Todd Cardin s Dramamine High
April 24, 2006
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Todd Cardin’s Dramamine High
ETC cashes in on high school musical craze.
April 24, 2006 — Stepping into the Shubin Theatre to see ETC’s latest production, Dramamine High, I immediately felt out of place. The Shubin is home to some of the most cutting edge, daring, live performances in Philadelphia. Yet, here I was in the midst of a sold out audience that was obviously made up of upper middle class suburbanites. I was not sure what to expect but I was pretty sure that it was not going to be risky or challenging. I entered the theatre and attempted to purchase a ticket from what turned out to be the playwright, Todd Cardin. Cardin informed me that someone who had purchased a ticket had not shown up so he waved me in without charging admission. This was obviously not one of the struggling Philadelphia theatre companies competing for an audience. (Most of the remaining shows, which run through April, are sold out.)
The play started out with the school janitor (a deadpan Chip Karas) reminiscing about his glory days as a high school football star and setting up the central theme of the play “labeling”. After a school bell rings the cast of students came on stage to sing the schools theme song. Each student stood on stage wearing a black T-shirt with the labels that represented their character. (Dork, nerd, jock, stoner, and snob) The young actors were obviously inexperienced. Some of the songs that were sung were off key and off time. The plot and theme of the play on the surface seemed like the typical teen comedy. The students remain in their cliques until they find out they aren’t that different. Knowing Cardin’s fascination with the eighties one would think that this was ripped from the pages of a John Hughes screenplay. It would be easy to tear Dramamine High apart because there is just so many thing wrong about this play. But, I didn’t want to.
The experience was utterly charming. The inexperience of the young cast actually was a benefit. Watching these kids act was like watching some of the same people that I grew up with. They showed energy, insecurity and pain better than most trained performers. I was surprised at how well they pulled it off. The message was anything but what I expected. Where you usually see the in-crowd making the others feel inadequate, here you see every group making the other feel inadequate.
Everywhere you look you see a Cardin in this musical comedy. Todd wrote the play while his wife Emily directed. The direction was subtle and understated, just the right fit for how she handled the cast. His daughters Elizabeth, Esther and Maggie also acted in the production. Elizabeth anchored the fine cast appearing in every scene with strong facial expressions and pleasant singing voice. Esther was hilarious as an over the top cheerleader, while Maggie cleverly played the kid in school that nobody knows.
The rest of the cast also delivered. Danny Kilpatrick, Emily Poche and Marnie Norris were in fine form as the misfits in one of the funniest scenes in the play, while winning the audiences hearts. Andrew Wisniewski who ETC bills as Teen Sensation pulled off the dumb jock, while Victoria Burdo reminded me of every rich girl I ever went to high school with. Emily Deller gave a very solid performance and provided one of the biggest laughs of the evening performing Jethro Tull, while Paul Valenti evoked laughter at every turn. Morgan Karas who played the school activist made me laugh while she mocked some of the causes near and dear to my heart.
Maria D’Alleva and Mike Ridgeway shined as caricatures of the football coach and Latino drama teacher. Ridgeway supplied side splitting laughs and D’Alleva, obviously a trained professional, worked perfectly with an inexperienced cast. Maria served as the musical director and played several instruments in the recording of Todd Cardin’s original songs, including….the Tuba? Her beautiful voice stood out and I look forward to her debut CD.
Todd Cardin seems to have a bright future as a playwright. While his target audience is clearly mainstream Cardin’s writing is risky and daring as anything out there. Dramamine High should be a requirement for every student (and some adults). The message was powerful with an innocence that seems to be missing in theater today. Dramamine High although far from perfect still receives very high marks.