Terry and I bumped into Tod Caviness outside the Silver Venue in the Rep Theater at Fringe. He was going to see his wife, Christin Caviness, dance in Once Upon a Wonderland by Yow Dance. She performed as Little Red Riding Hood. Yow dance had a similar Fairytale themed show last year. From talking to Christin at an open mic Speakeasy event at Will’s Pub, I learned that some magic had been thrown into the mix.
A large canvas map was propped up on stage right. It resembled a large curtain map that had been used in the traveling Broadway hit “Wicked” at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Center. A golden egg in a nest was fixed in the center of the kingdom. The Queen of Hearts walked down the theater isles towards the stage in drag. She sat down and messed with a few audience members before taking to the stage.
It was hard to decipher any story line that might pull the production together. The dancing was graceful and it was interesting to see someone sawed in half, but there didn’t seem to be any underlying motivation behind anything that happened. Micro phoned singers sang Wickedesque show tunes with thin watery lyrics. I had hoped this production would build on last year’s “Classically Demented” show but none of the elements seemed to fit together. There was plenty of flash but little heart.
Later speaking with Christin, I made a blunder by thinking she had performed as Snow White, when she had performed as Little Red Riding Hood. It was sad proof that my attention had wandered.