Nancy Anderson and Adam Monley
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Under
the direction of James Brennan, Fanny Hill, Ed Dixon's new
musical adaptation of John Cleland's 1749 novel, bursts with
buoyant energy and infectious bawdiness.
Naïf Fanny Hill sets off
for London to make her fortune and finds herself taken in by
an unscrupulous madam (played and sung with gleeful broadness
by Patti Allison). Fanny quickly flees and meets Charles, her
true love (a solid juvenile turn by Tony Yazbeck), only to
have him kidnapped by pirates. Again alone, she returns to
a life of prostitution, where she's snapped up by a wealthy
nobleman (David Cromwell delights in this role and as a variety
of elderly letches).
A bit of infidelity with a stablehand
(played with comic machismo by Adam Monley) sends Fanny back
to the bordello, where she decides to give in to her lot in
life and excel as a "woman of pleasure." Before this
merry tale has ended, she has accomplished this goal, become
a wealthy woman, and, through a lucky twist of fate, been reunited
with Charles.
As book writer and composer,
Dixon succeeds marvelously. He creates a compelling arc for
this picaresque tale, and his music nicely evokes the period
while also incorporating operetta into the sounds of contemporary
musical theatre.
Brennan ably deploys his company,
which also includes the always solid Christianne Tisdale and
Emily Skinner, on Michael Bottari and Ronald Case's flexible
wooden-scaffold set. The witty lighting is by Phil Monat.
At the center of this swirling
tale is Nancy Anderson's Fanny, a marvelous blend of childlike
innocence and worldly pluckiness. Throughout, Anderson's songbirdlike
soprano trills over Dixon's intricate melodic lines, creating
a bravura performance that beautifully caps this delightful
theatrical confection.
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