What a delight it was to watch an ominous, damp, and creeping sense of dis-ease spread over the audience members of The F.U.D.G.E. Theatre Company’s premiere offering of the 2009-2010 season, Nevermore. The set is ripe with the essence of decay, eerily lit, and surprisingly striking on the heels of the Company’s saccharine sweet summer production of The Wedding Singer.  Nevermore, a chilling rock-opera style musical, tracks the last few moments of the life of Edgar Allen Poe, a man possessed by his demons and haunted by the ghosts of the most important women in his life- living and dead.

The F.U.D.G.E. Theatre Company could not have chosen a more tragically beautiful piece.  Scenic Design by James Petty is undoubtedly the best I have ever seen by him (and I am a fan), set with absolutely genius lighting- from the flickering candles to the creepy gobos that cast a menacing forest on the stage.  Lighting Designer, PJ Strachman, has a natural sense of how to set the mood. Costumes are breathtaking.  I have never seen F.U.D.G.E.’s costumes look more cohesive, beautiful, and expertly crafted.  Designer and seamstress Lindsay Hurley should win a prize for these perfectly envisioned masterpieces.   Direction by Joe DeMita was brilliant.  With the perfect combination of stylized movement, natural scene work, unsettling dream sequence, and play with shadow and light, the audience is never quite sure what to expect; its just on the edge of truly frightening without a touch of gore or violence.  The actor’s voices soared under the Music Direction of Jason Whiting.  They were confident and perfectly balanced with the excellent band.  I must also give a tremendously enthusiastic kudos to an under appreciated technical position- Tina Cersosimo as stage manager calls a very light-and-sound intensive show with almost no view of the stage. The level of the finesse required to make this show run so smoothly could not have happened with a less seasoned technician.

While there is no question that this show is technically superior to any I have yet to see in The Arsenal Center’s black box space, true compliments must be given to the superbly talented cast that DeMita assembled to tell us the story.  Ronny Pompeo, as Edgar Allen Poe, is terrifying.  His wan complexion (thumbs up to Kaitlyn MacPherson’s grotesque makeup design!) blended seamlessly into his idiosyncratic gate, and his voice was so pained and wild that I was invested in the story even when he fell off pitch (which he did occasionally thanks to the difficult music).  He was truly masterful at pulling us linearly throughout the time periods of the story without a hint of confusion- his loving and sweet young Edgar was perfectly nuanced, his dark and dying Edgar, delightfully tortured.  Shawna O’Brien, a F.U.D.G.E. veteran, is sad, dark and ethereal as the ghost of Edgar’s mother.  Her raw voice is pure emotion, from disdain to anger to sorrow, it is almost impossible to take your eyes off of her.  Kerry Farrell as Edgar’s Aunt Muddy is Puritan stoic, stern and Good. Her grace and dignity is only embellished by her powerful performance in the second act’s “To My Mother”.   Kira Cowan is delicious as Edgar’s Whore.  Her voice is cool and mellow in “El Dorato” and she is absolutely beautiful to watch.  I wanted to climb into her lap myself.  Without a doubt this is the role I have been waiting to see Cowan portray since her first production with F.U.D.G.E. over a year ago.  Joelle Cross plays Virginia perfectly.  He voice is perfectly in tune, and she floats like a cloud among the cast- it is hard to believe that she is not, in fact, a thirteen year old dead child.  I’ve saved the best for last, as it were, when I mention Ashley Yarnell in her portrayal of Elmira.  She steals the show.  Her voice is hypnotic, lyrical and rich.  She plays Elmira through twenty years of life, giving her wide eyed adoration, and motherly wisdom seemingly at the same time.  I cannot say enough how wonderful she was in this role.  I would want to see the show again just for her alone.  Unfortunately for us all, the show only ran one weekend.

What a triumphant first offering, F.U.D.G.E.  I am newly invigorated for the season ahead, with the world premiere of Ryan Cunningham (of I Love You Because fame) and Charles Antin’s Half Married.

The Whore and Mother “haunt” Edgar’s thoughts.