“The Awakening of Angel DeLuna” is a promising new musical now getting its first wings at the Dairy Center in Boulder. It’s far more realized than most new works at this stage of development. But whether you ever hear of it again is entirely dependent on whether its creators believe their labor of love is done.
With some work, there is reason to believe their “Angel” could one day take flight.
It’s a sweet little story set in a Depression-era circus. And because of our easy affection for its heroine, it pulls you in with its inherent warmth, rather than puts you off, as freaky circus stories often can.
We’re told in a hasty prologue that a famed young aerialist named Angel DeLuna fell from her trapeze years ago, leaving her unable to fly. Her partner on the wire and in love abandoned her. Her parents eventually died, leaving the circus in the hands of a villainous cheat.
We open years later with middle-aged Angel as a kind of cross between loopy Laura Wingfield from “The Glass Menagerie” and that impossibly perky princess from “Enchanted.” She’s retreated into a safe world where she talks both to the (carousel) animals, and figurine angels — and they talk back. She’s determined to fly again one day, though it’s never made clear why then she just . . . doesn’t.
The heart of this musical beats in Britta Laree’s unflinchingly sincere performance as Angel, even if we’re not sure whether to take her as a merely damaged woman on the brink, or full-on crazy. Her nephew Fred (Kyle Smith) is torn by his love for his aunt and his responsibilities as a new father. Ollie is a drifter clown whose secret past is far too easy for us to predict.
The bulk of the musical focuses on Angel’s budding attraction to Ollie, and the ridiculously melodramatic machinations of the super-sleazy circus owner who schemes to rid Angel’s carousel in favor of a more profitable arcade. Poor dumb Angel is the only one who can’t see what’s happening right under her nose.
The score by Judylynn Schmidt and Lee Ellis is both the musical’s great strength and weakness, with several songs soaring in emotional complexity, and others falling fully flat. There’s little in-between. Rather than furthering plot or character, songs stall the momentum of what should be a far more urgently played second act.
The storytelling gets very sloppy toward the end, raising many obvious logical questions that go unaddressed, making it impossible to fully invest in the outcome. And at a key point, Angel makes a ridiculous promise to the circus clown that seems made more for fluidity of storytelling than credibility of character.
More than anything, the writers must start over with their ridiculous villain, a red-caped cartoon so scene-chomping and one-dimensional he sucks all emotional credibility from the other characters who are sold to us as deeply real and human.
Watching this staging in Boulder directed by Bryan Bell makes for a fine, family-friendly afternoon. The voices are universally soaring, enhanced by the presence of live musicians; the rapport between Laree’s Angel and Kevin Schwarz’s Ollie is particularly touching; and simple circus demonstrations between scenes are a treat.
But it’s clumsy. That all-important prologue doesn’t give us enough information; the choreography is at times incongruous to the story, and why the ever-present fog? And as easy as it is to appreciate Laree’s performance, we’re never sure whether to hug her or call for the straightjacket.
“The Awakening of Angel DeLuna’s” greatest strength is its spirit. But for it to truly make its case for the power of hope and magic, it’s first going to have to lift the fog that surrounds it.
John Moore: 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com
“The Awakening of Angel DeLuna” **1/2 (out of four stars)
Presented by Angel Wings NYC at the Dairy Center, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder. Written by Judylynn Schmidt and Lee Ellis. Directed by Bryan Bell. Through July 10. 2 hours, 40 minutes. 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays. $18-$26. 303-444-7328 or
