Unicorn "Salvation of Iggy Scrooge" review by watchNwrite

A Rockin' Christmas; not as lame as it seems.
Rating: 3

The Salvation of Iggy Scrooge 

Unicorn Theatre

The Kansas City scene can be glad that "The Salvation of Iggy Scrooge" has hit the Unicorn Stage. Under direction of Missy Koonce, this lively and just-kinda-weird production had its downfalls, but it soared through the story and ended on an upbeat, pleasing, and motivating note! It's the glamorous, rock-star version of "A Christmas Carol" ... and it was thrust powerfully into this world: hippies, cross-dressing, and shiny, gold, barely-there underwear are just a few of the memorable elements which make this show not a rousing success, but still, an admirable one.

Koonce had her fair share to worry about as the director and choreographer, but the stage tricks, transitions, choreography, and overall feeling of the show were pretty solid. No actors were left behind, and everyone seemed to be having a pretty rocktastic time. However, many of the jokes throughout the first third of this show just rolled over and died. It's not clear why; people were just not laughing. And it's due to this fact that the show did, indeed, get off to an unexpectedly-slow start. With the exception of a couple not-quite-together musical moments, musical director Tony Bernal had a very musically-successful show on his hands. Stage manager Jinni Pike was unseen, unheard, and unthought-of ... which means she had it in the bag. Sounds, sets, lights, projections, costumes, and properties were all equally thoughtful and well-executed; the designers of the show and Koonce designed this show down to the actors' underwear; and the actors, for the most part, definitely acted that far down, too.

Speaking of the actors, what a bunch of talented-out-of-the-wahzoo bunch of people! This whole actors-who-sing-and-play-instruments movement taking hold in Kansas City is quite impressive. From banjo to voice to violin, these actors knew what they were doing. One slight amendment to that, though, was the failure to make many opening jokes take hold. This might have been due to Matthew Rapport's somewhat flat portrayal of Iggy Scrooge, whose character and presence failed to capture the full attention of his audience. Unluckily enough for Rapport, the liquor-guzzling, gruff-voiced, hairy portrayal of a rockstar is as over-seen as it is over-done. Matt Weiss nearly choke-holds the attention of audience members with the presence of his tongue during the first song, and after that, he earns a moderate amount of the audience's attention. Matthew McAndrews does just enough to get by as Buddy Holly without becoming annoying, which, at times, seemed more than plausible. The rest of the cast did an outstanding job holding up the here-and-there bits of this production; without them, this show truly would not have worked. To hold off this name until the very end of this paragraph must speak volumes about the impressiveness, range, and ability of Ron Megee. This actor's name does come with expectations in the KC circuit, and Koonce must have dared Megee to surpass them. The nun, the janitor, Elvis ... all exquisitely done by Megee in the highest standard. It's surprising that more audience members were not literally rolling on the floor laughing. The janitor, specifically, was the single-most heartwarming character in this play thanks to Megee's vocal and physical talents.

The show ended on a pleasant note with the song "Heart of Fire," which was accompanied by projections of good-deed-doing. The cast didn't have to try hard to sell this last number; there was just something about it that made people smile and feel good. It was effortless good cheer, and for that reason, many a spectator will be glad they decided to Iggy it up this Christmas. "The Salvation of Iggy Scrooge" is recommended with one warning; don't leave at intermission - it picks up speed by about 100 mph in Act II.