What I liked
There were many things to like about this show and I want to start with naming several stand-out performers – Eliana Nunley who played Alexa/Ensemble was electric every time she was on stage! Josh Hillinger as Dr. Ahlers/Ensemble was a most formidable character actor, presence on stage, and certainly tickled my funny bone(s)! And… Richardson Cisneros-Jones as Dr. Howard STOLE THE WHOLE GOSH DARN SHOW!!! His performance alone is worth the price of admission!! Gold stars go to Costumer, Katie DeShan and Choreographer, Joanna Syiek for adding magic to this world!
What I didn't like
Let the Fringe be a starting point for this musical as there are some patches that can be smoothed over and refined. I would definitely add a Dramaturg to help flush out the details in the book. I’d ask just how many antagonists are really NECESSARY to confront the heroine? Who is her main arch nemesis? How much of her family has to be present to aid her? Too many characters get lost in the shuffle and are underdeveloped.
Also… as a tried and true musical theatre junky – there are songs in this show that are TOO SIMILAR to other musicals out there. The title song, “The Rabbit Queen” sounds just like “All You Wanna Do” from SIX. And lyrically, “Bunnies By the Pound” is a lyric shy of being exactly “Money By the Pound” from Disney’s Pete’s Dragon.
My overall impression
Fun, period-piece musical based on a true story with a talented cast having one large ROMP on stage?!?! Sign me up, please! I knew no one involved with The Rabbit Queen and certainly enjoyed my evening while going on this WEIRD (let’s be honest) journey of not-all-together-shiny protagonist, Mary Toft. It’s just not every day you see a woman birthin’ rabbits and getting away with it! The idea of the town getting all their information about life’s events from FACEBOARD equalled pure GENIUS and HILARITY!!
