Friday, August 9, 2002 By Margaret Quammel, Columbus Dispatch
Anyone who doubts that the '70s was an optimistic decade should take a look at Free To Be ... You and Me. The musical operates on the happy assumption that with a little singing and dancing and some rational dialogue, gender stereotypes will melt away.
Seeing the musical a generation later may be a bittersweet experience for parents, but children should be caught up in its buoyant mood without worrying about history. Columbus Children's Theatre has deftly transformed a play originally performed by four adults into an ensemble piece for 20 actors ages 10 to 16.
The intended audience for the musical may well be more willing to listen to its hopeful material in the hands of exuberant junior-high or high-school students dressed in T-shirts and jeans than in those of a quartet of well-meaning adults.
The one-act musical is setup as a collection of skits interspersed with songs. Two babies (Jake Borelli and Jessica Zambrotta, both showing a nice restraint) try to determine which of them is a boy and which a girl. A group of kids reaches the conclusion that Parents Are People. A boy (Danny Gibbons) tries to persuade his father that he should be allowed to have a doll.
The play has an irritating tendency to state the moral of each skit at each end, and fathers in general don't come off very well, but otherwise the material is handled with a light touch.
Director Kristofer Green has created a true ensemble out of his cast. A few performances stand out — notably Fiona McVay as the endearingly comic Victoria and Gabe Krimm as an enthusiastic skateboarder — but no performer is allowed to dominate the others.
Dean Cox's streamlined and confident choreography suits the simplicity of the material, and Wendy Foster on piano provides accompaniment that enhances sometimes uncertain voices without overwhelming them.
Numbers sung by the chorus are particularly strong. Suzanne Accetta's primary-colored set makes a pleasant background.
While it can't be accused of complexity, Free To Be has a relaxed charm and a reassuring set of messages.
Free To Be...You And Me, a Columbus Children's Theatre production of Douglas Love and Regina Safron's musical adaptation of the Marlo Thomas book. Directed by Kristofer Green