By McKenna Johnson
Cobb&Co.’s original musical The Three Musketeers: A Threesome That in Fact Is More Than Three, at the Angelus Theatre in Spanish Fork, provides a fun evening for families who want to experience the classics.
The musical, with book and lyrics written by John Cobb and music composed by Karrol Cobb, is based on Alexandre Dumas’s classic novel The Three Musketeers. The audience follows the adventures of a young, self-important man named D’Artagnan (Aaron Larsen) who seeks membership in the legendary trio. To join up, he has to help save France from an evil plot involving diamonds, double-crossing, cross-dressing, and the British.
The Angelus Theatre has a friendly environment and staff, and after the opening production, the actors even greeted the audience in the lobby. The parking is easy to find, though, because the theatre is on Main Street, drivers need to pull behind the building to find parking.
The production itself is fun and engaging. The fun starts with the pre-show announcements, during which the announcer requests that audience members turn off their cell phones and refrain from singing. (Someone sang at a phenomenal show I went to in New Orleans. Not okay.) Throughout the show, Director Ruthie Higley has the actors run through the theatre, fighting in the aisles and high-fiving audience members when they thwart their enemies.
D’Artagnan is as pretentious as necessary, and the more ridiculous Larsen is, the more the children in the audience laugh. Larsen’s antics are made more impactful by the nonchalance of Athos, Porthos, and Aramis (Michael Larsen, Michael Mehner, and John Cobb), who refuse to take D’Artagnan, themselves, or their jobs too seriously. The tone, facial expressions, and line delivery of M. Larsen, Mehner, and Cobb provide the foundation for the comedy without taking over the play.
The other leads, Constance (Jessie Forbes), Milady (Kayla Klinkowski), and Planchet (Jason Nordin) likewise fill their roles well. Forbes’s Broadway-character-ditziness complements A. Larsen’s pretention and hypocrisy well, and Klinkowski’s performance keeps the audience guessing which side Milady is on.
Finally, Nordin’s composure in the face of violence and intrigue balances the Musketeers’ lightheartedness and A. Larsen’s melodrama and creates a triad of emotion that captures both the seriousness of the situation and the farce of the play
The voices of the actors, particularly Mehner, Forbes, Klinkowski, and Nordin, are good, but because the actors lack microphones (presumably due to budget constraints), the audience often couldn’t hear the lyrics. Additionally, both the chorus and individual singers struggled with pitch, though generally not to an extent that audience members without musical training would notice.
Karrol Cobb’s music, with a standard musical theatre style complete with soaring vocal parts, is delightful and would fit in on Broadway. The music’s biggest issue was the lack of microphones, without which the chorus and soloists didn’t have the volume to fill out the music and make clever lyrics snap.
I can’t say a lot about the lyrics because I couldn’t hear a lot of them clearly, but some of those I heard are clever. For example, I was happy to inform my boyfriend that I’m happy to be miserable with him, and I intend to quote that line regularly (“Your Love Will Be Miserable Too”).
My favorite lyric is “a threesome that in fact is more than three” (“A Threesome That in Fact Is More Than Three”) because as a child I was forever confused about why the group was called the Three Musketeers when I counted four in the movie previews. In terms of both music and lyrics, I wanted this song, in particular, to have more energy so that my vindication didn’t peak when I first saw the program.
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The lighting and stage management (Kendra Klinkowski) is solid, flowing smoothly, keeping the audience focused, and directing actors to the parts of the stage from which their voices can most easily project. Vocal projection is accounted for in the simple set design (Mckenzie Kiser), which includes benches and a staircase from which the soloists can more readily provide the volume the production needs.
The sound system (Sophie White) provides crisp, fresh tone, and various sound effects increase the comedic impact of the choreography (Jakob Tice, Julie Chan, Sarah Flinders). The children in the audience laughed readily and often at the swordplay and Tangled-reminiscent frying pan attacks.
The hair and makeup design, done by Higley, are showy enough for the time period without seeming over the top, and the costume design (Erin Cobb) is delightful. The costumes don’t look pricey, but Cobb manages to outfit the Musketeers in their hallmark clothing, conveying nobility without making the costumes look too modern or machine produced.
While the musical itself definitely could appeal to adults, because of the difficulty of hearing the lyrics from the middle of the room, I think this production will be most satisfying for parents who want to introduce their children to classic stories. While the plot does hinge on the queen’s having an affair, the content is not overtly sexual and is less conspicuous than that in Les Miserables or the Dreamworks‘ movie Shrek.
Adults, teens, and older children will enjoy the performance as well but should arrive early and get seats near the front so they can experience the musical in full.
In conclusion, I’m glad I went to see the play, and I’m excited to see what Cobb&Co. produces in the future. I hope to see the original musical The Three Musketeers performed throughout the state, as it’s certainly better than many of the productions performed in professional theatres across the country.
Cobb&Co. Presents The Three Musketeers: A Threesome That in Fact Is More Than Three, book and lyrics by John Cobb, music by Karrol Cobb
Angelus Theatre, 165 N. Main Street, Spanish Fork, UT 84660
June 15–30 7:30–9:30 PM, Matinees Saturdays 2:00–4:00 PM
Tickets: $11–$13
801-358-8134
angelustheatre@gmail.com
Angelus Theatre Facebook Page
Three Musketeers Facebook Event
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