WEST
COAST PREMIERE |
January 25 - February 24, 2013
Triassic Parq -
The Musical
Music by Marshall Pailet
Book by Marshall Pailet, Bryce Norbitz and Steve Wargo
Directed by Marshall Pailet
Choreographed by Kelly Todd
Music Direction by Taylor Stephenson
- 01/30/13 ARTICLE: LA Stage Times
- 02/01/13 REVIEW: Los Angeles Times
- 02/01/13 REVIEW:
StageSceneLA
WOW! - 02/07/13 REVIEW: BroadwayWorld
- 02/07/13 ARTICLE: Anaheim Bulletin
- 02/14/13 REVIEW: OC Weekly
THEATER ARTICLE
Musical Dinosaurs Mutate in Pailet’s Triassic Parq
by Samantha Mehlinger, LA Stage Times
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| The cast of Triassic Parq Photo by Doug Catiller, True Image Studio  |
It is early on a Sunday morning when Marshall Pailet arrives at Chance Theater, his new home as this year’s resident playwright. The Santa Ana winds have swept out the cold, and the business park in Anaheim Hills where Chance is located is already warming up. A set piece — a tall installation of a cave — looms over Pailet as he discusses his journey to the current production of Triassic Parq, which he co-wrote and is directing for Chance.
Though Pailet is young — he graduated from Yale just four years ago — he already has a lifetime of experience in theater. He got his start acting in a local theater in Washington DC and made the transition to Broadway while still a child. He has been living in New York since then.
Growing up, Pailet attending performing arts schools, where he was able to explore many theatrical avenues. In middle school, having already appeared in The Sound of Music on Broadway, he began studying ballet. “Most of the students there were ballet dancers. They were training at the School of American Ballet. I started dancing at the school and I really fell in love with the art form,” he recalls.
While continuing his pursuit of ballet and acting into high school, Pailet also tried his hand at writing. His father helped get him started. “My dad is a storyteller. We used to tell each other stories all the time,” he says. Because Pailet was in musical theater, they focused their efforts on creating a musical.
“We had an idea to write a musical about a child’s relationship with his imaginary best friend, the Loch Ness monster. It was kind of our bonding thing,” he explains. “Then one day I wrote a melody and he wrote the lyrics to it, and then he wrote a scene and I wrote another melody,” he says of the process. When he was just 14, Loch Ness was accepted into the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers’ (ASCAP) workshop for emerging composers and songwriters. “They didn’t treat me like I was 14; they criticized me like I was an adult,” he recalls.
At the end of high school, Pailet came to a crossroads. He felt he had to choose between a career in ballet or going to college. The impact ballet had on his body was a big part of the decision, he explains. “I was having more injuries than I would have liked. I didn’t see a very long career for myself.” Pailet took the path to college instead, attending Yale University.
Originally, he attended the Ivy League university to study music composition, but his plans changed when he became frustrated with the program, which he felt was limiting his work. “I thought they were telling me to compose like Beethoven and Bach. What they were really telling me was, we want you to understand how Beethoven and Bach composed so that you can do your own thing. But I didn’t really get that at the time,” he explains. Dissatisfied, he switched his major to intellectual history. “I fell in love with it. It just did good things to my brain,” he says of the subject. It has also proven beneficial to his writing. “A lot of it really stays with me and influences the stuff I work on,” he adds.
After college, Pailet decided he was not suited to the life of an actor and instead focused on writing and directing. “Acting is so much more than being onstage and creating a character. It’s a lifestyle. It’s about auditioning and rejection. It takes someone who has to do it and can’t not do it, like the way that I feel about writing.”
It didn’t take long for Pailet to find some success. In 2010, fresh out of college, he debuted two original musicals in major fringe festivals. He collaborated with friend Drew Fornorola to write Super Claudio Bros., a spoof of the immensely popular Super Mario Bros. Nintendo game series. Charlie Fink, founder and co-artistic director of the New Musical Foundation, produced the premiere for the Capital Fringe Festival in Washington DC. Pailet also directed. The show won best musical honors at the festival.
The same summer, Pailet debuted Jurassic Parq, a musical he co-wrote alongside friends Bryce Norbitz and Steve Wargo, at the New York Fringe Festival. It was the first version of what is now Triassic Parq. As Pailet begins talking about the show, the soft chuckling that peppers his conversation grows more frequent. “The point of the Fringe show was just to have fun with friends. The germ of the idea was that it would be funny to have actors acting like dinosaurs and having people problems, but holding their arms like this.” Pailet bends his elbows close to his chest, mimicking the short arms of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. He stops and laughs. “That was really as far as it went.”
The musical beat its creators’ expectations when it took the festival prize for best musical. “The response was not what we were expecting. People were telling us how funny and profound it was, and it wasn’t really as funny and profound as they said. But we realized that if we executed it really well, it could be.”
