Paulanne Simmons
"Welcome to the Big Dipper"
Musicals about a group of disparate people stuck in a place they don’t want to be thanks to natural disasters or human mistakes abound. 2017 saw the premiere of "Come From Away," based on events in the Newfoundland town of Gander, when 7,000 passengers were stranded there following the September 11 attacks. And the same year "The Band’s Visit," about a group of Egyptian musicians who accidentally end up in an isolated desert town in Israel, where the locals take them in, moved to Broadway after its premiere at the Atlantic Theater Company. There are also plenty of musicals set in inns. "Holiday Inn" and "White Christmas," both with music by Irving Berlin, come to mind, So "Welcome to the Big Dipper," a new musical with music and lyrics by Jimmy Roberts and a book by Catherine Filloux and John Daggett, stands on solid ground. But the musical has neither the currency of "The Bands Visit" or "Come From Away" nor the score of Irving Berlin. What the musical does have is Robert Cucciolo, of Jekyll & Hyde fame, in the fairly minor role of Amos King, an Amish father (he has one big song that he executes well), and DeMone Seraphin, who spreads his talents between directing and playing two roles, and despite an impressive resume, injects very little energy into this production. The musical has several plotlines but the main one concerns Joan Wilkes (Debra Walton), who is just about to sell The Big Dipper, an historic inn nestled in Bigelow, New York, near Niagara Falls. The debts are piling up, and this is the only way she can pay the college tuition for her son, Dez (Christian Magby). But just before she can sign the papers the somewhat unsavory businesswoman Bonnie Haskins (Jennnifer Byrne) keeps thrusting into her hands, a major blizzard forces a bus to discharge its passengers right at her door. There are two groups of travelers on the bus: drag queens headed to a singing competition and an Amish man, with his daughter and several others, headed home. Each group has its own problems. Jake (Michael Yeshion) is afraid his wife will recognize him on TV news and find out about his secret life. Rebecca King (Mia Pinero) wants to break away from the constraints of Amish society. None of these characters emerge as people. None of their problems seem particularly unique. The actors are hampered by the dialogue and the dialogue is hampered by the actors. The music doesn’t help much. And the very unsatisfying that comes from almost nowhere solves their many issues unrealistically. "Welcome to the Big Dipper" is inspired by Filloux’s play," All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go," which was based on a true event. Playwrights who transform their plays into musicals face many challenges. Foremost is deciding what dialogue to keep, what to throw out and what to turn into song. Some of Filloux’s choices are puzzling. It’s hard to understand why she never shows the cross-dressing singers actually performing their act. The interaction of a bunch of strangers brought together by unusual
circumstances is a tried-and-true theme in musical theater. With
fewer, better developed characters and a more interesting score
this big dipper might begin to shine.
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