Review: Nevermore

Nevermore, the play that chronicles the imaginary life and mysterious death of Edgar Allen Poe, with book, lyric and music by Jonathan Christensen, directed for the Green Valley Theatre by Christopher Cook, is original, exciting and, yes, weird.

Start with the beautiful set, designed by Christopher Cook. Green Valley is an intimate venue with a small stage, part of which is shared with the seven-piece orchestra, yet Cook has created a lush interior room with a beautiful stairway that immediately catches the eye. The set becomes several different venues with the addition of roll-on pieces.

Add the wonderful costumes by assistant director Meg Masterson and the play exhibits a look that could have been designed by Edward Gorey or Tim Burton.

Finally, add the creative puppets of Christopher Cook. There are “regular” puppets, imaginative shadow puppets and an unbelievable raven—all of which add another layer to this remarkable musical.

Ryan Blanning as the iconic American writer is outstanding, and he’s surrounded by 13 equally outstanding actors, all of whom play many roles. None of them are actually identified by the roles they play but, rather, are collectively named “The Players.”

The score is dark, spooky and relentless, with sudden breaks for wonderful songs like Poe’s song of “The Raven.”

Unfortunately, the body mics used by the cast often muddled the sound so while there was no problem hearing any of the performers, understanding them, especially when singing as a chorus, too often proved difficult.