RE-CREATING THE PARQ
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| The cast of Triassic Parq Photo by Doug Catiller, True Image Studio |
For the past two years, Pailet, Norbitz, and Wargo have been revising their unexpected hit. In July 2012, they premiered a revamped revision, retitled Triassic Parq, at New York’s SoHo Playhouse. Reviews were mixed, but they included praise from Eric Grode in The New York Times as well as David Cote in Time Out New York. Woody Harrelson even came to see it. Pailet says the show premiered heavily revised. “We did a lot of work between the Fringe and the SoHo production to the point where it was almost unrecognizable. We’ve done even more work from then to now. Maybe 30 per cent of the show is rewritten entirely.”
The basic premise is the same. “On the surface level it’s a parody of Jurassic Park from the perspective of the dinosaurs. But for me, it’s the human story of a young girl.” As Pailet puts it, the plot is more than a little “absurd.” In the film Jurassic Park, scientists genetically engineer a group of cloned dinosaurs to be solely female. But their plans for an amusement park go awry when some dinosaurs begin mutating into males, resulting in destruction and mayhem. (Fans who want a refresher can catch the IMAX 3D re-release of Jurassic Park in theaters for one week starting April 5.)
So what is all that like from the musical perspective of the dinos? “We have a group of female dinosaurs, and one of them grows a dick, and I guess chaos ensues.” Pailet laughs at his wording. “But at its core it’s a story about coming into oneself.”
Bundled up in the absurdity are crises which Pailet says are not unlike issues people deal with day to day. “It’s about a young girl coming to terms with what it means to be an adult, to be a sexual being and a religious being, and to exist in a world where you feel you don’t quite belong.” The revamped version of the show may surprise some with what Pailet says is “a very human story…All of these characters are at points of existential crises. When the show starts, they know who they are and what defines them. Whatever defines them is taken away very early on, and they have to struggle to rediscover their identity.”
The co-writer and director is fully aware of what people think when they first hear about the musical. “So much of the show is managing and defying audience expectations. When people hear there is a parody musical of Jurassic Park, they have a very specific set of expectations. They think it will be campy, there will be silly costumes, and it will be empty mindless entertainment. Which is not what our show is,” he reflects. He is fine with this perspective, as long as it changes by the time the audience walks back out the door. “If we can get them to enter laughing and exit thinking and feeling, then I think we’ve done our jobs.”
A piece of Joe Holbrook’s set is aimed at achieving this goal. Getting up from his seat, Pailet goes over to a tall metal pole sticking up about 10 feet off the ground. “What’s fun for me is when the audience walks in, we’re going to have this fence,” he says. He pulls a piece off the pole and walks it across the room, attaching it to another pole at the other end. Metal wiring reminiscent of the steel cable fences in Jurassic Park is now strung between the poles.
“The audience walks in and is on the human side of the fence,” he says, explaining the point is to make the audience initially seem like spectators. He then walks the wiring back across the room, opening up the space again. “Right when the show starts, we take the fence down, and the audience realizes the fence is behind them.” He gestures to the wall behind the seating area, which has identical wiring attached to it. “The idea is that the audience is on the wrong side of the fence.”
This set piece is entirely new to the production, as is nearly everything else. “All the actors, the whole production team — it’s all new,” Pailet confirms. “We’re not remounting the New York production. We’re creating a production that is uniquely Orange County and is uniquely Chance.” Kelly Todd, a resident artist at Chance Theater, has provided all-new choreography. “Kelly has come up with some beautiful work and has the actors moving in ways they’ve never moved before in previous productions,” he says.
He is also quite content with his cast. “They each bring something unique to the roles,” he says of his six-person cast. “Kellie (Spill) and Micaela (Martinez), who play our T-Rex girls, have made me completely re-envision who those characters are. Keaton (Williams), who is our lead, is doing a wonderful job, and his voice is like silk. It’s a real sexy voice,” he says with a laugh. As for the rest of the cast, “They’re doing a wonderful job.”
UPCOMING PROJECTS
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| The cast of Triassic Parq Photo by Doug Catiller, True Image Studio |
As this year’s resident playwright at Chance, Pailet will workshop two new musicals with the company. “I’ll get to see them up and with actors singing the words, which is a lot more helpful than what happens in my brain,” he says. “It’s a luxury most writers don’t get, and I am so excited for it.” Most likely to get the workshop treatment are another former Capital Fringe Festival musical, Who’s Your Baghdaddy, or How I Started the Iraq War, as well as the first musical he wrote as a kid with his father, Loch Ness. He anticipates one will show in the summer and another in the fall. This means commuting out from New York, but Pailet is happy to do it. “I love everything except for the driving,” he says of Southern California.
Outside of his work at Chance, Pailet is teaming up with the New Musical Foundation for another new piece, which “is still in its infancy,” he says. Yet another musical in the works is Funk Pond. When asked about it, the writer covers his face for a moment and laughs. “It’s about fish,” he says, testing the words as though he’s not even sure if they’re viable. “Fish who are in a funk band.” The giggles win out, but he finishes by saying it will be a fun show.
Also in the works is a project Pailet has to keep mostly mum on due to contractual obligations. He has been working on an undisclosed project with DreamWorks, along with his former collaborator on Super Claudio Bros, Drew Fornorola. “They’ve been great to me,” he says of the company. “They’re very supportive.” Apparently, the company is working on expanding into theater. Pailet will not say if this is what he is working on, but he does say he expects the project to be finalized this year.
