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THEATER REVIEW: Powerful 'Magdalene' on Costa Mesa stage By: TOM TITUS Tucked away in an unobtrusive corner of Costa Mesa, the Three Trees Theater delivers a message of hope and redemption with its powerful staging of the West Coast premiere of “Magdalene — the New Musical.” Taking its subject from the Bible and offering a fictionalized account of the title heroine’s life and hard times, playwright and Broadway actress Allison Metcalf Allen has fashioned a gripping and often compelling story, set to stirring music by Grammy-nominated composers Chris Eaton and Michele Pillar. Allen has given the legendary Mary Magdalene a fascinating back story of being raped by four Roman soldiers at the age of 14, fleeing her home in shame and being lured into prostitution, only to be saved from stoning by Jesus and set on a righteous path. With a strong cast directed by Shawn Kathryne King and headed by two Actors Equity union members, this modern-dress “Magdalene” fills the stage with passion and power, sidestepping some melodramatic pitfalls along the way. The six-piece orchestra, under the baton of Rob Blaney, offers stirring support, though it tends to drown out the weaker singers on occasion. The title role is such an enormous challenge that it takes two strong actresses to portray her, each registering high on the emotional scale. Chelsea Brannon enacts the younger Mary, while professional actress Christia Mantzke fleshes out the character of the older Magdalene, occasionally interacting with her younger self. Brannon beautifully depicts the teenage Mary as a free-spirited girl, mischievous but hardly naughty, and betrothed to a neighbor lad (Stephen J. Zygo) whom she meets under the watchful eye of her nosy brother (Geoffrey Voss). Mantzke’s older and considerably wiser Magdalene (the name simply identifies a person from the town of Magdala) is a compelling presence, a mistress of her craft and emotionless purveyor of the oldest profession. Her conversion after the near-stoning is performed with heartfelt enthusiasm. There are, as might be expected, some minor disappointments. The stoning scene doesn’t include its most famous line (“let he who is without sin, etc.”), and the promised reunion between Mary and her long-abandoned suitor never materializes, even though an early line of dialogue telegraphs it. “Magdalene, the New Musical” is, quite obviously, aimed at
the more religious of audiences, though it may be thoroughly enjoyed by
the non-devout as well.
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