Yet, I can’t help but celebrate the happy occurrence as being, if not divine, at least cheeky, providence.Granted, the opening of the delirious musical “Sweet Tooth” and the arrival of a newly gussied up Blu-ray of “Sunset Boulevard” to my mailbox are purely coincidental.
Because Buntport Theater’s latest collaboration with composer-lyricist Adam Stone features a character who bears more than a passing resemblance to Gloria Swanson’s in Billy Wilder’s classic. And yes, perhaps there’s a touch, too, of Carol Burnett’s hilarious skit about Norma Desmond.
With her red turban, her vivid red salon and her ready-to-do-whatever-it-takes devotees, George (Erin Rollman) is quite a piece of work. The question that eats at her is: Is she the piece of artwork she desires to be?
You see, George is so bent on curating reality, making it perfect, that she becomes a recluse. She never leaves her home, not even for a medically necessitated emergency.
Instead with game assistance from her loyal servant Hortense (Hannah Duggan) and her sometime paramour and portrait painter Mister (Brian Colonna), she re-creates adventures — from North Pole travel (“baby, it’s cold inside”) to a spelunking foray that plunges the stage and the audience into darkness.
The first musical number “It’s Cold,” finds George decked out in fur — hat, coat, muff — trying her darndest to create a frozen tundra. Hortense mans a fan and splashes her with ice water.
Only George’s attempts are starting to fall short of the aesthetic perfection she hopes for. On top of that, she has a tooth in need of a dentist.
Will a dental emergency nudge our eccentric friend back toward reality or instead provide her an opportunity to achieve her grandest creation? Will Dr. Manette (Erik Edborg) bring a dose of common sense and a shot of Novocaine to the zany proceedings or get drawn into George’s feverish endeavor?
Such is the hilarious set-up of “Sweet Tooth.”
“Sweet Tooth” is Buntport’s third collaboration with talented and evolving composer-lyricist Stone. In their second, 2010’s”Jugged Rabbit Stew,” an angry bunny contemplated his destiny. It won the Ovation Award for best new work that year.
The Buntport collective has made a bold habit of ginning up absurd scenarios that take on quandaries that have been the stuff of philosophical head-scratching for ages. For instance, can a brilliant simulation — a.k.a. “art” — be better than the real thing?
This sounds heavy. Instead, with perfectly timed performances by a remarkably attuned ensemble and rich work from Stone, it’s spry, at times silly and always smart. Consider it intellectual nitrous oxide. It won’t hurt a bit.
-Lisa Kennedy, October 25, 2012, Denver Post