While he calls New York home, chances are Southern California audiences may start to develop a familiarity with Pailet as his sets down roots here with his residency at Chance, starting with the self-proclaimed absurd yet human musical parody, Triassic Parq.
Triassic Parq. Chance Theater, 5552 E. La Palma Ave., Anaheim Hills, 92807. Opens Friday. Wed-Fri 8 pm; Sat 3 pm and 8 pm; Sun 2 pm. Through Feb. 24. Tickets: $25-45. www.chancetheater.com. 714-777-3033.
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THEATER REVIEW
No wonder the dinosaurs of 'Triassic Parq' are so edgy
by Margaret Gray, Los Angeles Times
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| The cast of Triassic Parq Photo by Doug Catiller, True Image Studio |
If writers of the 20th century could be categorized by the war they lived through, today’s scribes might be grouped by the blockbuster movie that came out when they were about 7. The silly, raunchy, sweet “Triassic Parq: The Musical,” at Chance Theater in Anaheim Hills suggests that the long-ascendant “Star Wars” generation is passing the torch to artists shaped by the films of the 1990s. (I am eagerly awaiting “Gump: The Musical," "Sixth Sense: The Musical," maybe even "Twister: The Musical.")
This West Coast premiere is directed by Marshall Pailet, the recent Yale graduate who co-wrote “Triassic Parq” (they couldn’t call it “Jurassic Park” without risking a lawsuit, the performers explain in song) with Bryce Norbitz and Steve Wargo. He also composed its score. The musical, which debuted at the New York International Fringe Festival in 2010, re-imagines the premise of the Crichton novel/Spielberg film — an amusement park featuring genetically engineered dinosaurs — from the dinosaurs' point of view.
A narrator, who introduces herself as Morgan Freeman (the versatile if hammy Camryn Zelinger), presents the important exposition. (For this movie generation, Freeman's "raspy yet soothing" voice narrated everything.)
The dinosaurs were created all female so they wouldn't breed, but having a small percentage of frog DNA means that they can switch genders. The community of puzzled, earnestly girly creatures behind the electrified fence is thrown into turmoil when a T. rex (the lovely Kellie Spill) develops a mysterious new appendage and a corresponding compulsion to use it on a wide-eyed young velociraptor (Keaton Williams).
The ensuing plot is both bracingly dirty (Don't bring the kids!) and, while still clunky in some places and slack in others, surprisingly poignant.
Courting laughter with broad physical comedy (Alex Bueno particularly shines in her wordless roles), the performers convey the pathos in the dinosaurs' struggles to find friendship and love from the prisons of their enormous, hungry, lethal bodies.
When Caitlin the T. rex (Micaela Martinez) roars out her jealousy, the sound seems to contain the pain of every scorned lover since evolution began. The show's many charms include playful costumes (by Anthony Tran), vigorous choreography (by Kelly Todd) and the lithe, fearless cast.
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THEATER REVIEW
Triassic Parq - The Musical
by Steven Stanley, StageSceneLA
WOW!
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| The
cast of Triassic Parq Photo by Doug Catiller, True Image Studio |
When Michael Crichton first sat down to pen Jurassic Park, little did he realize that a trio of young musical theater writers would one day come up with Triassic Parq – The Musical, an unauthorized retelling of the Crichton novel as the dinosaurs themselves might have told it … and the wildest, wackiest, filthiest, campiest, and most entertaining show ever written from a dino’s point of view.
It’s this 2010 New York Fringe Festival and 2012 Off-Broadway hit that Orange County’s always cutting-edge Chance Theater now gives its West Coast Premiere, a considerably reworked Triassic Parq – The Musical 3.0 that’s certain to delight risk-taking audiences and may even win over staider theatergoers with its infectious blend of sweetness, shock, and raunch.
Book writers Marshall Pailet, Bryce Norbitz, and Steve Wargo take as their inspiration one of Jurassic Park’s central conceits, that in order to keep a tight rein on these genetically resurrected dinosaurs inside their fenced-in Costa Rica island theme park, the scientists in charge have brought only females back to life, making Triassic Parq a mating-free zone.
Then one day dicks start sprouting on some of these ladysauruses—and things around the Parq are never the same again.
Among Triassic Parq – The Musical’s chief conceits is across-the-board gender-bending casting. Thus, we have Camryn Zelinger as our narrator Morgan Freeman—yes, that Morgan Freeman, never mind that Zelinger is both female and white. We also have Keaton Williams (Tony in the Chance’s West Side Story) as Velociraptor Of Innocence, who informs us quite innocently early on that “It’s a beautiful day to be a woman.” Micaela Martinez and Kellie Spill are T-Rex 1 and T-Rex 2, female best friends forever, that is until T-2 finds a brand-new something starting to protrude from down below, and a rather large wrench is thrown into their bff-ship. Then there’s Mime-a-saurus (Alex Bueno), arguably the most gender-ambiguous of the bunch, who could probably teach Marcel Marceau a lesson if he ever paid a visit to Triassic Parq. Last but not least is Veociraptor Of Faith (Jackson Tobiska), aka Pastor, aka Mama, whose rippling musculature belies the fact that he too is a she. More specifically, she’s the entire gang’s “Mom” and their conduit to Lab (as in “Thank Lab” and “Lab Be Praised”), who supplies the dinos with their daily diet of sheep, goats, and other furry munchies.
