Midsummer Night's Dream: The Rock Musical

William Shakespeare, adapted by George Griggs
Infinity Repertory Theatre (New York)
C Chambers Street

It's just a bit of a stretch whether this is Shakespeare or whether this is a rock musical.

But one recognizes the plot: three pairs of lovers (the Duke and Amazon seem to be missing) and a little bit of mechanicals and a lot of Bottom. And there's a lot of music that sits somewhere between rock and musical theatre. But it's great fun, especially for the players.

This Mount Kisco, New York group of students do their best and they do have a certain polish to their performances. Although green, there doesn't seem to be a weak link. Everyone lives up to the performance. There's potential all around.

Stand-out performances from John Madigan as Oberon, Catherine Saraceno as Titania, Mickey Melillo as Bottom and Lindsay Avellino, who works as hard at Helena as she does at being one of the fairies. A stellar performance as Puck by choreographer Jessie Shaw who looks Broadway bound.

The direction is tight and interesting. Sadly, the adaptation, music and lyrics just don't offer enough tooth and only occasionally offer the quality that would come from more work. But the actors excel and engage the audience. Lot of fun all 'round.

Reviewer: Catherine Lamm

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