By JAY HEMPHILL
A Seat on the Aisle
I was lucky enough to attend Boo La La! 2: An Indianapolis Spook-tacular at the Fonseca Theatre Company on Friday the 13th.
As I drove to the theater, I recalled a conversation I had with the late Bryan Fonseca, the company’s founder. To me Boo La La is a spooky homage to Bryan’s original winter holiday series A Very Phoenix Xmas. I remembered being cast in the 2016 iteration of the series and hearing Bryan explain what he looked for in a script. Simply put, he said, “Heart. I look for the heart.”
I am happy to say that Fonseca Theatre Company’s producing director Jordan Flores Schwartz seems to follow the same formula, presenting an evening full of song, sketches, and heart.
The ensemble of Boo La La includes Bryan Ball, Ashton Driscoll, Charlie Rankin, and Lara Romeo. Before Friday, I had never seen any of them perform. While each ensemble member has their moments and delivers good musical performances, Rankin is delightful throughout. Whether playing a pumpkin spice loving basic betty, a lonely vampire, or a reanimated bard, Rankin brings a level of fun and playfulness to Boo La La that is a joy to watch.
Attention must be paid to the Boo La La playwrights. Several of them really understood the assignment. Particularly Emily Worrell, Paige Scott, and Mark Harvey Levine. Worrell’s tasty scene about hunger, be it blood or popularity, was a sweet treat. Scott, who authored three of the show’s nine pieces, places horror legends in unlikely scenarios. Two of my personal favorites of the evening were: Sweet Dreams, Freddie Krueger (who I was deathly afraid of as a child … and maybe still am) and Love Actually: Halloween Edition. Levine, whose work I have had the pleasure of performing, brings to life a zombified William Shakespeare, whose “Did you get it?” dad jokes were anything but stale.
Woven between the scenes were several musical performances. I don’t know if the songs were selected by the show’s director Jordan Flores Schwartz or the music coordinator Brant E. Hughes, but the spooky selection would make the perfect Halloween party play list. With titles like “This is Halloween,” “I am a Vampire,” “Grim Grinning Ghosts,” and “Season of the Witch,” the audience was guided from one scene to another. I was particularly impressed by the harmonies of Rankin and Romero. That said, in my opinion, some choreography would have gone a long way to elevating the performances, engaging the audience, and countering the Halloween karaoke vibe.
While strong on heart, I felt the production was a little short on laughs. In my opinion, I attribute some of this to the material. A couple pieces went on too long, one not long enough, and some didn’t play to the spirit of the season: FUN! Halloween is all about fun: the campy costumes, the fun-size treats, and the deep hearty laughter that follows a good jump scare. This same sense of fun and play seemed to be lacking in the performers at times. I believe this could perhaps have been remedied by playing off one another, staging more active blocking, and setting intentional stage business. I realize that the size of the C.H. Douglas and Gray Wealth Management Stage is limiting, but characters standing or sitting in one place for too long can get old, for both the performer and the audience.
Major kudos to scenic designer Bernie Killian, costume designer Jeanne Bowling, along with light and sound designer Ben Dobler for creating an eerie but playful environment for the Boo La La ensemble to play on. Killian’s haunting trees and full moon are lit to perfection by Dobler. Bowling smartly dresses her ensemble in basic blacks (with the occasional full costume change), allowing the cast to quickly transform into different characters with the addition of a sweater, hat, wig, etc. All these layers are covered in the cobwebs that are Dobler’s sound design. I personally would not sit in that theater and listen to the ghostly preshow soundscape alone. I would be remiss if I did not point this out. Boo La La is an excellent example of how to mix sound and mics in a small space. Minus a few mic issues, the vocals and music tracks were blended expertly. Neither overpowered the other, nor did they overwhelm the audience’s ears.
In short, Boo La La is like an episode of Saturday Night Live – there are some hits and some misses. While I may not have laughed at something, others did. Humor, like art and sermons, is subjective. One trick-or-treater’s cast off is another’s candy corn.
Boo La La! 2: An Indianapolis Spook-tacular at the Fonseca Theatre Company continues through Sunday, Oct. 29. Tickets are available online at etix.com/ticket/v/18289/fonsecatheatre.
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