Triassic Parq – The Musical’s main storyline (though “line” may be too straight a term for the musical’s many twisty turns) has T-Rex 2 banished from the Parq for having introduced peen into the previously dick-free zone. There’s also Velociraptor Of Innocence who, not too happy about the state of things in TP, ventures out beyond the 10,000 Volt electric fences that keep the rest of the dinos prisoners for life, and it is in the far-away wilderness that he meets Velociraptor Of Science (Zelinger again, Morgan Freeman’s early demise allowing her to spend most of Triassic Parq – The Musical in more feminine, albeit decidedly ballsy mode).
Along the way, voices get lifted in song to catchy Pailet tunes in genres ranging from hard rock to hip-hop to power ballads, with lyrics that are indeed as “explicit” as the warning tacked onto every single one of the tracks at Amazon.com. Dirtiest (and funniest) of them all is the raptastic “D*ck Fix,” which goes something like this: “When it’s deep in the summer and you’re getting all hot, and you got a bad itch and it’s next to your crotch, but you’re sitting shiva and you know you shouldn’t scratch it, but you do it anyway cause you have to!” (And that’s just for starts.)
Pailet, Norbitz, and Wargo’s book is every bit as R-rated as their lyrics, though it’s actually the writers’ daffy flights of fancy that make Triassic Parq – The Musical such a delectably demented treat, as when our hero(ine) tells us in all earnestness, “We all know that the metal hole in the earth gives birth to live goats that are chained around the ankles, but no one ever asks the big questions, like ‘Why does goat taste like chicken?’ and ‘What’s chicken?’” There’s also an explanation of “chaos theory” accompanied by a very physical demonstration of it that is at once silly and irresistible. And just wait till these dinosaurs start explaining what makes the genders so distinct, as in, “A dude is sort of like a chick, except they don’t ask for directions.”
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| The
cast of Triassic Parq Photo by Doug Catiller, True Image Studio |
Since its 2010 Fringe Festival debut, Triassic Parq – The Musical has undergone significant revision, with as much as 30% of its book and songs brand new for this West Coast Premiere. Morgan Freeman’s rapid disappearance (and his portrayal by a female cast member) contrast with his significantly larger role in New York (and the male 6-footer who played him there), and my guess is that the added focus on the reptiles themselves is a plus. Two brand new musical numbers open the show with a bang, establishing T-Parq’s irreverent tone from the get-go, filling us in on the Velociraptors’ and T-Rexes’ back stories, and giving cast and new-to-Triassic Parq choreographer Kelly Todd and her phenomenal young cast ample opportunities to strut their dinosaurtastic stuff. And T-Rex 1 gets a brand new 11th hour song which showcases Martinez’s rock star belt of a voice.
Martinez (terrific as always) is but one of a cast of powerhouse triple-threats, which includes the sensational Spill as her partner in friendship, love, and crime, a voluptuous T-Rex 2 whose channeling of her inner macho is as gender-bendingly delicious as is the ever marvelous Williams’ exploration of his feminine side (which includes some ultra-high notes) as leading lady/man Velociraptor Of Innocence. Tobiska’s appealing mix of the maternal, the paternal, and the fabulous makes his Velociraptor Of Faith a standout, as is Zelinger’s rap-aciously fierce Velociraptor Of Science. Last but not least is the hilarious Bueno, who deserves her very own Mime-a-saurus spinoff without ever uttering a word, either as Dinosaur-turned-Performance Artist or in a brief but priceless cameo as Cuddly Cow Companion.
Taylor Stephenson does triple duty as a) musical director; b) keyboardist, and c) a Parq resident called Pianosaurus, who trades occasional barbs with the cast from his above-stage perch, with Ryan Navales as Guitarodactyl and Jorge Zuniga as Percussodon—a wow of a three-piece band if there ever was one.
Under Stephenson’s musical direction, the entire cast sing to rock concert-ready perfection, adding their power vocals to some of the most inventively quirky choreography you’ll see all year, the latest moves invented by Todd, who just keeps getting better and better with each new show.
And we haven’t even gotten to the production design yet, one of the Chance’s best and most original. Reconfiguring the stage area so that the audience sits in a V against two of the four walls, scenic designer Joe Holbrook gives us a Triassic Parq of cliffs and caves and streamers and netting … and a high voltage fence that keeps audience out and the dinosaurs in, or at least at first. Matt Schleicher’s lighting design is every bit as rad as you’d expect from a musical that spells Parq with a “q,” with Ryan Brodkin’s sound design not only mixing amped voices and the three-dino band to perfection but providing some terrific effects as well. Anthony Tran’s costumes are marvels of imagination gone wild, and speaking of going wild, just wait till you see the heights reached by the T-Rexes’ hair (with the aid of goodness knows how many cans of Ultra Clutch) and the wildness achieved by Christopher Booher’s make-up design. Finally, whoever designed the show’s furry, decapitate-able puppets deserves his or her own round of applause.
