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Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

Alacartoona is a modern cabaret "theatrical music" group.  Friday evening, May 29, they performed a sensational show for a sold-out audience at Crown Center's Off Center Theater. The group had spent the previous two days filming in the Off Center Theater for the production of their forthcoming DVD, Night is the Mirror. Camera operators were filming Friday's live show as well, so that scenes from the performance can be added to the movie.

Tables and chairs were provided in the orchestra section of the theater. There was a waitress in fishnet stockings, and a little person in a tuxedo.  DeDe Deville, who promenaded with placards for the Intermission and Act II, made a special appearance. Cocktails were in abundance, and absinthe lollipops were available that made your tongue both green and numb.

Alacartoona is Ruby Falls, vocal and guitar, Providence Forge, bass and vocal, Overton Wooldridge, accordion and vocal, and Bachelor Calwood, drums and percussion. The music was paired down; only the instrumentation that was needed was present.  The troupe also delivered monologues and dialogs: emotive vignettes that were acted out.

Phil Kinen, Producer and Theatrical Director with Alacartoona for the DVD production, introduced the show which opened with a off-stage monologue by Ruby Falls. "At times, the night is thin, overly brittle, so much so that a finger, angled properly and applied with just the right balance of pressure and control, might crack it,..."

In the spirit of cabaret the two main vocalists, Ruby Falls and Providence Forge, mingled and sang directly to members of the audience, sometimes sitting on their laps and caressing their cheeks. Sexuality and carousing were dominant themes.

The cabaret troupe then entered the stage and performed their opening number, "Willkomen." The lyric says "Welcome, come to the show, make yourself at home." Taken literally, this message of the song was quite simple. But the motive of the song, and the rest of the show, promoted a bigger idea--that there was a story behind the scenes, and a history to the characters. Each song or acted scene was a piece of the larger ambiguous story. Will the upcoming movie, Night is the Mirror, reveal secrets, or spin more mystery?

There were a number of interesting dialog pieces that were well acted that stood on their own. One scene involved all the performers in the group. Providence Forge was seated addressing one member of the audience while the rest of his cabaret troupe-mates provided the responses.

The scene, "Too Much," featured a quick exchange between Providence and Ruby Falls:

Providence...
Yes Ruby...
What happened?
I don't remember.
Too much
Not enough
Bored
Complacent
Needy
Sated
Fearful
Careless
Illogical
Unrealistic
Black and white
All fire red
You fell asleep
What?
Fear is pain remembered
Pain is fear remembered...  

One of the songs, "Sneakers," was a particularly well crafted and  eerie story. It was spine-tingling and cinematic. It invoked images that suggest an entire horror movie.

We are the sneakers
We're hiding in the night
We're putting out the lights
One by one

We are the sneakers
We watch you live your lives
We're sharpening our knives
Just for fun

For when the sun goes down
If you should close your eyes
You know we'll come for you

Then we cut
 We cut
We cut, cut, cut, cut, cut

REVIEW
Alacartoona
Night is the Mirror
Friday, May 29, 2009
Off Center Theater, Crown Center
Kansas City, MO

The Alacartoona DVD, Night is the Mirror, is due to release later this year.
For more information visit their website www.alacartoona.com.

By Scott Easterday

New Classical Contributor, VIDs Department Director

Scott Easterday is a musician and singer/songwriter. He writes reviews and performs interviews for KCMetropolis in New Classical and explores new directions in the performing arts.