Legendary Cofresí captures audience's heart Velez's original musical sings and swaggers to swashbuckling success

Author: Shannon Gymrek

Over-achieving is something Middlebury Students know a lot about. Even taking that into mind, however, Kevin Vélez '06 has got to impress. Velez's senior 700 work, a new original musical entitled "The Legend of Cofresí," debuted on the McCullough stage last Friday. Velez not only composed the music and wrote the lyrics for the show, but also played the role of the title character.

The plot of the show follows young Nina (Sally Swallow '07, for whom this marked a music 500 project) who has grown up reading and dreaming about pirates and the thrill of adventure on the seas. Her world is shaken when her father (Starrett Berry '09) is injured and cannot work as a street-corner bookseller. Nina sees the mishap as an opportunity to break the monotony of her daily life and convinces her parents to let her dress as a man and take over the business while her father heals. They acquiesce, and Nina assumes the role of breadwinner for the family.

During her work, the heroine meets a young military man, Don Pedro (Ian Fleishman '06) and the two form a friendship - though one overshadowed by an argument about the nature of right and wrong and whether it is possible to be both a thief and an honorable person. Nina soon finds that her concept of a hero - embodied in the Robin Hood-esque character of the pirate Cofresí - is flawed and that there is a difference between dream and reality.

The cast of the show consisted of many newcomers to the Middlebury stage including a large crop of freshmen and members of numerous a Capella groups. It was exciting to see these performers take a stab at the often-complex performing art of musical theater with such gusto and obvious delight, though it was apparent that most had little acting experience. "Cofresí" was especially enjoyable to the audience thanks to the cast's unbridled enthusiasm for the show.

This zeal was exemplified most spiritedly in the performance of Scotty Leighton '08.5 as Navy officer Flamboyán, who portrayed the character with a great sense of humor and just the right amount of camp. Velez commented that the cast "was the most talented, dedicated, and hard working group of people [he had] ever worked with at Middlebury." This is high praise from a student who has been involved with a Capella group D8 and several Musical Players productions.

The cast worked with all-new material, a significant challenge considering they not only learned the original music, but also had to explore their characters and deal with constant workshopping of the show.

Swallow commented that the process "pushed [her] musical abilities, as [she] had to be ever flexible and absorbent of new material." Her performance made clear that she rose to the challenge, forming a strong character supported by a lovely and expressive voice.

Velez cites the production team as a major part of the show's success. Director Teddy Crecelius '08 was involved with the project since this past fall, leading the promotion and production of the show with producer Marissa Kraham '06 and Velez. Crecelius dealt with many obstacles on the way to a final production, including his, Swallow and costume designer Aleks Schoen's '08 involvement in the theater department's award-winning show "The Bewitched" that took them away from "Cofresí" for a large part of tech week. Also notable was conductor Dan Donnelly '06 who lead a talented pit orchestra in its beautiful execution of Vélez's score.

In the end, it is the music of "Cofresí" that shines most brightly. This is not a surprise from Velez, a talented musician. Lyrically, some numbers seemed a bit hackneyed, but there were also examples in other songs of professional-grade work. The piece "Morning Serenade," a battle-of-words-and-song between three suitors (J. Brito '06, Leighton and Crecelius) over Nina's sister Pinta (Kraham) was especially impressive. The song unfolds not only in a catchy Latin-inspired tune, but also in the best example of lyrical writing in the show. As the three suitors sing, their respective parts cleverly overlap, so although the suitors sing of chaste love, the audience hears: "I like your coconuts." and "Please touch my banana."

"Beyond This Porch," Nina's inspiring aria about leaving home and dreams of adventure, is scored beautifully. Many students commented that the score sounded like a contemporary Broadway musical - not surprising, as Velez openly draws inspiration from Stephen Schwartz, the composer of the hit show "Wicked." It is clear, then, that the score of "Cofresí" pushed the music of the production to a near-pro level.

As a complete musical, however, there were still many faults. The book was rushed, making the play seem more like a musical revue only loosely connected by an overlying theme. The show seemed to move at a hurried, hasty pace, and more dialogue would have created greater character development and audience involvement. This is especially true of the secondary characters, such as Nina's sister Maria (Brianna Cullen '08) who insists her young age doesn't mean she's incapable…and then disappears for the rest of the show without having proved herself. Vélez admits that the show "is by no means a finished project," but an ongoing undertaking of which this is only the first step.

Still, Velez concluded, "It was an incredible experience to create this show and see and hear it come alive right in front of me. I'll never forget it." Middlebury workshopping complete. Next stop, maybe Chicago…then who knows? If Broadway welcomes vampire musicals, why not one about pirates too?