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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels November 22, 2004 OCT's 'Snow White' knows its audience By Andrew Scot Bolsinger Ashland Daily Tidings The current production of "Snow White and Several Dweebs" is a flamboyant signature across the canvas of work that is Oregon Cabaret Theatre. For all its on-stage glitz, talent and comedic flair, "Dweebs" is first and foremost a testament to the backstage foundation of OCT. Most notably, artistic director and playwright Jim Giancarlo directs the exquisitely-timed performance. The lyrics, songs, jokes and physical stunts purr at high speeds like a Mercedes on the Autobahn. Another OCT fixture, musical director and pianist Darcy Danielson, is again at her finger-flying best as is her partner-in-chime, percussionist Jim Malachi. Every note, bell and or whistle pops with perfect timing and clarity, providing the show a seamless transition from scene to scene, song to song and joke to joke. Despite being opening night, the play hits every note. Finally, the costumes are typical OCT over-the-top sparkle, a testament to the creativity and skill of OCT's costume design team, Kerri Lea Robbins and Karrie Smith. Simply finding stilettos big enough for the seemingly 8-foot tall Evilena is a thing of beauty. The result is a delightful Christmas Panto built on the finest, zany English traditions, refined by Giancarlo and crew to become a signature item on the Ashland theater scene. "Dweebs" is based - loosely to be sure - on the classic Disney tale of Snow White. In typical fairy tale fashion, Snow White's mother, Queen Good as Gold, is poisoned by the dastardly Evilena, played by Jonathan Visser in drag. Despite his towering six-and-a-half foot (or more perhaps?!) frame, Visser is convincing as an evil heiress, prancing and dancing and dominating the stage while perched on the aforementioned clog-hopper-sized stilettos. That he doesn't stumble from his lofty perch, both literally and figuratively has much to do with the show's success. Somehow this gigantic man, with outrageous red hair and flowing evening gown worthy of a red carpet stroll, becomes - dare I say it - believable, both as humorously evil and as a woman obsessed with being the fairest of them all. Snow White is played by a spunky Jacqueline Stein, who also played the role during its premiere in 2002. Stein pulls off dying with great humor and offers a feisty counterpunch to the towering Evelina. Snow's father, played by Eric Starker, is funny just to look at and provides the biggest laughs of the show as the beleagured huntsman drawn into the literal bosom of Evilena. Buzzing around the story like witty flies are the dweebs, Rad, Cool and Awesome. The threesome, played by Sean Kelly, Kevin Kiler and Marc Swan, are hilarious at the show's outset as narrators of the play, then they are morphed into the play in the second act as dweeby dwarfs. Despite joining the storyline, the dweebs remain cursory to the central storyline of Evilena and Snow battling it out. As narrators, they argue about the meaning of dramaturg ("hey, that sounds like ..."), twist the poison apple around local humor about OSF's Libby Appel and otherwise fumble and bumble around the edges of the play itself. The play loses just a bit in the second act as the narrators become dweebs, who are at times are more ridiculous than funny. In the first act, they are both. Everything about the play is subjugated to the wit and comedic wisdom of the Panto style, which by definition is outrageous, colorful, and demonstrative. But nothing is off-color ("the story's pretty clean, except for a couple of parts," they sing in the intro), making the gags fun to all ages, even if some clearly steam over the heads of children in the audience. "Dweebs" is fast-paced and high energy, with much to look at, and even more to giggle at. The songs are all sung with a high-pitched edge, but obviously with intent. If there is a downside to the show, it, too, is a foundational issue of Oregon Cabaret Theatre itself, namely that it leaves you wanting more. Everything OCT does is done with such excellence, you can't help but wonder what Giancarlo and crew could do with a compelling musical drama that digs deeper than the normal OCT offering provides. That said, OCT knows its audience, just as it knows its Pantos. The crowd's energetic applause clearly conveyed its approval. Outside the theater, two young kids turned to their parents and exclaimed, "That was awesome." Yes, it was. 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