Minors

Terran Scott, Mekhi Williams & Grace Tarves

The Lantern Theater Company, located at 10^th and Ludlow Streets, is presenting the world premiere of Minors, a new musical by Kittson O’Neil and Robert Kaplowitz. This is the inaugural work for the writing team and perhaps it was too ambitious for an initial piece. The concept is well developed – getting a peek into the dreadful “kids for cash” scandal in Luzerne Country, Pa. where a Judge sentenced teens to for-profit detention centers for minor infractions and received kick-backs in return. Most of the story is told through the lyrics of the 18 songs but the music is uneven at best. Either the music is too harsh and jarring or much of the cast is miscast and cannot properly sing the lyrics. The acting is well done and the story is well told but I have never before attended a musical in which the audience did not applaud to some degree after the numbers that were sung. Stark silence after after a big production is chilling. The exception was found in Act II with the song Money sung by Kelli (Terran Scott) after she was freed from probation, although the program interchanges the song she sings with Amber's  (Grace Tarves). Veteran actors Ben Dibble and Jennie Eisenhower had little difficulty with the scope of the music, but it should be tweaked a little more if this show is to be a success. For more information or tickets, call 215-829-0395 or visit www.lanterntheater.org.