STAGE REVIEW : Revealing the Underside of Genius : In Youth Theater’s ‘Prodigy,’ Those Surrounding Mozart Are Themselves a Piece of Work

Usually, it’s merely unfortunate when a parent tries to force a child to fulfill unrealistic expectations. It is the stuff of good drama, however, when the child in question is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

The Laguna Playhouse Youth Theater’s production of “Prodigy,” which spans Mozart’s life through that momentous occasion when he becomes aware of his genius, is opened by two pages standing formally before the curtain and tapping their staffs. This monumental gesture, presented along the sparse lines of the understated neoclassical stage, implies that something lofty is in the offing. Instead, what unfolds is the hardly virtuous flip side of genius.

Poor Wolfie. Prodded unmercifully by his father, himself a frustrated court musician, he sees his mission in life simply as the fulfillment of his father’s thwarted ambitions. Further, he must be obsequious to slimy nobles in Munich, Vienna, Paris and London.

The thing is, Mozart doesn’t seem to mind: he remains a puckish character, supremely confident in his abilities and given to practical jokes. Besides being talented, he is a real charmer.

Soon, however, the shallowness of his misdirected father-pleasing catches up with him. Three great moments establish, then resolve, his conflict. First, there are several dreamlike sequences in which Mozart is jousted by a ring of pandering aristocrats with visages resembling the terrifying white “Friday the 13th” hockey mask. Then, throughout the play, he climbs into a puppet stage; above, his father pulls the strings. This puppet stage serves as both a physical and allegorical frame for a hyper-focused existence that leads to the powerful ending. Finally, he climbs atop the stage and proclaims “I am Mozart,” a moment in which he sheds the last vestiges of the confused little boy. If the action before this had become predictable, perhaps a little tedious, the ending pounds home the drama of the story.

The cast in this sometimes-touching play works well: Chip Paschal is Leopold, stern of voice but weak in backbone, the perennial laughingstock of the society to which he aspires. Lisa Hale is Wolfgang’s ineffectual mother, whose powder-puff rebellion at her husband’s lack of concern for his children’s welfare goes unheeded. Finally, Torey Carrick, as Mozart, evolves from prankster to sycophant to rebel to legend before our eyes.

‘PRODIGY’

A Laguna Playhouse Youth Theater production of the Mary Hall Surface play. Directed by Joe Lauderdale. With Chip Paschal, Torey Carrick, Lisa Hale, Jennifer Buck, Peter Kreder, Erin Lander, Brigitte Paulicivic, Richard Stauffacher, Tamara Hoffman, Brad Bredeweg. Plays Friday, 7:30 p.m., Saturday, 2 and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, 2 p.m. Tickets: $4 & $6. At the Moulton Theater, 606 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach. (714) 494-8021.