Fringe Play Reviews

Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION

Zanna, Don't!

By: Tim Acito

Stage16 / Winnipeg, MB

07/16/2011 5:10 PM | Comments: 0 (including replies) Our Rating: Your Average Rating:

Shaw Performing Arts Centre (Venue 9), to Sunday

Fringe Festival

Play Reviews

See our reviews and star ratings and share your own.
Big Top Report

Tania Kohut is live at the News Café with fringe performers at 9:30 a.m. weekday mornings for The Big Top Report.
Sideshow

Vanessa Macrae is at the News Café with fringe performers every evening for The Sideshow.
Fringe Central

News, live blog, videos, and interviews from the Fringe.
Hungry?

Free Press restaurant reviewer Marion Warhaft looks at eating options within a few blocks of most of the venues.
Buy Tickets

Buy tickets for any play on the Fringe Festival website.

What would high school be like in a gay universe where being straight was taboo?

This gleeful off-Broadway musical is set at Heartsville High, where the drama club creates a musical about the controversial issue of straights in the military.

The boy and girl who play the hetero leads realize they have feelings for one another (their duet Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is a highlight). Will they be banned from the prom, or can Zanna, the flamboyant class fairy, cast a spell to set everything straight (er, right)?

Stage 16’s winning 105-minute production shows off a talented nine-member local cast. Melodies are not the strong suit of derivative composer Tim Acito, but the numbers are infectious and the dancing terrific.

Nelson Bettencourt (Zanna) is often drowned out by the band. The trio that does a patter song fails to enunciate. Stephanie Sy (Roberta) is a powerhouse who shows the most potential to soar, but needs to stop piercing the audience’s eardrums.

Those are just quibbles. The funny, uplifting show earned a delirious standing ovation, and this crusty critic had tears in her eyes at the sheer joy and exuberance of the cast.

— Alison Mayes

From the official Fringe Festival program:

A fabulous musical fairy tale set in a parallel universe where homosexuality is the norm, heterosexuality is taboo and a magical matchmaker brings true love to one and all!

A mix of Grease and Glee, Zanna, Don't! is a witty, hilarious and blissful musical from the company behind last year's sold-out hit Spelling Bee.

http://www.zanna2011.com/

Recommended For: General Audience

Length: 105 MIN

Tickets: $10

Warnings: Strobe Lights, Glitter

History

Updated on Saturday, July 16, 2011 at 5:10 PM CDT:
Adds review

Rate this play
This play is currently rated an average of 4.6 out of 5 (14 votes).

Register and/or login to share your rating of this Fringe play. If it was well-written, well-acted, compelling and/or made you laugh or cry or get angry, mark it high. If it didn’t meet your standards, mark it accordingly.

You can also register and/or login to the site and leave a text review of the play below.

Rate this play yourself by rolling over the stars and clicking when you reach your desired rating. If it was well-written, well-acted, compelling and/or made you laugh or cry or get angry, mark it high. If it didn’t meet your standards, mark it accordingly.

You can also write your own review and put it in the comments.

You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.

The Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010; View the changes. New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.