Apparently, I Don't Exist

Here's another review for the show; from Chicago Free Press. Read it and tell me what's wrong with it. I'll meet you at the bottom.

“Sleeping Ugly-The Musical”
Written by William Massolia
Showing at Griffin Theatre at Theatre Building, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., through June 25
Tickets: $15-$24
Contact: (773) 327-5252
BY LAWRENCE BOMMER
CFP theater editor
This isn’t just your usual token children’s theater review. As it turns out, “Sleeping Ugly” is a wickedly clever and melodiously captivating musical treatment of Jane Yolen’s picture book, itself a delightful cautionary classic.
Reminiscent of both “Shreks,” the story celebrates the power of inner beauty to surface just when outer beauty reveals its inner ugliness. Or whatever. You know the moral and you know how easily it’s lost in the bars by 2 a.m.
In this revisionist fairy tale, a narrating toad and a fussbudget fairy godmother are the agents of magical transformations. Asserting his right to call this a “toad’s tale,” the Toad (Matthew Lon Walker) grants the Queen of an unnamed kingdom her wish to become pregnant. But the vicious biting and spitting baby that results from this dubious miracle grows up to be the selfish but beautiful—there’s a connection there somewhere—Princess Miserella (Colleen McSherry, channeling solipsistic Glinda in “Wicked”). Imperious in her sense of unearned entitlement, Miserella orders the wrong Fairy Godmother (Jill Hames) around, not realizing that this guardian belongs to animal-adoring Plain Jane (Leah Morrow complete with a Pinocchio-like nose). But this godmother won’t change clients, even if one of them is royal and preternaturally pretty.
In an astute borrowing from “Sleeping Beauty,” Jane, Miserella and the Godmother end up sedated in a spell that takes them into the 21st century, when modern-day Prince Jojo (Steve Best) must decide who to kiss and who not to awaken from the trance. Can Plain Jane find true love despite a pointed nose?
It’s surprising how much you can come to care about a reliable outcome. Much of the credit goes to William Massolia’s deft adaptation and Richard Barletta’s sprightly staging. The five performers work and play very well together. They share the laughs as generously as they received them in rehearsals. But the real triumph comes from George Howe’s dozen delightful songs, as winning an assemblage of witty lyrics and captivating tunes as you can hope to hear in a mere 70 minutes. Howe, who already achieved notice with Lifeline Theatre’s “Queen Lucia,” has a flair for memorable melody, here most apparent in the Victor Herbert-like romp of the “Fairy Light Brigade” and the 1970s sitcom homage of “Now, Today, Tomorrow.”

Did you find it? Well, I read this the other day, and noticed that he mentions the FIVE performers. Let it be known, here and now, that there are indeed SIX cast members. So, I went back to reread and find out who was left out. Lo and behold, all of my other castmates were mentioned. So, not only was I not mentioned, I apparently didn't even exist in the show. For there were only FIVE actors in the production. I needed that. But I'm not bitter!