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Newspaper Articles 
Theater Review: Duck into 'Honk' for big fun 
Pioneer Press
Published: August 24, 2003
By Dominic P. Papatola
"Honk!," a musical based on the classic tale of the Ugly Duckling, is just plain daffy.
The hit musical from London comes across the pond in a giddily overblown staging at the Children's Theatre Company that combines '60s kitsch, the periodic adult in-joke, a tuneful score and storytelling that's wide-eyed and as broad as broad can be. There's not a scintilla of subtlety to it, but it's heartwarming and great good fun.
Right at the top, attention must be paid to Reed Sigmund, the actor who plays Ugly, the feathered phenom who commands the stage from the moment he busts out of his immense spotted egg with a lusty "QUONK!"
Sigmund, a roly-poly young man who has been distinguishing himself with fine comic turns at CTC for the past couple of seasons, is simply magnificent in this role. Hair pasted up in a permanent cowlick, walking on every part of his feet except the soles, with a dopey, astigmatic grin slapped on his oh-so-expressive face, Sigmund is so adorably vulnerable that he makes you want to chortle and burst into tears at the very same time.
Sigmund's performance alone is worth the price of admission, but the CTC effort sparkles all over the place - close your eyes and pick a name at random from the cast list and you'll find excellence. How about Teri Parker-Brown, resplendent in a Donna Reed wig, who plays Ugly's mom with harried wisdom and a lovely singing voice?
How about Andravy, channeling Little Richard as the cat who would like to help Ugly - into his stomach? How about longtime CTC vet Gerald Drake, who, in a tiny role as an iridescent blue jaybird, is so positively avian that you expect him to flap off the stage at any moment?
How about the little ones? In the long history of youngsters on the CTC stage, the quartet of Grant Sorenson, Kristina Hoskens, Nathan Barlow and Maeve Moynihan - who play Ugly's downy siblings and a group of singing, dancing froglets - make a strong play for the title of Cutest Kids Ever.
And let's not forget about Joshua Iley, who plays a bullfrog version of Rodney Dangerfield, croaking out a series of groaner jokes before delivering the show-stopping tune "Warts and All" - complete with a web-footed soft-shoe dance.
You could peck - er, pick - at a few of the show's shortcomings. As a two-act, two-hour show, "Honk!" feels padded. And while the music is undeniably cute and occasionally infectious, the individual numbers aren't so distinct from one another that it's impossible to imagine the show as a one-acter that would be more streamlined and perhaps even more fun.
But the CTC production is so packed with affectionate little details - from the bright, lime-green shag that suggests the duck yard to the lily-pad hats worn by the members of the orchestra (situated in a downstage "pond") that's it's difficult to squawk.
"Honk!" is story with a lesson - beauty lies within us all - but it's also a show that's more concerned with amusing than moralizing. In the end, this production has it both ways, making it a fluffy, feathered fit of fun.
More about HONK! THE UGLY DUCKLING MUSICAL»
Excerpted from Pioneer Press. Copyright 2003, all rights reserved.
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