Web Edition

NEWS

FEATURES

ENTERTAINMENT

COLUMNS

CONTACT US

Princeton Triangle Club Presents Reality TV in Lively and Well-Executed Stage Production

Nancy Plum

Lorne Michaels could take a lesson from Princeton University's Triangle Club. The long-time producer of Saturday Night Live is responsible, like the directors of The Triangle Club, for presenting a series of sketches and musical numbers, but unlike Saturday Night Live, which has had its ups and downs in quality over the years, Triangle Club's revues have remained consistently fresh and strong. For Love or Funny, the fall revue, was presented this past weekend at McCarter Theatre. The audience on Friday night (the show was repeated Saturday and Sunday) drew heavily on the Saturday Princeton-Yale game, with many alums in the audience, as well as students cheering on their classmates.

As with many revues, there were several standout performers and features. One of the biggest stars of the show was the music, especially that composed by Drew Fornarola, Andrew Romano and Daniel Iglesia. Jail House Brides, composed by Mr. Fornarola and Sarah Unger and clearly inspired by the musical Chicago, was complex and clever. Mr. Fornarola also provided three other strong numbers in the program: My Initial Day of College, The Good Book and Singles Night. In all these songs, with lyrics provided by Mr. Fornarola and Eve Glazer, the words were compactly set to upbeat singable tunes.

The principal composer featured in the second act was Mr. Romano, who was joined by a variety of lyricists, including Jay Katsir, Hugh Meighen, Sarah Grant and Margaret Tekla Soroka. Mr. Romano composed what seemed to be the unofficial theme song of the show, This is Your Brain on Triangle. Mr. Romano, Ms. Grant, (who also conducted the pit orchestra) and Ms. Soroka collaborated in writing the final kick-line number, Pirates of Men's Pants, featuring cross-dressing buccaneers of the sea. The opening Project Spotlight, composed by Daniel Iglesia, launched the overall plot with a tightly composed number that would fit well in any Broadway show.

These songs, as well as numerous other skits, were conjoined around a loosely structured plot of Norton, the hapless audience member (played with appropriate nerdiness by Ben Mains) wending his way through a reality TV show. Several other performers also demonstrated exemplary acting and singing abilities. In particular, Christine Murphy, Alison Squires and those "Pirates of Men's Pants" showed solid command of the stage and their sketches, as well as strong singing voices. Any weak points in the evening were seen in the spoken sketches, in which it was often hard to understand the actors who did not always speak as slowly and precisely as they could have.

As the plot was centered on a reality television program, the sets, designed by Steve Capone, were composed of three TV sets, recalling the design of Let's Make a Deal. The bright colors of these sets were augmented by the bright costumes, designed by Anne-Marie Wright. The costumes in the first number in particular, had the feel of Radio City, adding to the absurdity of the sketch. There was much contemporary humor in the sketches, parodying current television programs or political figures, but this humor is always well appreciated by the audience.

Although the talents of the Triangle undergraduates was sufficient to carry the show, Triangle's professionals help pull the sketches together into a well-oiled performance. Director and Choreographer Dan Knechtges brought opera, Broadway and film experience to create tight production numbers with good flow of motion from the actors. Music Director Steven Silverstein, assisted by a jazzy and precise pit orchestra conducted by Ms. Grant, created a solid and quick-paced musical production from the series of sketches. The overall musical effect was colored well by the orchestrations of Ron Drotos.

Triangle productions demonstrate a range of Princeton University student talent not always seen elsewhere on campus. Although Princeton students have shirted off and on over the years with a musical theater company, the 113 years of Triangle have consistently honed the Broadway-style skills of undergraduates while drawing some of the fullest houses seen in the community.