KYLE WATKINS PHOTOGRAPHY
Lily Dallmann and Trevor Lavine, at top center, co-star in “Tuck Everlasting” at The Vanguard Theater in Montclair.
The musical “Tuck Everlasting” is based on Natalie Babbitt’s 1975 novel of the same name. But it has the feel of an ancient fairy tale, and the current production of it at The Vanguard Theater in Montclair brings it to magical life.
Introducing the show one night last weekend, its director, Janeece Freeman Clark (who is also Vanguard Theater Company’s founding artistic director) mentioned that, for the first time since Vanguard started presenting shows in Montclair, in 2021, actors from its educational program would be joining more experienced actors (some with substantial Broadway and off-Broadway credits) in this production. Presumably, one of the reasons for this was that there are a number of parts for younger performers in this musical. But based on the assured performances I saw, I would say that Vanguard should continue doing this, whenever possible.
KYLE WATKINS PHOTOGRAPHY
Mari Diop with Doreen Oliver, left, in “Tuck Everlasting.”
In the fairy tale tradition, this musical (the book, based on Babbitt’s novel, is by Claudia Shear and Tim Federle, the music is by Chris Miller and the lyrics are by Nathan Tysen) tells a fairly simple story but touches on larger themes that should be meaningful for viewers both young and old: most prominently, the question that is so much a part of the action that it is asked on the cover of the production’s program: “Would you want to live forever?”
The play’s main character, Winnie Foster (Mari Diop and Lily Dallmann alternate in the role; the night I attended, it was Diop), is an 11-year-old girl living in the small, fictional town of Treegap, New Hampshire, in the 1890s. Her father has recently died, and her loving but strict mother Betsy (Doreen Oliver) is being overprotective, over the protests of her more understanding but also comically shrill grandmother Nana (Kathy Rodriguez Monroe).
Betsy is basically keeping Winnie locked up in her house. In the show’s opening song, “Live Like This,” Winnie sings “I can’t live like this forever” and “Let this be the day when something happens.”
She also sings — in the next song, “Good Girl Winnie Foster” — “How can I know good without trying bad?” A good question. But not what her mother wants to hear.
Temptation arrives in the form of a traveling fair, presided over by the suave, sinister Man in the Yellow Suit (Andrew Willis-Woodward). Winnie wants to go. Nana is looking forward to eating cotton candy instead of potatoes. But Betsy is dead set against it.
KYLE WATKINS PHOTOGRAPHY
Trevor Lavine in “Tuck Everlasting.”
So, of course, Winnie sneaks out. But she finds more than she bargained for, in the form of the Tuck family, which is secretly living in her family’s woods. Also in the woods: a spring that makes you live forever, if you drink from it.
The Tucks — father Angus (Dwayne Clark), mother Mae (Lindsay Roberts Greene), sour older brother Miles (Branden R. Mangan) and sweet, ebullient younger brother Jesse (Trevor Lavine) — drank from that spring, nearly 100 years ago, and haven’t aged a day since then. It has been a curse as well as a blessing, as Mae sings at one point. Yes, they don’t have to worry about death and aging. But they have become outcasts, afraid of persecution if anyone were to find out their secret.
Jesse and Winnie become friends, though the other family members — including Miles, whom Jesse is perpetually fighting with — aren’t so sure that that is a wise idea.
Complicating things: The Man in the Yellow Suit knows about the spring, but doesn’t know where exactly it is, and is willing to resort to any means necessary to find it, and drink from it. And the local constable, Joe (Ian Federgreen), and his eager young assistant Hugo (DJ Clark) are doggedly trying to find the missing Winnie.
KYLE WATKINS PHOTOGRAPHY
From left, Branden R. Mangan, Trevor Lavine, Lindsay Roberts Greene and Dwayne Clark in “Tuck Everlasting.”
The large cast of characters include dancers who contribute to the bustling excitement of the fair scene; are featured in a elegant, touching mini-ballet near the end of evening that is evocative of the passage of time and the circle of life; and contribute to other scenes as well. Scenic designer Eric Marchetta creates a colorful, fanciful forest, with trees jutting out in unpredictable directions, on the Vanguard stage.
Will Miles and Jesse be able to put aside their differences? Will Betsy soften up and let Winnie breathe? Can The Man in the Yellow Suit be thwarted?
And — the big question — will Winnie drink from the spring, or choose to remain mortal?
The answers aren’t particularly surprising. But everyone involves helps to make “Tuck Everlasting” a resonant, emotionally involving experience.
“Tuck Everlasting” won’t last forever: The Vanguard Theater in Montclair will present it only through Dec. 22. For tickets, visit vanguardtheatercompany.org.
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