Christopher Renfro is assistant director and Karrah Marie Spitznagel assistant scenic designer. Christopher Ramirez is stage manager and Jules Fugett assistant stage manager.
Over the past decade or more, the Chance Theater has brought Orange County and L.A. audiences some of the best and most cutting-edge new musicals in town, from Rooms: A Rock Romance to The Boy In The Bathroom to Jerry Springer: The Opera to The Girl, The Grouch, And The Goat, and many more. Triassic Parq – The Musical is no exception, and if its characters can’t seem to decide whether the “q” in Parq stands for “question” or for “truth,” it’s clear from its West Coast Premiere that the “q” stands for wild and qwazy fun!
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THEATER REVIEW
Dinos Run Amok in TRIASSIC PARQ
Musical in OC
by Michael L. Quintos, BroadwayWorld
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| The
cast of Triassic Parq Photo by Doug Catiller, True Image Studio |
If you've ever sat through Steven Spielberg's e-ticket cinematic blockbuster Jurassic Park and wondered to yourself... "Gee, I wonder how those dinosaurs feel about this whole situation," then this cheeky, oddly hilarious musical send-up is the perfect show for you. Silly and even surprisingly touching, TRIASSIC PARQ - THE MUSICAL -- now playing its West Coast Premiere to loud cheers at the Chance Theater in Anaheim Hills through February 24 -- is a fresh new stage show that offers a mosquito-on-the-wall look inside the electrified fences of that fictional dino-populated island, but this time from the point-of-view of the dinosaurs themselves. The result? A laugh-riot from start to finish.
Even before the Chance Theater's production of this off-Broadway hit begins, sounds of roaring, stomping beasts fill the new, specifically-configured interior paddock (designed by Joe Holbrook), heightening the anticipation for what's to come. Once the dinos (clad in scaly-outerwear designed by Anthony Tran) come charging in -- armed with plucky charm, fun choreography (provided by Kelly Todd) and belly-laugh-worthy tunes -- you're suddenly transported to a new world we never got to see before.
And, of course, as you would expect from a show featuring all-singing, all-dancing, all-cussing dinosaurs, giddy, over-the-top antics are, naturally, the order of the day here -- and it's downright infectious.
Loosely -- and I mean loosely -- based on Spielberg's 1993 box office hit (which itself is based on Michael Crichton's best-selling 1990 novel), TRIASSIC PARQ is, curiously enough, a whip-smart, self-aware, rock musical spoof that dramatizes the thoughts and feelings of a group of human-engineered dinosaurs that have been created in the modern age by combining amber-extracted dinosaur DNA with plentiful amphibian DNA. Ah, the marvels of science and technology.
The once extinct species are now all living in a safari-like "theme park" called Isla Nublar, off the coast of Costa Rica. Smartly, in order to prevent "unauthorized" dino-spawning in the island, the humans have solely engineered only all female dinos for this grand experiment. Good idea. But -- as we all have learned from the book and film -- life finds a way.
...Or, at least, in this case, spontaneously grow new body parts.
For the dinosaurs themselves, life in Isla Nublar is pleasant enough, though not without its share of human-like struggles and insecurities. In the eccentric world presented by TRIASSIC PARQ, the dinosaurs not only have full-on philosophical conversations and debates with each other, they also -- get this -- suffer with gender-identity issues. One dino is hiding a newly protruding secret. While another is struggling to find her special place in the world, confused by inexplicable feelings that have, uh, literally sprung up overnight.
But all these Deep Themes and Big Important Lessons are quickly upended thanks to the musical's amusing, profanity-laced words and music provided by Marshall Pailet, who also directed this new West Coast production (Bryce Norbitz and Steve Wargo co-wrote the book for the musical with Pailet).
From the rousing opener "Welcome To Triassic Parq" -- which explains that, in order to avoid any forthcoming lawsuits, the title of the show had to be altered -- to songs like "Love Me as a Friend," "Dick Fix," and "Morgan Freeman's Song" (which, I promise you, are exactly what their titles suggest they are), TRIASSIC PARQ is 90 minutes of raunchy, high-energy fun. Do you like your musical-comedy absurd? This show is right up your alley.
As presented in TRIASSIC PARQ, the dinosaurs -- a small, tight-knit pseudo-family of velociraptors and t-rex's -- are more like adorable, misunderstood stuffed animals rather than the monstrous, carnivorous predators we have long thought they are (although, yes, they do all still enjoy feasting on that sacrificial goat delivered magically up from the ground every morning by their God-like deity they call "Lab").
Much of the action focuses on young, cute-as-a-princess Velociraptor of Innocence (a spry Keaton Williams), whose boundless curiosity urges her to defy the repeated warnings of the tribe's self-appointed "mama" guru, the Velociraptor of Faith (Jackson Tobiska) and goes on a quest for answers. She soon ventures off beyond the protective walls of their paddock (luckily, as paralleled in Jurassic Park, the electrified fence gets deactivated) in search of truth -- and the long banished Velociraptor of Science (the hilarious Camryn Zelinger), in the hopes that she could provide some alternative answers.
