BY AARON STELLA FRINGE CORRESPONDENT Who’d a thunk that Orpheus and Eurydice’s ancient tale of woe could be catapulted out of its musty tomes and into silk shirts, bell-bottoms, and sleek-white platform shoes. But it can, apparently. Under the artful direction of Karen Getz, director, choreographer and veteran thespian, comic-dance troupe 1812 narrates the tale through an actor-y ballet of boogie and hustle. Despite, however, Disco Descending’s fantastic soundtrack and a Saturday Night Fever vibe, the 1812 troupe are not professional dancers in any respects. They can move pretty much as well as you or I can, and in some cases, not so much. But all jazzed up in their funky threads, carrying the life of the stage in liquid smooth transitions amid all the antics and scene changes — aside from a few sloppy executions choreographically, Disco Descending stays entertaining, and effortlessly engages with laugh-out-loud funny burlesque, leaning a bit more toward the obscure and the fringy than the intellectual and the erudite. Low-impact theater is what it is: madcap mid-lifers dancing their way along the backbone to a classic allegory.
What’s Good: The music; hysterical pantomiming; the costumes; and the platforms.
What’s Bad: Sometimes sloppy dance moves; sometimes low-quality theatrical engagement.
GRADE: B+