THE THEATER MIRROR, New England’s LIVE Theater Guide

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Wheelock Family Theatre’s production of THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH will have closed by the time you read this; suffice it to say that it delightfully kicked off the holiday season. Co-adapting his beloved children’s classic for the musical stage, Norton Juster thins his character ranks but leaves the basic plotline intact: Milo, a bored, listless lad who hates to think about anything, enters a fantasy world of thought and anti-thought via a magical tollbooth deposited in his bedroom; with the help of Tock the Watchdog, Milo rescues the Princesses Rhyme and Reason from exile, bringing peace to the warring kingdoms of Dictionopolis (words) and Digitopolis (numbers) --- he returns home, his own sense of wonder and delight awakened. Mr. Juster’s tale is nearly a half-century old but has never been timelier when “the Dumbing of America” is no longer just a catchphrase and the Demons of Ignorance have caused many a young mind to shut down. What reads as a child’s PILGRIM’S PROGESS plays onstage as a contemporary WIZARD OF OZ, which is not a bad thing considering the book is all brain and no heart, and Sheldon Harnick and Arnold Black’s kaleidoscopic score sparkles in Broadway’s brightest hues; their inventiveness may not hit you until afterwards when you look back and realize that very little happened, scenery-wise, on the Wheelock stage --- the constant shifts and changes are all in the whirling, swirling music….

Tristan Viner-Brown was an impressive-enough Milo, awkward but not self-consciously so, and sang his numbers in a soaring treble tone (Milo has the closest thing to a hit tune, “Do I Dare?” where he contemplates undertaking his dangerous quest; Master Viner-Brown reaped cheers with his rendition). Twice I’ve seen Ricardo Engermann play conservative gentlemen who turned the hearts and heads of two older women (played by the same actress); it was a nice change to see him play a fantastical critter --- his Tock didn’t resemble any dog I’ve seen from here to there (a pair of floppy ears would have helped) but Mr. Engermann clearly enjoyed being the evening’s scene-stealer with all his mugging, howling and snuffling (he did a breathtaking double-somersault in the air, landing catlike, one level down, in a crouched position). To continue the canine-isms, what I’ve seen of Chip Phillips in the past reminds me of a puppy about to wet the rug --- here, his plugged-in technique is ideal for children’s theatre: his King Azaz was all pop-up cardboard, glitter and ham --- and enjoyably so; Brian Robinson had little opportunity to unlock his glorious baritone, one of the best in town; his flamboyant Mathemagician was a hop, skip and a jump to the dayglo Land of Camp. Nearly matching Mr. Robinson in outrageousness was Gamalia Pharms as the Senses Taker, who was such fun that I regret Messrs. Harnick and Black not giving the character a rafters-shaking solo of her own.

James P. Byrne directed and designed this TOLLBOOTH simply and sweetly; his gift for bringing out the child in his adults and the trouper in his children is mirrored in his productions for the Gold Dust Orphans who are, at heart, a bunch of kids in Mommy’s clothes. Laurel Stachowicz supplied the clever footwork and gestures that made many a non-dancer look good and Marian Piro and Matthew Lazure designed the colorful costumes (no doubt, on a budget) --- the nasty, slobbering Demons, in particular, resembled spiked lizards en route to ballet class. Overall, a most enjoyable evening for all ages --- the proof lay in the many children in the audience sitting through two acts in rapt silence. I cannot say how many of them will have a Milo-like conversion as a result, but the magic of theatre has its own seductive pull; I’ve been in its grip for most of my life and it hasn’t lost its power, yet.

1 (617) 879-2300

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THE THEATER MIRROR, New England’s LIVE Theater Guide

| MARQUEE | USHER | SEATS | INTERMISSION | CURTAIN |