■THEATRE
Review: Leader of the Pack
Fun, energetic musical
by well-honed company
by Deborah S. McGee
Dynamite. High-energy. Power
packed. Such strong words
describe Leader of the Pack, cur
rent Mainstage production at the
Hult Center. Only four productions
remain. Go now. Great musical
theater doesn’t come ’round again
on videotape.
Elements: first—fun, skillful and
exuberant choreography by Rich
Gray, especially rollicking in the
title number. Then there are the
slinky, sparkly and daring cos
tumes by Joe Zingo, Sue (Fiddlin’)
Hunnel and Time Warp. Next,
there’s a 12-piece, star-studded ac
ting ensemble, shining forth in
outstanding whole-group work and
magnificent solos. Finally, there’s
direction by Melina Neal (read
bold, life-loving and colorful).
Other fine features of Leader of
the Pack: a five-piece instrumental
group on-stage, under the certain
direction of the same Rich Gray.
Also, in that group of musicians,
there's hot-fingered Johnathan
Mansfield at the ivories. Then
there’s the Mainstay, the always
there Jim Roberts in charge of the
set this time and holding up the
general production end.
Add to all this the pulse of early
’60s music, the pizazz of an ’80s
reinterpretation of that scene, and
the yield is the very best of
musical theater, with the emphasis
heavy on musical.
It’s also the culmination of much
grooming and building of a reper
tory group. After all those nights
of hoofin’ it and singin’ it out at
big-hearted Seymour’s Restaurant,
Jim Roberts and his cohorts have
fine-honed a bunch of serious,
dedicated and highly talented per
formers and technicians, and along
the way have attracted some of the
hottest local theater talent.
Mainstage’s joy of theater, music
and performing are evident
throughout all aspects of the pro
duction, and just one example is
how the musical uses hand
language in imitation of the back
up trios in ’60s black/Motown
groups. Such hand movements
have been parodied or copied so
many times, and usually disas
trously so. Even the most talented
originals, like the Temptations and
the Supremes, didn’t look all that
great going through these motions.
But at the same time it was fun to
Leader of the Pack is Mainstage’s current musical theatre production at the Hult Center.
do, and fun to mimic and see.
Rather than it being just a flour
ish, though, Mainstage players do
their hand/body moves to the
music with grace, finesse and
sparkling exuberance. Their down
right enjoyment of this, and every
aspect of Leader of the Pack, is
infectious and thrilling.
Vocals could really let go and
fill that Soreng Theater, a modern
ly revised classically black-box
theater. Female vocals were at
super-pitch, with Lynne Rothrock
and Maureen Robeson stimulating
the greatest number of
goosebumps.
As for the main players, Trisha
A. Will brings her considerable
abilities forcefully into a strong
characterization of the rock song
writer Ellie Greenwich, the stuff
of whose life gave rise to wonder
fill lyrics and to the play. Will
handles center stage beautifully
and brought us to our knees Satur
day night in her solo' number.
At the end of this number, a
silence ensued. The amount of
milliseconds allowed for this pause
was exactly the amount necessary
for maximum effect. The next
number, “Strictly Confidential,”
was intensified by the pause.
Mainstage has refined a wonderful
sense of timing and knows just
how to pull an audience’s strings.
But back to the players. Rich
Gray also plays Greenwich’s some
time husband, Jeff Barry. His role
improved as the evening pro
gressed and his confidence could
bloom, and he was his usual treat.
The young studs on parade musical
number—of four men plus him, all
be-muscled and be-tight-jeaned—was
delightfully cocky. Other per
former highlights: Danny Bruno,
back in town from the temptations
of Ashland last summer, portrays
Gus Sharkey, Greenwich’s
manager, and is always worth
looking at when on-stage. Andrew
DeRycke was surprising for how
well he could hoof it, quite a con
trast from his staid persona in
ORT’s The Betrayal last winter.
Leader of the Pack has appeal
for all ages. It would be especially
appropriate for those who lived in
those times to take their teenagers
to. There’s much in common
enjoyment for both generations.
It’s the first the play has been pro
duced on the West Coast—right
here in downtown Eugene.
See What’s Happening’s calen
dar for specifics.
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