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| The
cast of Triassic Parq Photo by Doug Catiller, True Image Studio |
All of this, by the way, was spawned (hee hee) by the discovery of a mysterious, newly-sprouted, uh, appendage that suddenly appears on T-Rex 2 (Kellie Spill) -- much to the shock of her BFF T-Rex 1 (Micaela Martinez). Observing all of the antics from the fringes are Pianosaurus (music director Taylor Stephenson, up high with the band) and mute troublemaker Mime-a-saurus (word-free scene-stealer Alex Bueno).
As everyone's faith in an unseen higher power is slowly debunked by the truth presented by science, much hilarity ensues as gender-switcheroos take over the lives of the island's short-armed residents. What happens when chaos wrecks order and allows new feelings and urges to bubble to the surface? Watch and see... and laugh your ass off.
As ridiculously silly TRIASSIC PARQ is, underneath the surface yuks is a surprisingly thoughtful, progressive-thinking musical that mirrors many contemporary debates of the day. But, yes, there's no use denying that the musical's absurdist comedy is pleasurably distracting and is the true reason why this show is so wildly entertaining.
Why try to figure out the reason behind Morgan Freeman (played with extra spunk by Zellinger) showing up as a janitor-slash-narrator? Why question the improbable logistics of sex between a small velociraptor and a gigantic tyrannosaurus -- not to mention the fact that they're both female? Singing, dancing, emoting dinosaurs with therapy-worthy issues should have already tipped you off.
Even the first sight of the dinos will already have you chuckling in glee -- especially when you notice that their hands have been bound in gloves that suggest just three appendages (and, lest you forget what gender they are, their fingernails come in manicured shades like hot pink, of course).
And, of course, the gender-bending fun comes courtesy of a talented, brilliant, athletically-blessed cast, which also includes two male actors taking on "female" roles with aplomb. As the V. of I., Williams is an adorkable bundle of naive joy, aided by a terrific singing voice and a remarkable gymnastic ability to leap up and down the heights and depths of the stage (and still sing in full voice). Her "mama" played by Tobiska has a seriousness underscoring great comic timing.
But let's not count out the great work of the anatomically correct cast members, particularly Zelinger whose dual turn as Morgan Freeman (!) and, later, as the mysterious V. of Science is a double-whammy of comic goodness. And a special shout-out to the silent but deadly Ms. Bueno for contributing a cure for my aversion to mimes. Brava, ladies, brava!
Fans of the book -- and especially the movie -- will also appreciate the many winks and nods TRIASSIC PARQ alludes to its the source material (lines like "clever girl" are thrown out like pop culture candy). Even the repeated chorus of "We Are Dinosaurs," the show's finale, sounds suspiciously like John Williams' familiar overture anthem from the movie. Cute homage, if it was meant as such.
Granted, while the show isn't on par with comedies like THE BOOK OR MORMON or even, in a way, like AVENUE Q when it comes to story treatment, what it lacks in a sensical, straightforward narrative is wholly and forgivably alleviated by its out-there dialogue and its cheeky score, replete with clever, expletive-heavy lyrics. At times I actually found myself missing a few lines here and there because everyone -- me included -- was laughing pretty boisterously (or perhaps the rapid-fire dialogue and musical delivery just wasn't getting out as it should).
All told, TRIASSIC PARQ is great, dino-tastic fun -- a great mad-cap musical excuse to revel in unabashed silliness. I mean, c'mon... how much more ridiculous can you get with dancing dinosaurs struggling with spontaneous gender switcheroos?
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THEATER ARTICLE
Why can't a woman be more like
a man?
by Casey Long, Anaheim Bulletin
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| The
cast of Triassic Parq Photo by Doug Catiller, True Image Studio |
Pardon the "My Fair Lady" reference, but this is one of the main issues in Chance Theater's West Coast premiere of the hilarious dinosaur musical parody, "Triassic Parq – The Musical."
If you are familiar with the film (or, dare I say the book) "Jurassic Park," then you know that one of the security precautions put in place at the state-of-the-art amusement park was to make all the dinosaurs female so there wouldn't be any unsanctioned breeding. Only problem is the scientists used frog DNA to bring the dinos back to life, and frogs have been known to change genders in order to allow the continuation of their species.
Huh. Well, that probably won't end up being important, right?
So what would that actually be like? Imagine it: You're a woman, surrounded by other women, and then one day a new appendage starts growing. What would happen? Would this new development be welcomed? Would it be met with fear and shunning? Would it be a hilarious premise for a new musical?
The actors had an interesting challenge going into rehearsals for "Triassic Parq." What does it mean to be a man, and how is it different from being a woman?
To further complicate matters, writer-director Marshall Pailet, Chance's 2013 resident playwright, cast two women as male dinosaurs and two men as female dinosaurs. Let the interesting, and potentially awkward conversations begin!
A frank dialogue opened up during early rehearsals as everyone shared, with as many details as possible, what the male and female experiences are like.
We don't really take the time to walk in the shoes of the opposite gender, or address the different approaches and thought processes we have about things like love, family and community. For example, when it comes to family, a female typically feels nurturing, while a male feels protective. In communities, a female wants everyone to come together, while the male wants to take charge. In selecting a partner, a female looks for strength, while a male surrenders to attraction.
