In Tandem’s “The Apple Tree”

Question: Why would a small Milwaukee theater company choose a little remembered Broadway musical to end its season. The Apple Tree has loads of sets and costume changes, a full-fledged singing and dancing chorus. And it isn’t exactly on the “must-revive” list of Broadway producers. The reason can be summed up in two words: Georgina McKee.
Perhaps it wasn’t the only reason. The Apple Tree is a good chance for an In Tandem partnership with UW-Milwaukee’s musical theater program, and although things did get a little crowded in some scenes, the production generally fits with In Tandem’s love of small musicals. But even if the company stretched a bit uncomfortably to grapple with Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock’s trio of mini-musicals, it was well worth it to see McKee’s star turn.
Or three star turns, I suppose. Apple Tree starts its examination of love and longing at the very beginning—with Mark Twain’s variation on the Adam and Eve story. Here, Adam (played with appropriate blank-faced earnestness by Luke Leonhart) is a dim, rough-around-the-edges guy with a good heart. He can’t quite get the hang of naming the animals, calling them “crawlers” and “swimmers,” and is very conscientious about that “No Apple” rule. The smarter and curiouser Eve (McKee) is a perfect mark for that wiley serpent (the smooth-talking David Flores), and…well, you know the story.
McKee plays a pouty Oriental princess in the silk-draped version of “The Lady or the Tiger.” But she really shines in the last and best number of the evening, Jules Feiffer’s Passionella, a very funny blend of Pygmalion and Day of the Locust. McKee is the nasally challenged chimneysweep, Ella, who longs to be a movie star, and her opening number, where Ella honks out the high notes with heart of a diva (but the pitch-control of a pre-schooler) is pure music-theater bliss.
Director Jane Flieller keeps the show moving along. And wisely adds some contemporary tweaks to the 45-year-old script, including a frame for the acts written by Neil Haven, in which a young girl requests some bedtime stories from her beset parents. The chorus turned a few fine numbers and offered nice support to the lead trio. They certainly benefited from working with performers like these, particularly McKee, who has true star quality.
Photo by Mark Frohna