Here's one way to beat the December chill: visit Bayou country in Seattle Children's Theatre's world premiere of "The Sorcer-er's Apprentice."
SCT's original adaptation of "Philopsuedes," the Greek fable written in 150 C.E. by satirist Lucian of Samosata and previously revisited in a Goethe poem, a Paul Dukas symphony and a beloved segment of Disney's "Fantasia," gets a swampy new take by playwright OyamO (Charles F. Gordon, writer-in-residence at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor).
One might not feel, exactly, moist heat emanating from the production's sets, full of tangled moss and vines drooping from contorted trees, presumably along the banks of muddy creeks. But the supernatural dilemma of the title character, a hungry lad named Charles (Connor Toms) who stumbles across an enchanted forest and proves too eager to learn magic from queenly sorceress Marguerite (Anne Allgood), feels like a mystery shimmering in the fever of American folklore.
Without getting too specific about time and place, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" looks as if it's set during the Great Depression, a hard era in which it would make sense for young Charles to be wandering for miles alone in search of a meal, possibly after riding the rails for days.
Charles crosses paths one night with the elegant, not-quite-earthly Baron (Terence Kelley), a rather beautiful figure all in white who seems attuned to cries of need in the dark. (After a minute or two, one can't help but wonder if the Baron will eventually have a legendary engagement with bluesman Robert Johnson, at a certain crossroads elsewhere in Mississipi Delta country.)
Benevolent but interested in whether Charles has the stuff to recognize his destiny, the Baron offers sage advice and then sends the boy into the woods. There, Charles discovers a gift for understanding the language of plants and animals, and is mocked by Miss Orange Tree (Leslie Law), Mr. Juniper Bush (Mo Brady), Miss Grapevine (Khanh Doan), Jeremy Groundhog (Lisa Estridge) and an owl, Mr. Who (Peter A. Jacobs).
Rescued by the cautious Marguerite, Charles begs her to take him on as her apprentice. The idea intrigues her; she has awaited a surrogate child for some time, but doubts whether Charles has the discipline to pay his dues over a long period. Marguerite gives him three chances to make mistakes but remain with her. Unfortunately, impatient, disobedient Charles quickly uses up her forgiveness.
Cast out, Charles falls prey to the tricks of the demonic Big John King (David Silverman), who promises to get the boy back into Marguerite's good graces but actually wants to take control of her powers. The question is whether our hero will recognize that Marguerite is in trouble with time enough to help her.
Director Linda Hartzell's lavish show is full of timeless stage magic - literally, that is, the kind real magicians use. "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" is a great way to introduce kids to some classic illusions. A book levitates, a basket floats under a scarf, gold coins appear out of nowhere; you'd have to hire somebody to put on an act like this at a child's birthday.
The famous scene from Goethe's 1799 "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" (and the set-piece from "Fantasia" starring Mickey Mouse), featuring all those enchanted brooms and pails and all that water, has its equivalent here when Charles casts a spell he should not have touched. The result is a cistern that won't stop flowing and multiple fountains of water spraying disastrously from all sorts of things in Marguerite's house, including Charles' hands.
Carey Wong's busy sets are full of surprises that are easy to miss: dancing plants, a tree with eyes that move. Cathy Hunt's elaborate costumes are mesmerizing, especially Miss Orange Tree's fruited limbs and roots that almost convince you they crawl along like feet.
Music by Carman Moore, orchestrated and directed for a four-piece live band (a rarity at SCT) by David Duvall, is plentiful and moves the story along instead of bogging it down.
The only weakness in the show is an occasional judgment lapse in OyamO's decision to fill out the story by drawing upon influences other than "Apprentice." He has cited Alice's argument with the flowers in "Alice In Wonderland" as the inspiration for Charles' exchanges with forest life, and although that works very well, a revision of Aesop's "The Dog and His Bone" sticks out like a sore thumb.
Yet the effort was certainly consistent with the way "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" re-bottles some pretty old wine. How often can you say you've taken a kid to a play and come out walking shoulder-to-shoulder with Goethe and Mickey Mouse?[[In-content Ad]]
