Tom Klingele
The youthful cast delivers a high-energy show.
There is an old theater adage that says the surest way to get upstaged is to work with children or animals. Children’s Theater of Madison’s production of Madagascar—A Musical Adventure, running in the Playhouse at Overture Center through Oct. 22, adds to that axiom: It is impossible not to be upstaged by children dressed as animals. In particular, I’m talking about the quintet of penguins in the show. They are not just cute; they are impossibly charismatic as they waddle, salute, sing, dance, impersonate nuns and assume kung-fu poses in their mission to escape from the Central Park Zoo and return to their homeland of Antarctica. Led by the indomitable fourth grader Tessa Ginsberg, the squad of secret agent seabirds eludes capture and hijacks an ocean liner in their quest to return to the wild.
Thanks to creative direction by Erica Berman and energetic choreography by Brian Cowing, there are many moments like these in the production, which helps compensate for a thin script, based the 2005 DreamWorks film.
Following the outline of the movie, the penguins are not the only zoo residents who decide to explore the world outside the confines of their enclosures. Four unlikely friends, Alex the lion (Robert A. Goderich), Marty the zebra (Gilbert Domally), Gloria the hippo (Lachrisa Grandberry) and Melman the giraffe (Jessica Jane Witham) are also determined to experience life in the wild, with comic and unexpected results. They all have terrific voices, and Domally, who played Marty in last season’s production of Madagascar at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, shows off some pretty amazing dance moves. The performers all make the most of their moments on stage, but we’re left wanting more. In this 70-minute version, their character arcs are smaller and their distinct personalities are less developed. They also just have less to do.
Fortunately, the show’s visuals keep the attention of audiences of all ages. Over-the-top costumes by Monica Cliff go for clever instead of cartoony, and succeed brilliantly. Her beautiful mask work also makes the predatory fossae especially menacing. (Alexandra Asmuth, Amanda Rodriguez and Sarah C. Streich embody the cat-like creatures, which threaten to eat anyone they can catch.) An impressive set by Steve Barnes, featuring an intricate mural in the zoo and many hidden jungle surprises, ramps up the spectacle.
The catchiest number in the show is definitely “I Like to Move It” — sung with gleeful enthusiasm by the lemur leader King Julien (Caleb Mathura, a senior from Verona Area High School). Mathura leads the cast in the spectacular song and dance, which is then reprised at the end of the performance with audience participation encouraged.
There is an underlying message about the value of friendship in the meager plot, but for the majority of the show it is drowned out by the exuberant singing and dancing. Fortunately, those moments are well worth the price of admission.
