The intimate Studio Theatre in downtown Little Rock hasn't been open long enough for those other than hard-core theatergoers to know of its existence. If there's any justice, the enchanting production of the musical Nine that opened Friday in the Studio Theatre will have new audiences taking to Google Maps to find it.
Based on Federico Fellini's semiautobiographical film 8½, Nine crawls inside the head and heart of the celebrated film director and noted Lothario Guido Contini as he suffers to create his next movie and keep the several women in his life straight.
With music and lyrics by Maury Yeston and a book by Arthur Kopit, Nine won the Tony award in 1982 for Best Musical and then the revival in 2003 starring Antonio Banderas won another Tony. The reputation of Nine took several steps back after the 2010 movie adaptation starring Banderas was a critical and commercial flop.
Director Rafael Colon Castanera, moonlighting from his day job as a production manager at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre, makes a strong case for Nine. Backed by an astonishingly polished ensemble of 14 performers, Nine delivers a mature and complex tale with beguiling simplicity. The cozy Studio Theatre stage is decorated with minimal fuss, a couple of chandeliers and gold chairs that move on and off.
Castanera rightly relies on his own spectacular costumes and the voices of his cast to carry the day. Heather Smith as Luisa Contini puts wrenching emotion in her solo, "My Husband Makes Movies." In "A Call from the Vatican," Antisha Anderson-Scruggs as dynamo Carla Albanese demonstrates ample power and sex appeal. Erin Martinez's number as the salacious Saraghina is a master class in holding the audience's attention.
As the suave, conflicted and self-indulgent mess that is Guido, James Norris is in command from the first note. His striking tenor effortlessly glides through what would otherwise be difficult songs. Perhaps the highlight comes at the end of the first act with the searching "The Bells of St. Sebastian."
Nine continues at the Studio Theatre, 320 W. Seventh St. through April 19. Show times are 7 p.m. Thursday through April 11 and April 16-18 and 2 p.m. April 12 and 19. Tickets are $20, $15 for students and senior citizens and available at eventbrite.com. More information is available from (501) 374-2615.
Metro on 04/05/2015