Striking 12 -- It's New Year's in October!
Striking 12 started as an off-Broadway musical in 2004 created and performed by the band GrooveLily. Neither of which, I must confess, I have ever heard of. But it’s a short, sweet introduction to the “holiday season,” without—thankfully—any Christmas spirit. We get enough of that elsewhere in October (anyone else seen the Christmas trees at Costco already?). I recommend the show to anyone looking for some good music and theater this weekend.
So what exactly is Striking 12? It’s a theatrical concert. No, it’s a play with rock songs. That’s not right either. Let’s just say it’s somewhere in between.
The plot, what there is, tells two tales of the Little Match Girl—the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale and a modern telling, set on New Year’s Eve in New York City. As it happens, the tale was unknown by me (I do wonder how I missed it), but both stories work pretty well in this format of narration and music.
What sells the show is the musical performances. The trio is composed of three singers, each on a different instrument: Brendan Milburn on keyboard, Gene Lewin on drums, and Valerie Vigoda on the electric violin. I’ll tell you one thing in advance, electric violins rock.
There’s 18 numbers in the show, and some highlights will probably stick with me for a bit. “Hey La La/Fine Fine Fine,” “Give the Drummer Some,” and the closing song all rocked the house. Some jazz and blues tunes throughout really grabbed me too.
Where the show falters is the dialog between the music. Jokes in the music work quite well, but the scripted banter falls terribly flat at times. Go for the music, wait through the dialog.
With the Pierce County Resident discount the Broadway Center is offering for this show—just $15 per ticket—it’s a good choice for the weekend. I think kids under 10 will probably fidget, but for all ages older, it’ll make for a part of a nice evening downtown.
Remaining Shows:
Saturday, October 27, 2007 at 3:00pm & 7:30pm
Sunday, October 28, 2007 at 3:00pm & 7:30pm
Striking 12 plays at the Theatre on the Square in downtown Tacoma