Editor’s note: Little House on the Ferry: The Musical has just posted its closing notice for Saturday, November 9. The show started previews on Tuesday, October 15 and officially opened, Wednesday, October 30.
By Bart Greenberg***The historic upstairs cabaret room at The Duplex in the heart of the West Village has happily reopened after a complete restoration and remodeling. It also has a new name, “Ferry’s Landing” and a new original musical, Little House on the Ferry to go with it. Both the redesign and the 
production offer mixed results. Lots of enjoyment to have but falling far short of total satisfaction.
The space: the good news is the sound system and the lighting have been majorly upgraded. All kinds of lighting effects were possible (including a great deal of strobe lighting without warning for those affected by it) and both dialogue and lyrics could be understood with surprising clarity given the somewhat chaotic nature of the show. The high tables and uncomfortable bar chairs, more than claustrophobically shoved together, are gone, replaced by somewhat uncomfortable cushioned benches shoved against both long walls, creating a long narrow playing area the length of the room. The audience sits shoulder to shoulder and have to keep its collective legs pulled in lest you trip a cast member tap dancing past you. There is beverage service, though; attendees can either grip their drinks or place them into awkward, half-seen cup holders.
The stage remains at one end of the room and if audience members arrive toward show time may find themselves 
awkwardly seated; additionally, anyone in the house may find themselves politely asked by the cast to temporarily move to make room for a scene, or invited to dance or share a toast. Strangely, ticket holders received an email pre-show reminding them “please don’t touch any of the performers.” Evidently the actors didn’t receive the same caution, but given how attractive the cast is and how brief some of the costumes are, the temptation is understandable.
Little House on the Ferry is a traditional book musical by Robert Gould, who created the story and shared lyricist and composer duties with Rob Arbelo; the work tells the story of a close-knit group of friends sharing a guest house on Fire Island in 2011, just as the New York State Congress is considering a marriage equality bill. Randall (Charles Osborne) keeps enthusiastically checking his phone for news updates while making plans to marry his boyfriend Timothy (Andrew Leggieri), a high-powered attorney with a skeptical attitude toward the chances of a 
positive outcome. Randy’s co-worker, the young and enthusiastic Antonio (Gilberto Saenz) is along for the ride, and instantly smitten with Max (played by a bondage blow up doll). Their host, Donnie (Christopher Harrod), a widower with major money issues thanks to the inequitable laws, acts as a house mother for the group. Causing conflict is a stranger, Jake (Troy Valjean Rucker), a gay rights columnist with a troubled background, who is instantly attracted to Randall. Overseeing all of this is your hostess Xana DuMe (Felipe Galganni), a tap dancing drag queen of many looks, plus three energetic members of a Greek Chorus (Manuela Agudelo, Kelsey Rogers and at the performance attended, Andreas Wyder) playing multiple roles and seemingly only off-stage long enough to change costumes.
The cast is uniformly excellent—every one of them triple threats. Osborne is an especially appealing protagonist, keeping the character likable while going through a complicated romantic journey. Rucker and Leggieri both define their characters well, even the unlikable aspects—at least until the script makes the latter so horrid that it stretches credibility. 
Saenz brings lots of energy into the most clichéd of these roles, and Harrod has a nice gravitas to the senior member of the group, struggling with some real world problems such as loss, finances and the inequality of the law. Galganni adds great joy and attitude to the evening, and impressively taps complicated patterns in heels. (Michael McCrary provided the inventive and varied choreography for all.)
The musical runs 90 minutes with no intermission. After a muddled opening of atmospheric lighting and distant muted train and ferry announcements that has a strangely ominous effect, more like a prelude to a horror story, the evening comes to life with a series of energetic entrances and fast introductions of the situation and characters. This rhythm continues for the next hour before the proceedings begin to fall apart. The bouncy score also helps the momentum (although the four reprises of “We’re on Fire Island” may be a few too many), and while the insistent rhyming of the lyrics can occasionally get wearing, they are, for the most part, genial and help to move the story along. But then, the musical runs out of steam with some unpleasant plot turns, lots of repetitive scenes, and not one but two fantasy sequences: one involving roller blading seagulls and 
another involving tap dancing deer. One development that could have formed a charming scene involving two supporting players is only reported and not shown. And the central romantic triangle is trashed when it is suddenly being played for camp value.
Director Victoria Rae Sook, having to deal with the awkward playing area, occasionally allowed too much to go on, thus losing focus. But she did draw out the fine performances on display, as well as highlighting the most important moments of the piece. But she must also bear some of the responsibility for the problems in the last part of the evening. No qualifications necessary for the colorful, imaginative and sexy costumes by Tyler Holland, and the fine work of music director Quenton Ellis who seamlessly managrd the live vocals with the pre-recorded music tracks. There is so much to enjoy in this evening that the creatives are hopefully willing to do some editing and adjusting to make the show very much better the whole way through.
Photos by Austin Ruffer
