A Tale of Two Cities at West Valley Arts

I really love the musical A Tale of Two Cities (it is my favorite novel by Charles Dickens). I saw both HCT's productions, in 2011 and 2021 (multiple times), and I count them as some of the best I've seen there. When I learned that the same production team (John Sweeney, Anne Puzey, and Marilyn Montgomery) responsible for the 2011 production was back (on the same stage) for the first show at West Valley Arts this season, I immediately bought a ticket for last night's performance. It was amazing! Lucie Manette (Brittany Andam), a young woman in London who believes that she is an orphan, learns that her father, Dr. Alexander Manette (Jared Haddock), is alive after having been wrongly imprisoned in the Bastille by the Marquise St. Evremonde (John Philpott). She travels to Paris to bring him home to London and meets Charles Darnay (Landon Horton), the nephew of Evremonde who has renounced his ties to the aristocracy, on the journey and they fall in love. Darnay is wrongfully accused of treason upon arrival in London but the dissolute lawyer Sydney Carton (Preston Yates) clears his name. Carton is also secretly in love with Lucie but, when she marries Darnay, he remains a friend of the family and becomes attached to her daughter Lucie (Jane Bonner). In Paris, Evremonde is responsible for the death of a child when his carriage recklessly runs him over in front of the Defarge's wine shop. Madame Defarge (Adrien Swenson), who has a grudge against Evremonde, encourages the boy's father, Gaspard (Ricky Dowse), to murder him which ultimately leads to revolution. Darnay feels responsible for Evremonde's household and secretly returns Paris where he is immediately arrested as an aristocrat, denounced by Madame Defarge who wants to wipe out all descendants of Evremonde, and sentenced to the guillotine. This prompts Carton to make the ultimate sacrifice to save Darnay and show his love for Lucie and her daughter. The music in this show is incredibly beautiful and stirring and I especially love "The Way It Ought to Be" by the men and women of Paris, "You'll Never Be Alone" by Dr. Manette and Lucie, "If Dreams Came True" and its reprise by Sydney and Charles, and "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" by Madame Defarge. The entire cast is outstanding but I was blown away by Yates' portrayal of Carton. His versions of "If Dreams Came True" in the second act and "I Can't Recall" as he slowly walks up the steps to the guillotine in the final scene moved me to tears. I also really loved Swenson, who has portrayed Madame Defarge in all three productions I've seen, because she sings "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" and "The Tale" with so much passion! Linda Jean Stephenson, as Miss Pross, Daniel Radford, as John Barsad, and Mason Gates, as Jerry Cruncher, provide a lot of comic relief with their hilarious performances (the novels of Dickens are very dense and filled with a lot of side characters so I appreciate how they are incorporated into the main story in this adaptation). The set, featuring several multi-level wooden platforms which are reconfigured into many different locations seamlessly by the ensemble, is simple but incredibly dramatic. My favorite set piece is the staircase leading to the guillotine, which slowly comes down from the rafters, because it is incredibly powerful! I also loved the bold lighting design, particularly the use of red hand prints projected on the floor during the scenes inciting revolution and the single spotlight on the stairs to the guillotine. I was very moved by this production and would highly recommend it but, unfortunately, the run ended last night. West Valley Arts will also be producing Shakespeare in Love, The Lightning Thief, Legally Blonde, and Jekyll & Hyde this season (go here for information and tickets).

Note:  Jill Santoriello, who wrote the book, music, and lyrics for this show, was in the audience last night. She sat a few rows ahead of me and I noticed that she was mouthing the words to the songs!