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Overlord: Over the Top

MUDCAT FALLS -- The River's Edge Theater Group's original production, Overlord, The Musical, has something for everyone -- and then some. The World War II era story retelling the Allied invasion of Normandy is upbeat, with catchy tunes and breath-taking dance numbers. The opening tap sequence of soldiers hitting Utah and Omaha beaches is stunning, with the dancers heels and toes recreating rifle shots and ricochets as the Higgins Boat ramps splash down in France, circa 1944, with such realism that this reviewer soon found himself cowering behind a row of seats. Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan" may come close to capturing the horror and terror of an amphibious invasion, but only Overlord puts it to music and has the poetic lyrics to go with it.

"This production has been a twenty-year labor of love for me," emoted writer-director Ed Kick, whose thirty year career in dinner theater is legendary and whose hat trick of three Golden Place Setting Awards is unequalled amongst his peers. "It is gratifying to work with such a talented group of singers and dancers. We wish to dedicate our performances to Tom Brokaw and all his fellow veterans of that great world conflagration."

In a show stealing performance, Alonzo Baldwin-Bergoue, self-proclaimed distant cousin to the brothers who grace Hollywood's walk of fame, gives a brooding, tempestuous portrayal of Field Marshall Erwin Rommel, wrestling with his conscience, the High Command, and Mother Nature as he fortifies the Atlantic Wall -- not to mention numerous testicle-squeezing high notes in an Act I aria. The beloved Swabian perishes by his own hand at the beginning of Act III in an unforgettable death soliloquy that was a tear-jerker, despite a somewhat difficult and incongruous Hispanic accent. Bimini Gambflugel, as Kay Sumersby, and Digby Dahlhaber, as Dwight David Eisenhower, are simply marvelous as the pretty, young jeep driver who nearly steals the heart of the harried Supreme Commander from Mimi in their brief, sensual springtime song interludes as they trade melodies amidst the blooming fields of the finest gastronomic region of France.

Other stand out performances include Reverend Dieselspiel playing against type as the foul mouthed General George S. Patton and Boris Batch, from Batch Auto Body, as British Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery, bickering their way from the hedgerows of France to the Rhine. The climax of the show comes with the Battle of the Bulge ensemble song-and-dance number, a cacophonous crescendo of choralizing set against a complex choreography of Sherman, Tiger and Panther tanks, the likes of which has not been seen since Kursk.

Although the ending should be no surprise, save for the pupils of Calabash-Hoover High School, the untold stories of intrigue, doubt and political infighting woven together and set to Rogers and Hammerstein-like ditties as the Allies make the world safe for democracy, promise a full evening's entertainment for young and old alike.

Contact the Mudcat Falls River's Edge Theater Group for show times and ticket availability.

©2002 MFTHPPPGT




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