Also this issue:

Feeling the '50s
CP's theater critics go Crazy for 1812 Productions’ stellar homage to 1950s comedy.
-David Anthony Fox and Toby Zinman

Taste Treat
Kitsch and high art cohabitate at Wexler Gallery's current show.
-Susan Hagen

Dolls to Remember
-Robin Rice

Philly-Nutt-Crak-Up
-Kristina Weise

Cirque loize
-Deni Kasrel

Santa Claus is Coming Out
-Debra Auspitz

Artifacts of the Improbable
-Paul Burress

Paul Taylor Dance
-Janet Anderson

December 12-18, 2002

theater

Striking 12

by Steve Cohen

Check your expectations at the door when you go to see GrooveLily at the Prince Theater -- their holiday-flavored Striking 12 is excellent entertainment that doesn’t fit into any preconceived niche.

GrooveLily itself is often billed as a folk-rock group, and that's one misperception. Its lead singer, Valerie Vigoda, has a big, warm, belting sound that's better than many folkies around today. Then, too, the band's instrumentation is much more elaborate than most folk music. Vigoda is a virtuosa on a six-string electric violin with two lower strings that take it down into cello range. Brendan Milburn conjures a wide array of sounds from his keyboards, and Gene Lewin combines jazz drumming roots with a rock beat.

Vigoda's background is classical music, Lewin's is jazz and Milburn's rock. What may be a little like folk is the group's informal rapport with audiences. Vigoda wanders among the tables in the Prince's black box theater, and all three of the performers talk amongst each other and with the patrons.

This casual approach carries over into the structure of their theater piece. Striking 12 tells a tale of a grouch who hates New Year's Eve and chooses to stay home alone. A door-to-door salesgirl tries to interest him in a "full-spectrum holiday light" to cure the winter blues. She reminds him of Hans Christian Andersen's Little Match Girl. He rejects her, then pulls out the book to reread that fable. Both the contemporary story and the Andersen story-within-a-story are told with original songs written by GrooveLily.

Adding another dimension, the performers interrupt their narrative with commentary. For example, one musician gives a kooky psychoanalysis of Andersen. At another point, Lewin plays the part of the Little Match Girl's grandmother and starts out: "Bubeleh, do you remember the time ...", whereupon another one of the troupe interrupts with: "Hey, this is Hans Christian Andersen, so make it Danish, not Bialy." The multiple levels of perspective, and the puns, make for an entertaining evening. And the way GrooveLily tells its stories matches the way the members compose and play their music -- with multiple layers and rhythms. Despite the complexity, GrooveLily is easily accessible, composing catchy hooks and riffing on them, building to some powerhouse climaxes. After the conclusion of Striking 12, the group adds a half-dozen of their pop hits, confirming that this band has a full-bodied sound and should have a big future. Catch them now, while they still can be seen close-up in a small theater.

Striking 12, Through Dec. 31, Prince Music Theater,, 1412 Chestnut St., 215-569-9700