Photo: Paul Ruffolo
First Stage "The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors"
Rick Pendzich (center) and cast in First Stage's "The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors"
First Stage launches a fun kid's show this month as it presents The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Based on the book by Drew Daywalt, the musical presents an impressively wide-ranging survey in contemporary pop music. Composer Eric Nordin reaches right into the heart of nearly every major musical genre in quick, little flashes of storytelling put together by lyricist John Maclay.
Three combatants roam the fantasy world of a mundane domestic environment looking for worthy opponents. Rick Pendzich is a very assertive comic presence as the glam metal Rock from the vast, open stretches of the back yard. Austin Nelson Jr. is stylishly poised as the R&B-infused Paper from Mom’s home office. Karen Estrada rounds-out the central adult cast in the role of a pair of elegant Latin fabric scissors from a drawer in the kitchen.
Before they can meet each other in battle, the three title characters must defeat a host of other rivals including a disco clothespin on skates, a tap-dancing tape dispenser (both played with brilliantly funny flair by Sydney Kirkegaard,) a line-dancing peach, a printer, a pack of frozen dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets and a half-eaten bag of trail mix that sings the blues. First Stage students accompany the action in flashy jumpsuits. Molly Rhode has cleverly choreographed the children’s cast to amp-up the intensity of the music.
Kelly Doherty deftly directs the endearingly inspired weirdness. The story glides effortlessly from musical combat to musical combat in a fast-paced show that reaches its inevitable conclusion in just a little over an hour’s time.
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First Stage’s production of The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors runs through April 3 at the Marcus Center’s Todd Wehr Theater, on 929 N. Water St. For ticket reservations, visit firststage.org.
Photo: Paul Ruffalo
First Stage "The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors"
Karen Estrada (center) and cast in First Stage's "The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors"
