Review: "Jack's Bean Stalked" Proves a Giant Success

Jack's Bean Stalked

Written by Robert K. Benson

Directed by Madeline Wall

Presented by R & R Productions at Parkside Lounge

317 E. Houston, Manhattan, NYC

November 23-December 14, 2024

Gabriel Spector and Lily Ali-Oshatz. Photo by Michael Russell.
For many of us, at least, this may not feel like the most joyful holiday season, given the state of, well, seemingly everything. Luckily, there's Jack's Bean Stalked, a new British-style panto in which the recovery of stolen joy is both a narrative element of the show and a byproduct of being in the audience. For those unfamiliar with panto, it is a popular Christmas-season tradition in the U.K. - alongside the ghost story, another holiday tradition which these particular Americans would love to see culturally appropriated - a form of musical comedy based on folk or fairy tales and featuring jokes on contemporary topics, a handful of prescribed character types (a Hero and Villain, a talking animal, and so on), and a bit of Rocky Horror-style audience participation. With these building blocks as its magic beans, Jack's Bean Stalked lets us laugh at ourselves and where we are, a perfect collective release in the lead-up to the new year.
 
As one might guess from its title, Jack's Bean Stalked adapts that classic story of wealth redistribution, "Jack and the Beanstalk," and marries the tale to inspiration from the obsession-themed Baby Reindeer and Saltburn (each of which is duly and hilariously alluded to in the show). This is the fifth NYC panto from R & R Productions, made up of multidisciplinary artists Rachel McPhee and her husband, Bristol-born Robert K. Benson, who also wrote the show; and you can hear the pair, along with performer Matthew Mastromatteo, who plays the Dame, a drag character standard in panto, as well as the Giant's Wife, discuss the inspirations and aims for Jack's Bean Stalked on the November 16th episode of Stage Whisper. There, the artists articulate their goals of creating a welcoming atmosphere in which everyone can share in the joy and stupidity (their terms) of the form (and we also learn that McPhee's seeing Sir Ian McKellan in a Dame role was her gateway into panto). Jack's Bean Stalked more than achieves these goals, deftly mixing absurd, bawdy, up-to-the-minute topical humor into a deliciously frothy concoction in the intimate space of the Parkside Lounge (to enhance the holiday cheer, one can also grab a drink at the front bar while waiting for the performance, held in the back of the venue, to begin).
L to R: Lily Ali-Oshatz, Regan Sims, and Rachel McPhee. Photo by Michael Russell.
Our Hero in this story (typically, like the Dame, subject to cross-gendered casting) is Jack (a fantastic Lily Ali-Oshatz, infectiously expressive at just the right level of exaggeration). Jack lives in Staten Island (the Forgotten Borough, as one joke has it) with his mother (Rachel McPhee, wrapping her lines in a comically pronounced Forgotten Borough accent) while he struggles to get his stand-up career off the ground. His mother, having exhausted a number of other money-making options, sends Jack to sell their cow (Regan Sims and Elizabeth Wright-Williams). Jack, of course, trades the cow to a Mysterious Stranger (Gabriel Spector) for five magic beans, which then grow into a beanstalk (Gabriel Spector, delightfully smarmy in his obsession with Jack) who promises fame to Jack - but Jack must first agree to "climb" him (Jack does ask the audience what he should do at one point, but we can't be trusted for good advice).
Matthew Mastromatteo as The Dame.  Photo by Michael Russell.
In addition to the commentary on the attention economy embedded in Jack's arc, the production bursts with short comedic songs, with original music by Gabriel Spector and Lily Ali-Oshatz and featuring live accompaniment by Mark Galinovsky, who plays some supporting roles as well, like two newspaper reporters at once; a dance-off; jokes about everything from Andrew Tate and Elon Musk to British pop stars, Bitcoin, TikTok, and the climate apocalypse; an action scene in mime; and even a plot twist involving the Giant (Robert K. Benson, leaning into the working-class Englishness of the Villain) when we finally meet him, as well as a funny where-are-they-now epilogue. All of this action is set off by great costume design from Madeline Wall and Maryellen DeVivo and is framed, including a brief audience participation tutorial in the beginning involving a couple of volunteers, by the Dame (Matthew Mastromatteo) as a venue owner with a soft spot for waifs and strays. Whichever category you fall into, the Dame's establishment is the place to be if you're looking for a spot of unadulterated, and adult, fun for the holidays.

-John R. Ziegler and Leah Richards

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