Howard
Crabtree's
WHEN PIGS FLY
High
School Guidance Counselor Mrs. Roundhole tries to convince
the flamboyant boys that what they are going through is "just
a phase" in the hilarious musical costume romp WHEN PIGS
FLY opening December 8 at Arts On Real Theater, featuring over
70 costumes from designers Blake Yelavich and Ia Layadi. Pictured,
from left: Doug LeBelle (Mrs. Roundhole), Bryan Schneider (yellow),
Nathan Brainard (blue), Aicardo Rivera (orange), Kirk Addison
(white), and Joe Hamilton (red).
Michael Barnes (American Statesman) says:
“When Pigs Fly” is charming fluff. Naughty Austin
director Blake Yelavich knows to play the material — a
mock musical revue — with an ultra-light touch, and the
silly costumes, while not as detailed as in the original NYC
staging, are pretty darn amazing. Kirk Addison, not surprisingly,
tickled as Howard Crabtree, the swishy boy who only wants to
stage the most fabulous musical numbers ever. He received some
timely help from a cast that included scene-stealer Doug Lebelle,
Naughty veteran Bryan Schneider and relative newcomver Aicardo
Rivera. The show runs at Arts on Real through Jan. 28.
Robert
Faires (Austin Chronicle) says:
Who
among us hasn't known a Wicked Witch just like her, a stiff-necked,
thin-lipped, narrow-eyed (not to mention narrow-minded),
mirthless killjoy whose sole purpose in life seems to be
squashing like a loathsome cockroach any sign of youthful
creativity or frivolity or simple fun? We've all heard her
drone on incessantly about life being a serious business
with no place for foolishness and the sooner one learns that
the better. We've seen her sneer at artistic pursuits and
belittle any dreams of a life on the stage or in the studio.
Maybe for you she was an aunt or a babysitter or a Sunday
school teacher. For Howard Crabtree, she was a high school
guidance counselor who stomped on his desire for a career
in theatre by telling him he'd make it as a performer and
costume designer when … well, you've
seen the title of the show. And so Crabtree got his sweet revenge
by developing this theatrical revue in which his personal Wicked
Witch appears and gets her comeuppance.As
such, it's no surprise that When Pigs Fly eventually made
its way to Austin, a city full of refugees from little
Texas towns (as well as a few big cities) where the hidebound
and crabbed of spirit hold sway. This is a place where
Crabtree and all the "dream Curlys" like him can go their
own way, "dressed for excess." And it should be no
surprise that Arts on Real was the local theatre company to
premiere the revue, as director/set designer/costume designer/lighting
designer/theatre producing artistic director Blake Yelavich
has gone his own way and founded a theatre that frequently
celebrates the extravagant, the frivolous, the fun, and the
gay. If there's a surprise to the production, it's that it's,
well, so modest. At the risk of sounding like a Wicked Witch,
much of the show is built around the extravagant costumes that
were Crabtree's specialty and which turned the original production
of this show into an off-Broadway sensation that ran for years.
Crabtree appears as a character – embodied here winningly
by Kirk Addison – and at a climactic point declares that
the problem isn't that he's gone too far, it's that he hasn't
gone far enough, leading into a fashion parade of outrageously
over-the-top outfits. The costumes created by Yelavich and
Ia Layadi are clever and amusing and ingeniously constructed,
but outlandish? Hardly any more than what you might see at
Eeyore's or Carnaval or on Sixth Street at Halloween. Maybe
that's a hazard of staging this show in a city loaded with
Lone Star Crabtrees; they've raised the bar on "dressed
for excess."That's
not to say that the Austin production isn't entertaining.
But it feels more complete in the less elaborate numbers,
where it's just a performer interpreting the songs by composer
Dick Gallagher and lyricist Mark Waldrop (with some additional
lyrics added here by Addison) – say, Bryan Schneider boyishly
crooning of his infatuation with the oft-married Liz Taylor;
a tortured Doug Labelle torching it up three times over his
unrequited loves for, respectively, Dubya, Warren Chisum, and
Tom DeLay; and Addison sweetly celebrating an unconventional
romance in the Sixties suburbs in "Sam and Me." These
numbers, like most of the material, are so featherlight that
they'd blow away with a puff of breath, but unencumbered by
the expectations of spectacle and lifted by simple, engaging
performances and the accompaniment of musical director Steve
Saugey, they're when this When Pigs Fly really takes wing.
Arts On Real presents
the musical revue "Howard Crabtree’s
When Pigs Fly." This exhilarating two act original
musical has played in almost every major city in the United
States - except AUSTIN. The music by Dick Gallagher is jaunty
and tuneful and lyrics by Mark Waldrop are sharp and witty. This
is a real great musical comedy revue.
When Pigs Fly is
Howard Crabtree’s (played by five time ACOT award
winner Kirk Addison) dream-autobiography in which his
career counselor Ms.
Roundhole recommends plumbing, watch-making, chicken farming
or gardening supplies as Howard’s only career
choices since he would only be a success in theater “when
pigs fly.”
However, Howard only wants to
be Dream Curley on the stage and produce a big extravagant
Broadway musical. He becomes the lead, director, producer
and designer for his lavish musical revue. With a group of
rag-tag actors, he tries to mount the evening's entertainment
- promising the grand finalé of making a
pig fly.
Will it all turn out for Howard
Crabtree or will he have to succumb to the wishes of his
guidance counselor and settle for a respectable yet much
less flamboyant career? Find out in this hysterical
and FABULOUS musical costume parade - perfect for
all ages and all mind-sets. It's about chasing dreams, pursuing
the highest of heights, and reaching them in unexpected ways!
Produced
by Naughty Austin Productions
