‘The Robber Bridegroom’: Amusing, but a Barn Short of a Hootennany

Based on the 1942 novella by Eudora Welty, which itself is a relatively cheery adaptation of a gruesome tale from the Brothers Grimm, The Robber Bridegroom took on life as a musical in the 1970s with producer Stuart Ostrow’s Musical Theatre Lab. As an early product of a pioneering workshop development model, the first production starred Raul Julia in the role of Jaimie Lockhart and ran for 14 performances at New York’s Harness Theatre before travelling around the county and returning home for a second run of 145 performances at the Biltmore Theatre. A favourite among regional theatres, The Robber Bridegroom has been revived yet again from the archives of musical theatre to close out Long Beach’s International City Theatre 2011 season.

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From left, Michael Stone Forrest, Jamison Lingle, Chad Doreck, Sue Goodman

While the intent is to deliver a rollicking hootenanny, however, it is clear enough why the musical was a Tony Award nominee and not a winner, and why its performance is relatively uncommon. The soundtrack veers towards the Disney-soundtrack side of Broadway rather than authentic bluegrass, with few tunes (if any) successfully embedding themselves in the brain with ferocious hooks. Most of the ICT’s cast handle singing and dancing with enough verve in Stephen Gifford’s homely barnyard set – Michael Uribes and Tyler Ledon stand out as the villainous Harp brothers – but the overall musicality is hampered by Jamison Lingle’s cartoonish delivery and Chad Doreck’s efficient but threadbare vocals.

The plot, while amusing, is also not without its detractions. As the story of a rich plantation owner’s daughter Rosamund (Lingle) and her love affair with gentleman Jaimie Lockhart (Doreck) – the twist being the romance occurs between robber and maiden without knowledge of their real identities as gentleman and wealthy heiress – we are regaled with colourful characters and preposterous situations as only fairy tales can create. Both Lockhart and Rosamund are subject to the Clark Kent/Superman method of confusing identity, which is rather silly. Less charming however, is how Lockhart, in his thieving guise as the Bandit of the Woods, is a male chauvinist interested in seducing girls away from their maidenhood (as opposed to being pursued for a more meaningful relationship), and not averse to using violence. In the show’s most disturbing scene, he knocks Rosamund out and undresses her, all the while singing,

You grab ‘em good it doesn’t phase ‘em none.
Well it may be cruel by the modern rule
but they’re killing all the fun.
‘Cuz I like love stolen from the cookie jar.
I like love stolen on the sly.

For an otherwise quirky tale involving, among many comic elements, a disembodied head that sings, a wicked and avaricious stepmother, and a charmingly idiotic goof named Goat (played to great effect by Adam Wylie), this barely-oblique praise of rape played for laughs not only rings false in terms of Lockhart and Rosamund’s romance but negates the piece’s essential goodwill. The dishonest movement to have Rosamund wake up in time to be a pliable girl does nothing to relieve the scene’s moral ickiness. It’s a shame, because beyond this blemish The Robber Bridegroom is a mostly harmless piece of fluff that, in the ICT’s hands, makes for a pleasant evening’s entertainment without necessarily standing out as one of their best productions.

The Robber Bridegroom. Book and lyrics by Alfred Uhry. Music by Robert Waldman. Directed and choreographed by Todd Nielsen. Musical direction by Gerald Sternbach. Starring Chad Doreck, Jamison Michael Stone Forrest, Sue Goodman, Tyler Ledon, Tatiana Mac, Teya Patt, Michael Uribes, and Adam Wylie. On stage at Long Beach’s International City Theatre, Thursday through Sunday, through Sunday, Nov. 6. See www.internationalcitytheatre.org for tickets and information.

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