Chesterfield Children’s Theater production of “Cheaper by the Dozen” Shows That Even Little Kids Can Have Big Parts
by Our Town Theatre Critic Barry Luden
The Chesterfield Children’s Theater opened their new production of “Cheaper by the Dozen” this week to a largely positive response this weekend. The tykes show promise, but the show was, overall, a bit rough around the edges and it could have benefited from a few weeks more practice and a director with more vision.
The actors, ages ranging from seven to thirteen, attacked their roles with an admirable vigor and spunk. Ricky Sardelli, who, at twelve, has likely acted for the last time on the CC Theater’s stage, brought the house down as the loving, militaristic father. His comedic timing was superb and his exuberance was unmatched. Look for him when he enters Stanley Tucci High’s drama department; he’s going places.
The script, which was loosely adapted into a 2003 Steve Martin feature, follows a family with twelve children ruled by a father with stringent rules to keep everyone in line. The family play stretched CCT’s resources to the brink and two of the male parts had to be changed into females after auditions and a third, Bill, had to be feminized as well when Mike Hargrove, slated to play the role, joined the youth basketball league and was kicked out for missing rehearsal. The play occasionally suffered (particularly since Hargrove’s replacement, the insufferably amateurish Cindy Myers, brought absolutely zero to the role) but for the most part, you would be hard pressed to tell the difference.
The biggest disappointment to be had was in director Erin Woodward’s utter lack of vision. One would hope she brings more enthusiasm to her day job, teaching Spanish to sixth graders, because she was essentially a nonpresence. The only change to the script was to censor the antiquated phrase “snake in the grass” because of possible sexual connotations. If you’re going to stay faithful to the script, stay faithful to the script. If you’re going to change it, then do something interesting and put your own directorial stamp on the play.
Woodward did neither and the result is tepid theater. The set design was also sickeningly bland, with three white walls, a couch and a table—with no chairs. Such laziness is incomprehensible in what would turn out to be one of CCT’s most successful productions (72 people on opening night!).
Overall, with the aforementioned Sardelli carrying the rest of the sometimes sluggish cast (male actor shortage or not, the young boy who played Frank should never set foot on a stage again and ought to consider losing 20 pounds pronto), the production was an overall success. So don’t be a cheapskate by wasting even a dozen seconds in getting down to the Chesterfield Children’s theater for this funny and sometimes melancholy show! Twelve thumbs up!
