[ssba]

Raditatical

Reviewed by Deborah Klugman

The Montalbán Theatre

Through December 21

RECOMMENDED:

Raditatical is one of those superb amalgams of music, dance and visuals whose sum eludes description.

Introduced as “a journey in rhythm,” and conceived and co-directed by Bronkar Lee and Ameenah Kaplan, this family-friendly show features juggler-beatboxing impresario Lee, and five other remarkably gifted musical performers.

(Beatboxing, if you’re unfamiliar with the term, is the imitating or reproducing of musical sounds with the mouth, lips, tongue or voice.)

The storyline – augmented by visual designer Marc Rosenthals’s  lush and fanciful  images — is thin and forgivably familiar: A hyperactive teen has trouble adapting to school. He graduates and leaves home for the big city where, on the street, he meets other talented performers. He goes to auditions and struggles with the arbitrary demands of casting directors.  Down in the dumps after one too many of these experiences, he rallies to come together with other artists in order to celebrate the joy of rhythm – as integral to the human condition, according to the show’s creators (writers Lee, Kaplan and Sam Rogers), as the drawing of breath.

By the time the 75- minute show concludes, the artists have made their case, their contagious joy and artistic fellowship being as inspiring as any of their individual displays of virtuosity.

These latter include Melinda Sullivan’s jubilant tap dancing, Aaron Williams’ silvery-toned xylophone (a comic voice in the story as well as musical accompaniment), and Scotty Lund’s amazing percussion. The fluid choreography is by Simon Chaban.

You can take away the instruments and the images, however, and still be dazzled by the music the ensemble fashions without them.

The Montalbán Theatre, 1615 North Vine Street, Hlywd; Fri.-Sat. 8 pm, Sun. 3 p.m.; through Dec. 21. (323) 461-6999, www.themontalban.com/; or www.raditatical.com.