Or am I completely off base? These are assumptions made by a man who has never been a woman – although I have been accused of having a rather substantial feminine side.
During these early conversations, the actors discovered there were plenty of differences but also a lot of similarities they hadn't anticipated. Such frank discussions revealed that in many ways, a woman can be like a man – do women never surrender to the allure of attraction, or have a crude sense of humor? – and a man can be like a woman. Hey, we can appreciate a good face peel and someone just to hold us at night, too!
So are we really that different? YES! And it's hilarious to watch the transformation.
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THEATER REVIEW
'Triassic Parq: The Musical' Is
Dino-mighty Good
Even though the story is preposterous, the themes this Chance Theater
production explores are anything but
by Joel Beers, OC Weekly
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| The
cast of Triassic Parq Photo by Doug Catiller, True Image Studio |
Remember those late-night sessions in high school or college (or maybe last night) when you'd sit around with a bunch of friends and conjure the most awesome ideas? Some were so amazing you even wrote them down, only to wake up the next day to realize you'd spilled bong water over a magnum opus that, in the bright light of 2 p.m., was actually quite ridiculous.
That didn't stop the creators of Triassic Parq: The Musical from executing a most absurd idea: telling the story of a certain blockbuster film from the perspective of the dinosaurs. And making it a musical. And peppering it with all sorts of gender-defying characters, religious overtones, identity and spiritual crises, scientific musings, and dick jokes.
And while the result doesn't prove that, given enough time, 100 chimpanzees could bang out Hamlet, it certainly proves that sometimes even the most harebrained ideas yield comic gold. This is a genuine five-S show: smart, sassy, sexy, silly and sarcastic. It is also eminently entertaining, which is, usually, accomplishment enough. But somehow, writers Marshall Pailet, Bryce Norbitz and Steve Wargo accomplish something even greater: imbuing non-humans with genuine emotion and depth. That's something that's de rigueur in animated films, but to see it happen onstage is a small miracle of theater magic.
This Chance Theater production is the first time the show has been seen outside of New York (it recently ended an off-Broadway run after winning the 2010 Best Musical award at FringeNYC). While the cast is new, it's directed by Pailet, who also wrote the music, so OC audiences are getting the finished vision of his and his partners.
And what a vision it is. We begin with Morgan Freeman (an electrifying Camryn Zelinger) introducing us to this world, set on a small island off the coast of Costa Rica. It's not necessary to be familiar with the story that this show parodies, but attentive filmgoers might remember one key plot point that ignites this carnival ride: while all the dinosaurs were female and created in a lab, their DNA was incomplete, so it had to be spliced with a strand of frog DNA. This is important because some species of female frog can grow penises, which is exactly what happens in this show, when one of the T-Rexes (Kellie Spill) is shocked to discover something protruding from between her legs. This T-Rex is now (to crib a line from a New York Times review) a He-Rex.
Her fellow dinosaurs, led by a shaman-like Velociraptor of Faith (Jackson Tobiska), are just as shocked, with their leader banishing T-Rex 2 from the tribe. Meanwhile, as one of our dinos is dealing with a crisis of identity, the younger Velociraptor of Innocence (Keaton Williams) is suffering a crisis of faith. She yearns to get beyond the electrified fence and experience life off the reservation, but is continually stymied by Faith dino, who tells her that even thinking of leaving is sacrilege to the Lab, the mysterious entity that provides food to the tribe and is therefore its God.
Nothing makes rational sense in this show: Characters come back to life after dying; the musical director and pianist, Taylor Stephenson, is continually harassed by one cast member; and one dinosaur questions how it learned to read. So a thoughtful analysis of the plot isn't necessary. What is necessary is to accept the ridiculousness of this world and enjoy the ride. That's helped considerably by an eclectic score that includes everything from power ballads to a hip-hop-infused piece that is, surprisingly, not embarrassing. The highly talented ensemble belts out the tunes, and coupled with Kelly Todd's sinewy choreography, the musical numbers do what musical numbers should do: advance the story.
And even though that story is preposterous, the themes it explores are anything but. The dual crises of faith and identity, even though endured by actors portraying dinosaurs, feel genuine, as does the growing self-awareness of these prehistoric figures spewed into a world that has long since passed them by.
The Chance has been nailing musicals for some time now, from the outrageous Jerry Springer: The Opera to last year's West Side Story. And because those shows are staged in an intimate space, there's no need to rely on visual bombast and flashy sets to keep the audience interested. Instead, the focus is on relationships. The fact that a musical about dinosaur relationships works so well is a testament to both the show's creators and this energetic cast. Keep an eye on both this show (it's bound to become a cult musical classic along the same lines as the Rocky Horror Picture Show and Urinetown: The Musical) as well as director and co-creator Pailet, as the Chance's resident playwright of 2013 is also working on a couple of development projects with DreamWorks Animation.
Who knows, maybe he can focus his considerable talents a little closer to home on another class of dinosaurs out of step with the surrounding world: Orange County Republicans.
