Ogden-A Tale of Two Cities, the musical based on the novel by Charles Dickens, with a book, music, and lyrics by Jill Santoriello, opened on Broadway in 2008, but only ran for 33 previews and 60 performances. With such a short track record, why is it still a tale that gets attention? Chosen by Ogden Musical Theatre for their annual in concert production this year, directed by Maddie Tarbox, this is the fourth time UTBA is reviewing the adaptation of the classic novel. 
Set in the cities of London and Paris with the historical backdrop of the French Revolution, as a critic and avid theatre-goer I was intrigued by Tarbox’s director note in the program. Many know the director’s note is my favorite part of the playbill. She brings her directorial vision to one word, humanity. Within that humanity, she focuses her point with one character, that of Sydney Carton, played by Kyle Olsen. When I first saw A Tale of Two Cities in 2017, while being a Dickens fan, I did not feel impacted by the humanity of the story because of the cumbersome nature of the writing of the musical, but I was excited to give the show another shot, especially with this new focus.
The first difference I felt with this production was the live music by the Chamber Orchestra Ogden under the baton of Dr. Michael Palumbo. I am the ever advocate of live musicians, and this 20-piece orchestra is exactly why. While I confess the music of A Tale of Two Cities is not my personal favorite, it was made ever so much more majestic with the talents of the orchestra, and I found myself finally being sold to its merits. This conversion was also helped by the talented vocals of the ensemble and the skilled music direction of Jake Heywood. When a show is billed as a concert version, the focus is much more on the music than a full production, so the vocalization is key. Heywood has brought together great musical numbers and has helped me to reconsider a few of the songs in the score.
While the production is done with the players in concert black and minimal staging, the production value is amplified with beautiful projections of the French and English views of the time period designed by Connor Padilla. There was also significant amount of lighting design by Daniel Garner, which was very effective in adding to the mood of the show. The lighting design was most effective at the very end, when it combined with the music and the sound design by Jonah Hogg to bring the haunting imagery of the guillotine to life.
Olsen’s portrayal of Carton was spell-binding. He has a golden voice, which was evident from his first notes in “The Way it Ought to Be”, but it was his character development throughout the show, which truly is difficult to do in concert style, that intrigued me. As he is partnered with the other players throughout the production, from the devilish yet resourceful Barsad played by Angel Martinez to the innocent Lucie with the angelic voice played by Emma Otis, Olsen was able to show a path that started deep in despair and depression and ended in honor and joy, as strange as that may seem considering the fate of the character. While I still maintain that the music of the show is not written as well as I would like, I was deeply taken by the directorial choices and acting capabilities of the production that unfolded in front of me.
Another fascinating take on humanity was that of Madame Defarge, played by Jessica Knowles Andrus. Andrus is an actress with a commanding presence, and she used that presence to show well the characterization of someone encased in the desire for revenge. As a therapist, I see this need for revenge eat at people in many ways, and Andrus quite accurately encompassed that hunger and pain.
The greatest compliment I can pay to the full team is that their reenactment gave me the desire to revisit the original work by Dickens and consider the humanity of each character more fully. It also allowed me to look at a work that I had previously found flawed and find more beauty in it than I had given credit. It is this type of work that keeps me coming to the theater.
A Tale of Two Cities plays through March 1st. Evening performances are at 7:30 PM on Friday, and Saturday with matinees on Saturday at 2pm and Sunday at 4pm at the Peery Egyptian Theater (2415 Washington Blvd, Ogden, Utah 84401). Tickets are $20-28. For more information see https://ogdenmusicaltheatre.org/
