Super Sidekick The Musical … Pawn (Fringe Festival 2012)

Linnea Covington — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 17:02:12 +0000

The team behind Super Sidekick the Musical have perfected the art of live-action cartoon, mixed with a healthy dose of Glee. In this production, directed by Steve Knight, there are ninja koalas, damsels in un-distress, a thoughtful villain, and pudgy, dorky sidekick. The later is Inky, which Jonathan Nadolny plays to precision, giving the short and shorted sidekick an endearing, albeit slightly nasal, quality. He acts counter to the sleek and pompous Blackjack the Bold (dun-duna-da!), played smoothly by Evan Maltby, who channeled the frat-boy-like aura of the superhero.

As these two caped-crusaders ran up and down the aisle, bits of song broke out in perfect harmony, thanks to the musical director and piano player Stephen Bent. Such songs include If I Were a Hero Too, Inky and the Princess, and possibly the most memorable tune, Slurm’s Soliloquy, where Slurm, the slimy super villain played by Tom Slot (who just wrapped up the devious play about serial killers called Killing Time—do we sense a theme, Slot?), waxed poetically about the troubles being evil.

The premise of the story goes: Inky is a sidekick who wants to be a superhero. Blackjack is a jerk. The princess, played by the Princess Toadstool look-a-like Mollie Fischer, loves Inky; she gets stolen. Blackjack discounts Inky and hence, the superhero gets taken also. Inky overcomes his fear of the dark—cue The Caves of Doom—and voila! Evil is…well I can’t tell you everything. There are also two, unbelievably humorous ninja kolas, played by Lauren Quirk and Daniel Tepper, that had me wondering why we don’t see more live-action, kung-fu animals in plays. Seriously, it was too funny. On that note, with the fast pace, audience participation, and fun characters, if you have children this play is right up their alley. But, even as a grown woman I found it humorous, saucy, and a lot of fun. Yes, it’s cheesy, but they do it so well.

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Super Sidekick: The Musical
ArtEffects Theatre Company in Association with Theatre Unleashed
Writer: Gregory Crafts, music and lyrics by Michael Gordon Shapiro
Director: Steve Knight, Music Director: Stephen Bent
Adventure! Romance! Ninja koalas! Sorcerer Slurm has captured the greatest hero in the kingdom! Can lowly sidekick Inky save the day? “…perfect for small children, with audience participation, a perfect hour run-time and catchy musical numbers” -L.A. Theatre Review
1h 0m   Local   New York , New York
FringeJR   Musical
Staycation: Sci-Fi Tech SuperHero Camp
www.supersidekick-musical.com
VENUE #16: SoHo Playhouse
Fri 10 @ 5  Sat 18 @ 4:15  Tue 21 @ 7  Fri 24 @ 5:15  Sun 26 @ 1

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Super Sidekick The Musical … Pawn (Fringe Festival 2012)

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