Musical-comedy After Ever After flies in the face of fairy tale lore, incredulous of ‘happy endings’. It asserts that, for the most famous of fictional heroes and villains, life goes on. They continue to exist beyond the ballgowns and gingerbread houses of stories past. The show drops us into their lives, a whole two decades later. Red Riding Hood prepares to unleash her kung-fu skills upon a broken-hearted Big Bad Wolf, the Seven Dwarves continue to enjoy the Hollywood high-life and an embittered Snow White begins to entertain a switch to the dark side. To say Rama Nicholas’ one-woman, Grimm-fairytale musical is imaginative would be grossly understating the matter.
Granted, her show essentially fan-fiction in action, too. Nicholas is lucky enough to have Grimms’ fairy tales as a blueprint for After Ever After, her material springing forth from pre-existing ideas. It’s important to keep in mind, though, that very few people do this kind of thing well. Fortunately, Nicholas’ new musical-comedy is golden, the show a more-than-worth Moosehead award recipient.
Surprisingly, After Ever After is less reliant upon stage dressing and props than its predecessor, Death Rides A Horse. Pure and simple, it’s quality writing and performing that defines this delightful production, Nicholas backing herself to construct and populate an intricate post-Grimm story. In playing twenty characters, she demonstrates her impressive versatility as a voice artist, boasting amazing charisma in the process. Nicholas’ transition between roles is remarkably seamless, too.
Impressively, Nicholas’ songs account for some of the show’s biggest laughs. Denied the free rein that comes with writing comedic dialogue, she still manages to squeeze laughs into strict verse/chorus structures. The musical interludes have another very specific function within After Ever After, too, with songs used to introduce new characters and their motivations. Everything you need to know about Snow White, for example, is creatively encapsulated within a two-three minute song. It’s a fun, efficient means of bringing the audience up to speed.
There are many measures of an exceptional show, but that instantaneous compulsion one feels to return and relive everything over again must surely rank among the best. Commendably, that’s just the kind of spell that After Ever After casts upon the audience. Nicholas’ show is excessively charming, funny and will have you smiling from start to finish.
BY NICK MASON
