By Sandi Masori
SAN DIEGO— If you’ve ever been to a Renaissance Faire, or seen one in passing, then you will really love the new show at The Old Globe Theater. Huzzah! is an action packed, funny, musical love letter to Ren Faires.
First of all I have to compliment scenic designer Todd Rosenthal on a gorgeous set. The stage looks exactly as you would expect a Ren fair to appear- wooden booths, pirate and medieval style shops, a metal forge, and of course, let’s not forget the turkey leg. Elements are brought on and off the stage and the store name placards change to show us what part of the fair we’re in.
When you first see that the play is 2.5 hours you may be worried that it will feel long. But fear not, written by Nell Benjamin and Laurence O’Keefe, the same team that brought you Legally Blonde, Heathers, and Mean Girls, every minute is well-used and the time passes quickly. Humor is used to great effect, and the laughs are a-plenty.
So what’s it all about? Accountant Gwen Mirandola (played by understudy Beth Stafford Laird in the performance we saw) discovers that the entire bank account of the local Ren fair has been drained, so she sets out to visit it and see what’s going on, even though she has sworn not to step foot there.
Once she gets there we learn that the money was taken out of the account by the princess of the fair, Kate Mirandola (Cailen Fu) who also happens to be Gwen’s sister. She took all the money to hire Ren fair performer Sir Roland Proud (Leo Roberts) who is a kind of method actor of sorts and does not have a bank account as he only uses gold. He also won’t use a pen or regular paper, or any modern convenience, preferring to keep things as they were in the medieval times.
While dealing with this inconvenience, the owner (and “king”) of the fair (Lance Arthur Smith) decides it’s time for him to step down and leave the fair equally to his two daughters. The problem? Gwen is an accountant and Kate a dreamer. Kate wants to make changes without thinking about cost or liability. Gwen, of course, wants to protect the fair. Kate falls under the spell of the sexy and unconventional Sir Roland and starts making changes to make the fair more realistic. No more pixies, magic or Star Wars characters. Gone too are the ATM machines and the portapotties.
And since both of them own 50%, they are deadlocked in the struggle for control. Hilarity ensues.
The entire cast is phenomenal. Laird killed it as Gwen, and if there weren’t signs posted everywhere that she was the understudy, you never would have known. Usually she plays Lady Alison the Healing Nun, so as understudy she had to fully learn two different parts. Huge kudos to her.
Other standouts are Peyton Crim as Wayland Smith, the forger. His deadpan delivery of some of the funniest lines in the show was just perfect.
Returning face to the Old Globe, Josh Breckenridge is great as Inigo Johnson (one of the performers,) as are his counterparts Kevin Pariseau and Mike Milan. Fu is just perfect as Kate.
The play runs through Oct 19. You will walk out with a smile on your face, and an inexplicable craving for turkey legs.
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Associate Editor Sandi Masori is a theater and food reviewer for San Diego Jewish World.