huge heart and powerful tenor voice as the heroic Jake, who loves Violet. Hulking and curly-haired, and with ferocious energy, Alex Mohajer is a menacing figure as the sideshow boss, bullying and insulting his "attractions." A raft of double- and triple-cast actors portray the sideshow performers, curious journalists, Manhattan society types and other supporting characters.

Dawson cannily uses the venue's thrust stage and two corner aisles. Brit Masterson's deep, rich lighting illuminates Kiana St. Laurent's scene design, which uses bunting to suggest a circus atmosphere and, upstage, sliding, rotating panels used to conceal or reveal.

The production's costumes are resplendent. Headed by Sharell Martin, Annie Lloyd and St. Laurent, Dawson's virtual army of costume and set designers and builders makes this visit to a Depression-era circus midway, the vaudeville stage and the Ziegfeld Follies a dazzling one.

Freelance writer Eric Marchese has covered entertainment for the Register since 1984.

Contact the writer: emarchesewriter@gmail.com

TOGETHERNESS: Afton Quast, left, is Daisy Hilton and Jeanette Phillips-Dawson her conjoined, fraternal twin, Violet, in "Side Show."