Audience
delighted with comedic play
By Jack Schneider
On-line Forty-Niner
Children
laughed, audiences were amused and a stuck
up monarch walked on stage with an elegant
gown — or did he?
 On
Saturday, the International City Theater
presented “The Emperor’s New Clothes” to
a full crowd with people of all ages.
The play consisted of five characters and
countless costume changes ranging from lavish
outfits to underwear.
The actors included Jake Eberle as the emperor
and Jennifer Brandt as all the female roles.
Brandt played many roles throughout the
performance including a manicurist, the
arch dutchess and reporter Rula Thumb.
Jesse Mackey and Jon Reed portrayed the
tailors. They wore ridiculously tacky outfits,
including a purple and yellow boa. Jeffery
Johnson played the role of the loyal Bartleby,
the emperor’s sire.
This famous children’s story about an egocentric
monarch and his search for the perfect cloak
— preferably one with fuscia — had a modernized
twist to it.
Keeping audiences up to date was reporter
Rula Thumb, who broke out the latest news
on the king.
The king hires two flamboyant tailors, who
seek revenge against the king by getting
him to believe he is wearing the perfect
gown. They tell him only the most intelligent
people can see it.
The emperor wishes to obtain a luxurious
suit filled with diamonds and emeralds for
his birthday.
In one instance, the two tailors ran around
the audience looking for the king, but it
was up to the audience to tell him where
he was.
The costumes were tacky and wild and the
whole product had a humorous payoff.
Toward the end of the production, the king
came onstage in his “birthday suit,” wearing
a tank top and boxers.
Numerous children laughed at the sight of
each character coming on stage in tank tops,
nightgowns and boxers.
“We play at different elementary schools
and perform to audiences of all ages,” Eberle
said.
The performance had a lot of gags, goofs
and laughs, but was kind of vague in getting
the real message behind “The Emperor’s New
Clothes.”
The ICT will present “The Season of Giving”
on Dec. 7, with interactive storytelling,
in which the children in the audience are
invited on stage to tell the story.
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