Cotton Patch Gospel|Custom Made Theater Co.
Directed by: Marilyn Langbehn.
Starring: Edward Hightower
I'm a huge fan of the music of Harry Chapin. Not many people know about the genius of Chapin's music, and its a tragedy that he passed in a car accident in 1981. Although the music featured in Cotton Patch Gospel is not Chapin's usual style his vocal and musical influence is felt throughout the piece. Going into Custom Made Theater's performance I was a little apprehensive because of the overtly christian story that Chapin's lyrics tell, and how this would play in a city like San Francisco, but it seemed that that was not the issue with the play.
Instead, the majority of the faults lie in the staging. Even though the next stage is a thrust space the piece was performed in a style that would have been better "in-the-round." The good acting of the lead was negated by the horrible staging as almost half of the time the audience could not see his face. The lighting was subpar, and the other technical values were lacking as well. The actor and the three singers were at times hard to hear because the blue grass accompaniment overpowered them, because the actors were not provided mices.
However, the acting prowess of Edward Hightower makes up for some of the technical follies, and the musicality of Chapin's words and music provide a welcome break from the "show-tunes" fad of our generation. Go and check out this show before it closes next month.
www.custommade.org
