Tulsa World: 'Little House' remains well-built, adorable

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'Little House' remains well-built, adorable

Melissa Gilbert and Steve Blanchard as Ma and Pa Ingalls discuss going West during Tuesdays night's performance of "Little House on the Prairie" at the Performing Arts Center. RIP STELL / for the Tulsa World

By KAREN SHADE World Scene Writer
Published: 11/12/2009 2:26 AM
Last Modified: 11/13/2009 3:30 PM

"That was just adorable," exclaimed a satisfied viewer as the audience exited opening night of "Little House on the Prairie" at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center.

Her equally pleased cohort chimed in agreement. I have to say it — "adorable" may be precisely the right word to encapsulate Tuesday night's experience.

The house was respectfully full for a Tuesday night musical-theater opening. But when you think about it, having Melissa Gilbert's name attached to a touring production can't hurt. Oklahoma isn't the land it was 100 years ago, but you can bet that its people appreciate a fine pioneer tale filled with optimism against hardship. "Little House on the Prairie" is exactly that — not terribly complicated, yet thoroughly entertaining on a chilly November night.

The orchestra opened with melodies reminiscent of still, grainy images of sod houses, pioneer families living hard lives and children with faces void of carefree joy. Or, imagine a Ken Burns documentary about homesteaders in the 1880s, and you've found your sound.

Following a high-energy opening number with most of the cast, an effervescent Gilbert entered to applause as Ma, a character anyone who's a fan of the "Little House" television series that began in 1974 remembers as admirable, gentle and far removed from the subservient image of the late 19th century wife and mother equally as trapped by her circumstances as by the corsets she endured.

At that point, you begin to understand that this winsome musical has

much in common with the television series (indeed, both are based on the books of the real Laura Ingalls Wilder), and yet they have little to do with one another.

Gilbert's Ma is lyrical as befitting the musical stage, but one also suspects that little Laura has inherited her high spirits from the ever-stoic Caroline Ingalls rather than from her Pa, Charles Ingalls (played by Steve Blanchard). And who knew she could kick up her heels and do better than a decent job with her solos?

Gilbert has been given more than just top billing. Her name is solidly fixed with the title, for good reason. But no one, not even Gilbert, could say any performance tops the true lead — Kara Lindsay as Laura.

Lindsay is an enigma when you consider this actress has already earned a bachelor of fine arts from Carnegie Mellon University and been part of several noteworthy productions. The intriguing part is how well she portrays Laura the child — ornery, lively and innocent. Purely believable as a little girl, Lindsay is equally adept at showing her steps to becoming a young woman.

In musicals covering a broad span of years, sometimes they forgo pauses in the timeline that allow you to consume the scene, characters and times more fully. "The Color Purple" ring a bell?

"Little House" finds a way to cut across years while allowing relationships time to fill out. Yes, Laura goes from child to teacher to wife within a matter of hours, but the audience doesn't feel hassled to get there.

Further defining itself in its own right, "Little House" the musical has its own lighter touches. Little Carrie, played by Carly Rose Sonenclar, deadpans with delight — two words that rarely should go together. Kate Loprest's Nellie is less vindictive and as the play carries on, more stooge-like — a somewhat disappointing turn.

This Ingalls family and the prairie town all around them live through the hardships of life in the unknown country, and "Little House" makes the prairie grasses suggestively roll in lovely backdrops of bright and colorful skies and expansive notes in the score.

Sometimes, life could be a hazard for the Ingalls' and other settler families of the Dakotas. But as every sight and sound of "Little House on the Prairie" reminds you, it's also full of promise and freedom. Don't tell me those qualities do not speak to people still.

The play continues at the Tulsa PAC through Sunday.

LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 2 p.m. Saturday- Sunday; 7 p.m. Sunday

Where: Chapman Music Hall of the Tulsa Performing Arts Center, 101 E. Third St.

Tickets: $20-$60, available at the PAC box office, 596-7111, and at tulsaworld.com/mytix.

Karen Shade 581-8334
karen.shade@tulsaworld.com By KAREN SHADE World Scene Writer

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