Musical Chronicle

Compared to J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth or the parallel universes of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, C.S. Lewis' Narnia is Candy Land. Death is undone, virtues are rewarded, lessons are learned, and everything always works out according to cosmic design. (Animals talk, too, and fauns go on shopping trips.) The recent film version, produced in the shadow of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, was heavy on the epic adventure and short on the whimsy, but expect that to be reversed in Curtain's Up Theater Company's Narnia, the Musical, playing at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday (August 30 through September 2) at Dunham Hall Theater on the Southern Illinois University campus (I-270 & Rte. 157, Edwardsville, Illinois). In addition to the climactic fight between Narnia's lion king and the White Witch, there'll be musical numbers like “Aslan's on the Move” and “You Can't Imagine (How Beautiful It Was)” performed with enthusiasm by the young cast. Tickets for Narnia, the Musical are $5 to $12.
Aug. 30-Sept. 2