A Post-Theatric Review of Mr. Burns (Part One)

A Villain Stands the Test of Time

The Centenary Stage finally brought Mr. Burns to the Edith Kutz Black Box Theatre, opening on Thursday, Oct. 16. Written by Anne Washburn, with a score done by Michael Friedman, Director Christopher Young and the Mr. Burns cast have begun their first weekend with the production.

After meeting Professor Young and our first discussion about the production, I knew I would have to truly experience this show myself. Opening night, I made my way to The David and Carol Lackland Center with a friend who luckily had no plans that night and took a seat to the left side of the stage.

As the lights began to dim and the crowd started to settle, my anticipation grew, waiting to see the post-electric experience of one Mr. Charles Montgomery Plantagenet Schicklgruber Burns.

Act One: Lost in the Feare

The first act brings us in, mid-conversation with our characters remembering the famed Simpsons’ Episode “Cape Feare.” Matt (played by Daniel Paternina) is going back and forth with Jenny (played by Aurelia Shanga) and Marie (played by Katie O’Shea) about the different jokes and story of the episode, based on the 1991 Robert De Niro film of the same name, while Sam (played by Malakii Layton) keeps watch.

Now, this scene has so much dialogue, but that is precisely the scene’s purpose.

Every moment through this scene would have a flow of conversation, to then be abruptly cut by something outside of their intimate conversation. And soon enough, the tension would ease for the group to slowly return to its flow.

I highly commend the cast for this scene; it is a very daunting task to keep focus and the audience’s attention with long, drawn out moments like this. Even more so, when having those tense moments to draw back that attention and catch the audience off guard.

The act continues when Gibson (Played by Daniel Richarme) enters, startling the group into drawing their weapons upon him.

They proceed to go through his stuff, discovering that he is traveling around to find more survivors and supplies.

As the tension dies down once again, they begin to talk more, coming back to “Cape Feare” as Gibson remembers Sideshow Bob’s line, “Oh, I’ll stay away. Stay away……FOREVER!”

The first act concludes when the group asks Gibson to sing “Three Little Maids” from the episode, referring to the Gilbert and Sullivan Comic Opera The Mikado.

As Gibson dances around and sings to the group, Colleen (played by Raelyn Menon) comes out to see what is going on, to then see Gibson dancing and start to form an idea that comes to fruition in Act 2.

Though this act is the slowest of the three, it is the easiest to follow and perfectly sets the tone and mood for the rest of the production. I will also commend Richarme for his performance through this scene, as a freshman coming into Centenary, he really showed how much of a triple threat he can be.

Act Two: Driving through The American West

We continue through the second act, which takes place almost seven years after the first act, where now this group of survivors plus actress Quincy (played by Erin Clark) have evolved into a make-shift theatre group.

We find them practicing a Chablis commercial, discussing whether or not Chablis was really the best choice for the segment, to then practicing the FBI scene from “Cape Feare,” as they have recreated the episode into a traveling production to the society of the post-apocalyptic world.

This act has a lot of information like the first act, but with more action taking place, I felt that some information might not have come across as simple as much of rest. But other than that, I really enjoyed the act, as their jokes and references were really fun and came across quite well to the audience. The scene goes on, as the group begins to run through the rest of the episode, performing a medley of pop culture songs from Toxic by Brittiny Spears, Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars, Livin’ La Vida Loca by Rick Martin, and Eminem’s Lose Yourself.

This is a SPOILER WARNING for the rest of Mr. Burns, A Post Electric Play. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED…

After the medley, the scene continues with Gibson playing Sideshow Bob climbing out from underneath the Simpson’s Family car. Gibson begins Bob’s elaborate speech towards Bart, he suddenly stops in place, as three masked individuals step forward brandishing pistols.

Everyone is held in place, as the masked individuals point their weapons towards Gibson and everyone. This leads to Marie bringing the keys to their set to the first masked person, who then turns around and fires a shot right into her chest.

The act fades out as everyone in the group runs screaming as more shots are heard. Jenny holds the dying Marie on the ground as one of the masked people appears behind Jenny and slowly aims their pistol for her head.

This act was fun; the choreography was professional and encapsulated the characters’ mindset of being a performer. The idea of acting, as a character who is acting in another role, is a lot easier said than done.

This act also surprised me a lot. It follows the same structure as the first with a sense of fear and dread that comes up out of the fun and action. But once the masked person fired a cap gun that actually smoked, it came as a genuine shock, breaking what I think most of the audience was truly expecting.