After the show I asked a friend and staunch supporter of the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training if she had seen Three Postcards about 20 years ago as a regular also at Florida Studio Theater. Said she: "If I had, I wouldn't have come tonight." That earlier experience, however, had forewarned me: it was a disappointing show about three women done by anything-but-disappointing actresses. Though the musical supposedly has been revised since its debut in 1987, I detected but a few changes -- like updated references, for example, to the film "Thelma and Louise."
Musical arrangements seem more like those for Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along and Company. Not too new these days.
Part of the title reflects the women of the story who open by narrating that they've shared years of friendship but are having a rare get-together in a trendy Manhattan restaurant. Little Jane (short but not little Alexandra Guyker, dressed for success) is a money-making career woman but with an alcoholic husband and bratty kid. At table and in life, her opposite is Big Jane (Bethany Weise, done up like a rag doll and just as ungainly). She can't keep a job or boyfriend but remains upbeat -- with vocal volume too. In between, KC (tailored Hannah Goalstone, the prettiest) might have been called Plain Jane since she's most normal. Her mother having recently died, KC suffers deep grief.
While the women try to engage in positive memories, the sad songs played by pianist Bill underscore their problems. Each of the three also engages in fantasies, played out with their Waiter (engaging Ghafir Akbar). His imagination more than equals theirs as he substantiates singing of a "Cast of Thousands."
In 1987, Three Postcards was somewhat of a novelty as a chamber musical with three heroines whose life and love problems were as worthy of staging as men's always seemed to be. Unfortunately, the three are still stereotyped as women lacking fulfillment or happiness in career, family, and above all, relationships. Neither subtle nor touching, these types are contrived, uninteresting. The Waiter has the best role: he intrigues. The women almost do when they interact with him. Best scene has Akbar's confident Waiter propping Guyker's Little Jane up on the piano to sing like Michelle Pfeiffer in "The Fabulous Baker Boys." He's the perfect presenter and appreciator.
Director Greg Leaming doesn't always define when reality gives way to fantasy. It may sometimes be attributable to lack of a clear place for one or the other. That table space can get awfully crowded! Neither does spot lighting always suffice, though it's effective when Goalstone's KC sings "The Picture in the Hall," the best song.
Musical continuity is sometimes reduced to beat, beat, beat. When the pianist sang on opening night with no or low microphone, lyrics were lost. Yet Bethany Weise's sound seemed blasting. At least Amy J. Cianci's costumes didn't disappoint. Still, FSU/Asolo Conservatory students likely gained more from this experience than we did as audience.
