FringeNYC 2013: The Young Olympians and The Most Amazingly Awesome Adventure Ever

Review by Andrew Rothkin · August 21, 2013

What do you get when you combine ancient Greek mythology with puppetry, pop culture, a wacky quest, and some fun and catchy new tunes? If you’re the talented cast and crew of The Maryland Ensemble Theater, you get The Young Olympians & The Most Amazingly Awesome Adventure Ever—a fun musical for adults and, no doubt, a pretty amazingly awesome adventure for kids.

The story, penned by Sarah Shulman, primarily centers on four teens of Ancient Greece: Hercules (Francis Mwale), Jason (Joe Jalette), Perseus (Thom Huenger) and Andromeda (Caitlyn Joy). Though the foursome purportedly lived some 3,200 years ago, give or take, in a land of magic and myth on the other side of the world, and though many of their challenges deal with mischievous hexes, fantastic creatures and the perils of being a demigod, most of their struggles —not fitting in, not feeling smart enough or strong enough or brave enough or good enough—are things we have all felt like at one point or another in our lives.

Shulman keeps the adventures moving along as the group faces engaging obstacle after obstacle: a Cyclops, the underworld, and The Queen of Ugly—Medusa! Director Julie Herber keeps the pace brisk and upbeat with occasional moments of reflection or respite, and Hueger (our fabulous Perseus) composed quite a few lively and lovely songs, and co-wrote the lyrics with Shulman. While I admittedly liked some songs more than others (which I could say about any musical on Broadway), the music, at its weakest, was serviceable and helped to tell the story, and at its strongest, soared and filled the theatre with joy and light; likewise, Herber’s choreography was at times serviceable but at other times fun and glorious.

The set, by Joann Lee and director Herber, was functional and attractive—but the set changes during blackouts, despite being lightning-quick, were most often needless pauses in the exciting action—though there were times, such as the magnificent “statues” of Medusa’s lair, that the effect was worth the momentary pause. Herber’s costumes, Ken Poisson’s sound design, Mitchel Ost’s lighting and most especially, Vanessa Strickland’s puppets and props, all added to the merriment.

Generally speaking, performances all around were strong. Jason Hoffman and Reiner Prochaska were delightful as godly brothers Zeus and Poseidon, respectively: the first, an over-the-hill, past-his-prime king of the gods; the second, a sort of silly King Neptune-meets- Pee-wee Herman man-child of the sea. Prochaska also shone (or perhaps dimmed is a more fitting term) as Hades, the god of the underworld. Lisa Burl was another standout as both Hermes, the mischievous messenger on skates, and Medusa—the snakes-for-hair woman who could turn you to stone with one look. Both characters were very distinct, and she was clearly having so much fun, the fun rubbed off on me.

Of course, as entertaining as the ensemble was to watch, it was up to the four teen leads to carry the show, and indeed, with the talent, charm and looks worthy of a Disney sitcom, the four more than carried the show. Huenger not only wrote some really terrific music, but performed it beautifully as well. His Perseus, initially feeling all brain/no brawn was a solid heart of the piece, struggling to find his place. Perseus’s brother, Hercules, had to travel just as far the other way, proud of his muscles and strength but insecure with respect to his intellect. Mwale infused this son of Zeus with humanity and inner strength, atop the outer strength he talked of, giving a fine performance.  As Hercules' best friend, the cocky and all-human Jason, Jalette began his character’s journey as a bully with the confidence and swagger of a boy-band heartthrob, but ultimately found his humanity and allegiance to his friends. The actor put 1,000% of himself into his every moment and his every movement, and while I suspect that he will ease more into roles and not work so hard when he matures in his performing craft, it was exciting to see a young actor giving so much of himself, and he does have enormous potential. And finally, rounding out the central four, Burl was grounded and centered and strong as Andromeda, the lone female of the pack. Beyond her strong acting chops, she filled that semi-cavernous space with her voice—with vocal a strength and quality worthy of just about any stage in New York.

So what do the folks at M.E.T. intend to do with the piece? What lies in store for the future of Young Olympians (or YO, as they lovingly refer to their show)? Though it has a great deal of heart and imagination and talent, I think it would need some tweaking if they sought a major commercial run. But if Shulman, Huenger, Herber and the group were interested in bringing the piece to schools (and indeed, M.E.T. has an educational component), perhaps creating a workshop and/or a formalized talk-back regarding ancient Greek mythology, literature and/or the humanity/social skills that almost all of the characters gained during the course of their shared journey, I think it would be very successful— and kids all over the Maryland/D.C. area (or anywhere else, for that matter!) would be lucky to travel with these characters along their most amazingly awesome adventure.