Theater review: ‘Pride & Prejuice’ a musical delight at Ross Valley Players
Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” gets a musical makeover at Ross Valley Players through April 16.
More than six years in development — it was workshopped at Fort Mason in 2016 — RVP’s production was stalled by the COVID shutdown. That may have been a good thing. This show is as perfectly polished a production as anyone could hope for. It’s been, in the words of director Phoebe Moyer “a long journey,” one that has paid off enormously.
A collaboration between composer and lyricist Rita Abrams and writer Josie Brown, the story adheres closely to Austen’s 19th-century original about English upper-class mating rituals and the travails of the Bennet family’s five daughters in their pursuit of potential husbands. Brown mines previously undiscovered comedy, something ignored by the many adaptors who have reworked the enduringly popular story. She does so refreshingly and good-naturedly, without poking fun at its essence.
Abrams — winner of two Emmys, a CBS record of the year and four San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle awards — brings “P&P” into the present with solidly engaging music and incredibly clever lyrics. Marin County’s own national treasure, she’s a composer of rare talent and a gifted lyricist on the level of Cole Porter, Tom Lehrer and Stephen Sondheim. Anyone who can rhyme “vexationally” with “meant to be” is an off-the-chart genius.
Book-ended by two upbeat full-cast songs — “Welcome to Our Neighborhood” and “I Wish You Joy” — this show will sound reassuringly familiar to anyone steeped in the American musical tradition. The 15 or so songs in the show are melodic, memorable and absolutely fun. “Five Daughters” and “A Husband” sound as if they might have been lifted from “Fiddler on the Roof.” Abrams wisely avoids the atonal, non-melodic trend of recent musicals of the “Next to Normal” or “Mean Girls” variety, where performers shout at each other and at the audience.
Off-the-chart genius also applies to Phoebe Moyer’s direction and the performance of the show’s large cast on an austere set by Tom O’Brien (construction by Michael Walraven). Many cast members committed to the show more than three years ago. Some commute to RVP from as far away as Fairfield, Pleasanton and San Leandro, according to Abrams.
Jill Wagoner is a standout as Mrs. Bennet, worried constantly about her social standing and the marital fates of her five daughters. With a speaking voice like Julia Child with a British accent, her singing is superb, as is her flair for comedy. Also blessed with a fine voice and a relaxed, self-deprecating demeanor, Geoffrey Colton is perfectly cast as her husband, the long-suffering Mr. Bennet.
The talent pool is deep in this production: Charles Evans is wonderful as the wife-seeking Mr. Collins, as is Justin Hernandez as Charles Bingley, whose arrival near the Bennet estate sets the plot in motion. Elenor Irene Paul is tremendous opposite him as Charles’ sister Caroline. Lanky Evan Held, recently a regular in RVP productions, brings reticence and a bit of social awkwardness to the role of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Bingley’s friend and a potential catch for a Bennet girl.
Amy Dietz and Lily Jackson shine as the two elder Bennet daughters, Jane and Lizzy, respectively, and Alexandra Fry does a lovely turn as Lydia, the youngest of the bunch, who humiliates her mother by eloping with a charming but financially imperiled soldier named Mr. Wickham (Heren Patel). The other two younger Bennet girls, Mary and Kitty (Raysheina deLeon-Ruhs and Sofia Barker, respectively) have only a few speaking lines but are confidently in character throughout the show.”
Alexis Lane Jensen is hilarious in an extended cameo as the haughty disdainful Lady Catherine de Bourgh, who cares for little that takes place on or near the Bennet estate.
The excellence of this cast extends to all of its approximately 20 members, including two stage hands dressed as household servants. Their formal attire and stiff, highly choreographed movements keep an audience completely in the scene, the opposite of the way that black-clad stagehands can take us out of a scene during set changes. Set changes done this way are a Moyer trademark, we overheard. Adding to the sense of period realism are ornate wigs by Michael A. Berg and elaborate costumes by Adriana Gutierrez.
At nearly three hours’ running time, including intermission, “Pride and Prejudice: The Musical” might benefit from a bit of judicious editing to bring it in closer to 2 1/2 hours, but not once during the entire performance is there any sense that the show is bogging down. On the contrary, it zips along marvelously with such great energy that viewers are scarcely aware of the passage of time.
It’s absolutely delightful, and for Bay Area theater fans, a must-see.
Barry Willis is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association and president of the SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle. Contact him at barry.m.willis@gmail.com
IF YOU GO
What: “Pride and Prejudice: The Musical”
Where: The Barn Theatre at Marin Art and Garden Center, 30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Ross
When: Through April 16: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays
Information: 415-456-9555; RossValleyPlayers.com
Admission: $15 to $35
Rating (out of five stars): ★★★★ 1/2