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PATRON REVIEWS
WOW!!!!!
posted by Leisa Williams on 02/17/13
WOW!!! Just saw TRIASSIC PARQ- with 3 generations of family members and we all laughed our backsides off!!! Amazing show- amazing cast!!! Wished we lived closer so we could see it again!!!
What a terrific show!
posted by David Gallic on 02/17/13
What a terrific show! A number of catchy songs, fun references for us die hard Jurassic Park fans, and an extremely talented group of actors and musicians. Every character had a strong singing voice (well, Mime-A-Saurus didn't have any solo singing...I wonder why?). But the miming was fantastic.
A musical masterpiece
posted by Sam on 02/17/13
Hilariously raunchy yet poignant, Chance Theater's Triassic Parq is a once in a lifetime event. With a minimalist and effective set, the story and humor of six dinosaurs (and Morgan Freeman) shines through in a musical masterpiece. With every show I see at the Chance, the more they outdo themselves. Great show, great talent, great fun.
Original and HILARIOUS
posted by Kathy & Bob on 02/15/13
Triassic Parq is original and HILARIOUS with a wonderfully talented cast and crew. We enjoyed it immensely. I am spreading the word!
Incredible energy from the cast
and lots of laughs
posted by Steve Franks on 02/15/13
We took a "Chance" on Triassic Parq and it paid off! Excellent introduction to the capabilities of the theatre company. The singing, dancing, acting, staging, music and story were very well done! All seats were good and comfortable. Incredible energy from the cast and lots of laughs. A bit bawdy and irreverant, but so what! Orange County can benefit from it! Thoughtful production. Thanks and we will be back!
Absurdly entertaining
posted by Carol Latham on 02/14/13
The Chance Theater has done it again! I thoroughly enjoyed the performance. Very clever and funny. Who would have thought that a play about dinosaurs would be so absurdly entertaining? Great job as always.
The talent in this show was superb
posted by Byron on 02/14/13
The talent in this show was superb. Acting singing and production value was excellent.
A thrilling evening of entertainment
posted by Leonard and Fran Rich on 02/08/13
Chance Theater has again provided a thrilling evening of entertainment with the production of Triassic Parq, The Musical. This is an imaginative story with clever lyrics, excellent music and outstanding performances of top professional quality, imaginatively and creatively staged on a micro sized stage. We Loved It!
I love the Mimeasaurus
posted by Maddy Long on 02/05/13
I really enjoyed the performance. I love the Mimeasaurus. They all do a great job. It is a very funny show.
See it again? You bet.
posted by Ray Akin on 02/05/13
Seldom, very seldom do I post a review. The thing is that in this case I keep returning to ever deepening messages. Perhaps the most profound (so far) of which is that, beyond humanity, almost beyond creatureliness there is a bonding, a commonality that links all of us and the affirming of that enriches the lives of all of us. See it again? You bet. Thank you for this gift.
Very, very enjoyable
posted by R Bye on 02/05/13
Very, very enjoyable. Well written. Sets, costuming and lighting very professional. Also enjoyed the after performance discussion with writer and actors. Thought provoking. We were first timers who will be back!
Laughed so hard and loud
posted by Teri on 02/05/13
Absolutely hysterical!! Laughed so hard and loud..now I need to go back and see it again to catch all I missed. None stop comedy brilliance! Will definitely go back to see again... Bringing more friends.
AMAZEBALLS
posted by Barriesaurus on 02/02/13
AMAZEBALLS.
This show has everything
posted by Melinda Porto on 02/01/13
This show has everything: an expertly written book, a simultaneously side-splitting and heart-warming musical score, talented and diverse singer-actors, spot-on direction, and fabulous choreography to tie it all together.
DO NOT miss Triassic Parq! As an avid Chance supporter, this is by far one of my favorite productions.
This show and this cast of sexy dinos are not to be missed!!!
Great show!
posted by Carla Velez on 01/31/13
Great show that was very funny and will tell our friends to see it.
Very innovative and creative
posted by Anonymous on 01/31/13
Wonderful play, great singing and great and funny story. I actually forgot I was seeing a play and just saw the characters, the dinos themselves ;) Very innovative and creative.
SUPER FUN
posted by Bruce on 01/30/13
My first time to the Chance and I'll go again based on this production. I took my 80 year old father and he really enjoyed it. He said he would go see it again!!! You can tell the performers are enjoying what they are doing and they all do a great job including the band. I'm impressed by the professionalism of the lighting and sound. All the actors have wireless microphones. High five to the sound and lighting crew. SUPER FUN, well written, great performances, great production, a unique story line well delivered. I had a BLAST and highly recommend seeing this play.
A delightful surprise
posted by Philip on 01/30/13
"Triassic Parq" was a delightful surprise! My friends and I didn't really know what to expect going into it, but we loved the set, the songs, the actors, and the comedy! We were singing "We are dinosaurs" repeatedly on the way home. We all live in San Fernando Valley...and it was totally worth the drive. I recommend it!
A MEGASAURUS HIT!
posted by Bryan McCormick on 01/30/13
TRIASSIQ PARQ IS A MEGASAURUS HIT! It's addictive... Once is not enough... We're seeing it again!
