The Prince & The Pauper; Next Stop Broadway

By Margaret Whitely

For the last five days the Queens Theater in the Park has played host to Neil Berg and Bernie Garzia's version of The Prince and The Pauper. Under the guidance of executive producer James Marino the show was sold out at every performance.

But, that does not end the story of this amazingly wonderful offering because it is headed straight for Broadway and deservedly so and hopefully with most of the cast members in tow.

To backtrack, early in the spring the first production of the amazing production opened at the Irvington Town Hall theatre. With a cast and production crew of more than 70, the three-week stint was sold out at every performance.

Seeing the enthusiasm of the audiences, the Queens Theatre in the Park stepped up and offered a five performance run, which sent composer Neil Berg and book writer Bernie Garzia back for rewrites.

In short time Broadway veteran Ray Roderick joined the team as director to lead a cast of other Broadway talent including Rob Evan, Christiane Noll, Leah Hocking, John Bolton, Alex Santoriello, Rita Harvey, plus Danny Zolli.

Just then New York producers and backers joined the members of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre and brought the music of Neil Berg to life.

Highlights from the musical were performed at a gala held by the National Leukemia Society in October, while the creative team continued with further rewrites.

Immediately the Queens Theatre in the Park changed its plans and instead of a full blown production, the team decided to use the stage time as yet another step in tightening the book and score while displaying the growth of the project and attracting more supporters.

This is what they did and very successfully. All of the players are extremely professional especially Benjamin Stix, who plays the role of the pauper, Tom Canty. This youngster is amazing, with a wonderful voice and great timing at such a young age. He is superb.

Billy Kay plays the role of the prince, Prince Edward. He, too, is equally as professional as Stix and plays his role with all the candor and charm as a much older, more experienced performer. Both young men have many great songs, but one in particular that will stop any Broadway show is If I Were You , which is catchy and you find yourself humming it as you leave the theater.

The rest of the cast is extremely professional and good, but one that was absolutely a standout was the role of the pauper's mother, Mary Canty, played beautifully by Jeri Sager, who just finished a tour with Cats. She has a magnificent voice and plays the role of the mother who can't find her son with great warmth and manages to exude a great deal of pathos.

Another is the role of the dresser played by Robert Anthony Jones, who manages to keep the audience laughing whenever he is on stage. The overlogue is given by the hermit played by Danny Zolli, which is again the case of a real professional delivering an excellent performance.

The cast, on the whole, is so good and each and every one has credits that are amazing. Costuming is at a very bare minimum that adds to the production as does the almost bare stage which is set up similar to a Greek theater. It was done in such a way so as to focus attention on the musical itself and it works. The orchestra is only made up of just three pieces Martine Carlson on the keyboards, Luther Rix percussion and Alan Greene on the bass guitar and these simple pieces are extremely effective.

Looking to the future I feel strongly that this production of Prince and the Pauper will go on to Broadway and will become an immediate hit, both for children and for adults. We shall keep our readers posted.