By Alyce Wilson
(Standard-Journal,
April 15, 1999)

MILTON —If your favorite part of a musical is the music, then the Rockwell Productions staging of Rose-Marie is for you. Songs like "Rose-Marie" and "Indian Love Call" become a shorthand for the characters' emotions.

The play focuses on Rose-Marie LaFlamme, who gives her heart to a dashing prospector but then must choose between him and a rich business man.

Maureen Francis (Rose-Marie LaFlamme) and Kyle Gonyea (Jim Kenyon) give a stellar performance, with their vocals soaring as they perform the difficult duet "Indian Love Call." This song is guaranteed to stick with the audience afterwards, as its plaintive echo-like melody is a leit- motif.

If Gonyea and Francis don't get a chance to develop their characters, it's forgivable. Their communication through music speaks more beautifully than any dialogue could.

The Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II piece was the hit of the 1924 Broadway season, which means you'll have to excuse some dated humor.

Although Tyne Firmin (who has appeared on ABC's Spin City) gives a dynamic performance as Hard-Boiled Herman, he can't enliven some of the deader jokes or make womanizing appealing to a modern audience.

Hard-Boiled Herman, the prospecting partner of hero Jim Kenyon, connects the romantic leads with saloon owner Lady Jane (Nancy Slusser) and earnest Canadian Mountie Sgt. Malone (Eric Wallbruch).

Because of the musical's emphasis on vocal solos, Firmin delivers more lines than both Gonyea and Francis.

When he emphasizes physical humor over jokes, Firmin is at his best. But an unresponsive audience Saturday evening dampened the play's spirit until the second act, when a humorous dance number got even that audience laughing.

A chorus member briefly upstages the cast as Firmin's dance partner. After the number is over, she still draws eyes with her reactions.

Wallbruch puts in a charming performance as Sgt. Malone, the upright Canadian Mountie. He gets a chance to shine in the second act, when Slusser as Lady Jane brings out Sgt. Malone's passionate side for "Only a Kiss."

Costume designer Tricia Wenglar makes her first misstep of the season with the awkward combination of bright satin red, green and purple saloon dresses alongside simpler, homespun costumes. Only in the wedding scene near the end does this combination work.

Lighting designer Bill Mellon opts for an expressionistic lighting that can distract from the action. The lights dim every time a dramatic song swells up, and a puzzling dappled sunlight effect begins several night scenes.

To his credit, Mellon's expressionist feel works well in a scene I won't spoil at Black Eagle's cabin.

Scenic designer Robert Kramer has created a rustic looking set that — while not as innovative as Katherine Pettus's sets for The King and I and Gypsy — suits the simpler musical.

Rose-Marie runs through May 1 at the Candlelight Theatre at Rockwell Center, Turbot Ave., Milton.

Copyright 1999 by Alyce Wilson

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