This being a show meant for kids, I defer to a critical opinion I overheard right afterward, voiced by a child not yet 5:
Coauthored by Mario Baldessari and Ethan Slater and directed by Jon Townson, How to Catch a Leprechaun weaves a bit o’ magic in forty minutes from eight merry tunes and four lively characters. If the gleeful sounds coming from the youngsters at the 2 p.m. matinee I attended yesterday are any indication, Keegan has found a winner for the wee ones. Plus there’s just enough over-their-heads humor to land some choice chuckles for grownups.
Josh Sticklin turns in a delightfully impish performance as the Leprechaun. He sings the show’s first song, “The Lights Be Fading,” which includes in its lyrics a most entertaining version of preshow advisories about silencing your cell phone and such.
We’re soon in Mulligan’s Pub, where we meet Riley O’Really, a guitar-strumming minstrel and intrepid Leprechaun catcher played with a twinkle in his eye and a jig in his step by Bradley Foster Smith.
The two proprietors of the pub are the hearty, earthy barkeep Mrs. Mulligan (Sally Cusenza) and her lanky husband Mr. Mulligan (Bryan Doyle), who keeps distractedly swinging a golf club. The three sing a song called “Green Lemonade” explaining that’s the only beverage the pub serves.
The Mulligans dispute O’Really’s claim that leprechauns exist, but O’Really knows better. He has seen one himself in this very pub! Besides, all the kids in audience are in loud agreement because they’ve espied Sticklin’s character sneaking about too!
A funny antiphonal bit begins whereby anytime O’Really says his name, it prompts a chorus from the house of “Oh, really?” And when the youngsters were urged to point at any sighting of the Leprechaun, I heard them do so with the cutest of squeals.
Thus is set in motion the captivating tale of O’Really’s plan to catch the Leprechaun in order to obtain his pot of gold—a quest that takes him to a great daisy field, conjured by oversize prop flowers designed by Carol Baker and lovely projections designed by Patrick Lord. There’s also clever costuming designed by Kelly Peacock, a cheery lighting design by Dan Martin, and a bouncy sound design by Jake Null.
The ongoing interplay between the players and the young audience is indeed cool and funny. Smith does a preshow sing-along as folks are finding their seats. And soon as the show ends, the actors still in costume head to the lobby, where they chit-chat with the kids, hand out souvenir trinkets, and readily pose for photos.
For anyone looking to catch a really, oh-really kid-friendly musical this season, Keegan Theatre’s How to Catch a Leprechaun is a lucky charmer of a show.
Running Time: About 40 minutes, with no intermission.
Appropriate for children age 3 and up.
