Get thee to Arden — or at least to the Arden depicted in the glorious, delightful and big-hearted musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s “As You Like It,” created as part of the Public Theater’s Public Works program and now playing at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. (The run ends Sept. 11, but here’s hoping it will find future life.)
This Arden, as envisioned in Shaina Taub and Laurie Woolery’s just-the-essentials, 95-minute adaptation, is a place of refuge, generosity, joy, growth and forgiveness — but most of all, of transformational love. After all, it ends with a quadruple wedding ceremony.
It’s also a well-populated place, featuring two alternating casts of 80. The diverse, all-ages ensemble comes from all five of New York City’s boroughs and even includes athletes from the Bronx Wrestling Federation, an inspired addition to the Bard’s grappling scene.
They mix gracefully with the show’s well-seasoned pros. It’s all in keeping with the community-centric spirit of this rural, utopian Arden, fancifully designed by Myung Hee Cho and supplemented by the gratis greenery of Central Park.
This clear-eyed production — a return visit from Public Works’ abridged 2017 run — sees the forest for the trees as themes of identity, change and the great circle of life are delicately woven through script, music and performances.
Woolery also directs the adaptation with extraordinary fluidity, given the size of the cast and the potential for traffic jams, as the script follows Rosalind, Celia, Touchstone and Orlando as they flee Duke Frederick’s kingdom and enter a kind of forested sanctuary city where they learn to become more caring, loving and empathetic humans.
Taub creates a score that should be a keeper with melodies that linger and lyrics that are both witty and insightful. (Rhyming “menopausalin’” with “Rosalind” is just one of its playful dares.)
Among the best are the songs sung by the show’s heroine — especially “Rosalind, Be Merry” and the stunning “When I’m Your Wife,” both in the Sondheim tradition of tunes that are sharp and efficient as daggers. There’s a lot of fun, too, especially when Orlando (Ato Blankson-Wood, terrific) lets loose with “Will You Be My Bride” complete with a boy-band back-up. The show’s ensemble sings the lilting scene-setter “Under the Greenwood Tree,” and most everyone gets their shot at “You Phoebe Me,” whose sassy title and significance deserves to go viral.
Performances are splendid, especially Jones’ Rosalind, whose journey in search of identity is beautifully portrayed in all its humor, intelligence and ache. The charming Blankston-Wood finds a lighter side of the often-bland Orlando without losing his earnestness, pride and growth as he becomes someone who is “ready to love her for real.”
Christopher M. Ramirez knows how to own a stage and makes for a hysterically smitten Touchstone, while Briana Cabrera and Bianca Edwards are great fun as lovestruck Silvia and that wicked tease Phoebe. Amar Atkins, filling in for Darius De Haas, proves himself in grand voice as Duke Senior, especially in the closer “Still I Love.” Monica Patricia Davis brings real heart as Ada, Orlando’s faithful servant, and Noemi Avenancio struck the perfect note as Little Jaques.
It’s only right that Taub herself takes on the role of melancholy philosopher Jaques — who understands all too well that all the world’s a stage — with gentleness and a touch of rue, reminding the characters and audience alike of their role-playing, follies and expiration dates.
“How do you make the magic real?” asks Jaques at the top of the show. By this production’s beautiful, bittersweet end, it’s clear that this production found the answer.
