STAGE WEST: "Huzzah!" at Old Globe Theatre

Liisi LaFontaine (left) and Cailen Fu are sibling rivals in "Huzzah!"                                    Photo by Jim Cox

            If you thought a Renaissance faire was nothing more than a grand outdoor dress-up party with a maypole and booze, you’d be mistaken. Uh, to an extent.
            Dressing up, drinking and the presence of a maypole are part-and-parcel of these
Ren faires, which have been around since the 1960s. But they’re also about community and about the freedom to be someone else (even a history or cosplay nerd) for a few hours. As with, say, Comic-Con, they’ve got their repeat attendees who take the whole thing way too seriously, but many who go just want to have fun, and what others think of their idea of fun, well, to the privy with them!
            It’s in this proud and adventurous spirit that the prolific husband-and-wife team of Nell Benjamin and Laurence O’Keefe (“Legally Blonde” on Broadway) have created “Huzzah!”, a world-premiere musical comedy at the Old Globe.
            “Huzzah!” is a musical comedy as advertised. It has an 18-song score that leans heavily on rousing ensemble numbers that allow the period-costumed characters to swing their tankards and kick up their heels and rock back and forth in merrymaking unison. It’s also frequently funny -- humor of the hard-PG-13 variety, unafraid to be bawdy, rowdy or even political.
            I enjoyed the hell out of it, and my personal experience with a Renaissance faire dates back two decades and was long ago consigned to a distant place in my memory.
            “Huzzah!” wrestles back and forth with what is a true Renaissance faire and to some degree the show regards these popular gatherings with a critical eye, but it never makes fun of them.
            Instead the conflict is personified through a family story, about a fictitious Kingsbridge Midsummer Renaissance Faire owned and operated by one Johnny Mirandola (Lance Arthur Smith). The faire is in serious financial trouble at the outset, which complicates his bestowing of the business upon his two daughters, Gwen (Liisi LaFontaine) and Kate (Cailen Fu). (There’s more than a little “King Lear” in this premise – more than we know, it’ll turn out.)
             Gwen, who’s been absent from the faire, has a smart head for business and has long ceased romanticizing it. The dreamier and more impetuous Kate loves the folks and the trappings of the faire so much that she can’t conceive of it as just a business operation.
            But their disagreement doesn’t last long. By the second song in the show, “Dragons,” the two have bonded and decided to see it – the mess the faire is in – through. Seemed like Gwen caved on this too quickly, but other, more emotionally charged conflicts between the siblings lie ahead.
            “Huzzah!” is beautiful to look at (scenic design by the dependable Todd Rosenthal, glorious costumes by Haydee Zelideth) and certainly diverting enough in its first 15 minutes or so. Then it gets an electric jolt of energy with the arrival at the faire of Sir Roland Prowd (Leo Roberts), a swordsman extraordinaire with a shady reputation, flowing locks reminiscent of a Hemsworth brother, and a muscular, soaring singing voice that rings out in the confines of the Globe’s main theater. “The Song of Roland” is part Josh Groban, part Orson Welles.
            By now you’ve probably guessed the source of that aforementioned more emotionally charged conflict between Gwen and Kate.
            This is the story of “Huzzah!”, basically: the equally matched battling sisters against the backdrop of the threatened faire. Is it enough to sustain a two-hour, 15-minute Broadway hopeful?
            Verily I tell you.
            Annie Tippe directs a cast of memorable and likable (or unlikable depending on what’s called for) characters. In the likable corner is Gareth (Anthony Chatmon II), the longtime faire lawyer who’s smitten with Gwen, feels outclassed by Sir Roland and who’s discouraged in his romantic wishes by a trio of happily deprecating lords (Kevin Pariseau, Mike Millan and Josh Breckinridge) in a hilarious number late in Act One. Likable but notorious is Anne Bonny the Pirate Queen/middle school teacher by day (Kate Shindle), she who keeps the faire well oiled. Then there’s Wayland Smith the sword-making blacksmith (Peyton Crim), the faire’s philosopher king with a forge.
            Though he wins cronies by his sheer indomitable charisma, Sir Roland is in a class by himself as the antagonist, and even as he exploits the most injurious aspects of the faire in his boasted quest to keep it authentic and untouched by technology, he’s hard to completely dislike. Even when he goes full RFK Jr. by insisting that the faire’s first-aid services be abandoned. 
            Gwen and Kate remain the anchors of “Huzzah!” – at loggerheads for much of the story but still, when it comes down it, family. Fu’s Kate has a touch of Glinda from “Wicked” in her; she’s shallow and materialistic and loves herself dearly. The boisterous “The Song of Kate!” number that opens the show’s second act finds her in full-blown self-indulgence. Fu is a talented comedian who can get laughs without saying a word or singing a note.
            LaFontaine, meanwhile, is steady and stalwart as the “responsible sister” who can’t help falling for Sir Roland but who possesses a fierce feminist heart and a solid grasp of right and wrong. It’s she who is destined for heroism on behalf of the foredoomed faire, those in it and of women in general, including her sis.
            There’s a plot turn late in “Huzzah!” that comes out of left field and really needed to be at least foreshadowed sometime earlier in the going. It’s critical to resolving Gwen’s and Kate’s differences. Possibly this could be smoothed out as the show moves beyond the Old Globe?
            For a spectacular in which the comic antics, verbal slings and arrows, sword fighting and choreography (by Katie Spelman) built into it are so entertaining, “Huzzah!” does possess a charming musical score too. “Drink in the Day” (no explanation required there) is raucous gaiety, “A Toast to the Bride” sheer naughtiness, while the sea chanty-like “The Stowaway” featuring LaFontaine and Chatmon and the sisters’ childlike melody “Holly Tree and Ivy Vine” are tender and affecting.
            Crim’s “The Weight In Your Hand,” while drawn out, is stirring, and “The World We Live In” with LaFontaine out in front of the company is a big contextualizing climax.
            On opening night, more than a few theatergoers came dressed in Renaissance faire attire, making some of them too flowy for their seats. That’s one way to get to know your neighbor.
            In case you’re interested there’s a Renaissance Faire Costume Guide out there on the Web.
            “Huzzah!” may not redouble interest in Renaissance faires, but who knows? It might bring back doublets.
            “Huzzah!” runs through Oct. 19 at the Old Globe in Balboa Park.