All for one and one for all, “The Three Musketeers” was all in all a spectacular production.
Ultimately a tale of honor, this legendary play based on the book by Alexandre Dumas was presented by Grossmont College’s Summer Arts Conservatory, a product of the college and local high schools. This combination of novice and experienced performers picked up their swords and much like D’Artagnan, the protagonist of the film, fearlessly maneuvered the stage.
All for one and one for all, “The Three Musketeers” was all in all a spectacular production.
Ultimately a tale of honor, this legendary play based on the book by Alexandre Dumas was presented by Grossmont College’s Summer Arts Conservatory, a product of the college and local high schools. This combination of novice and experienced performers picked up their swords and much like D’Artagnan, the protagonist of the film, fearlessly maneuvered the stage.
Playing D’Artagnan was Marco Rios. Rios had a seemingly natural ability to deliver lines, which was key throughout the night for jokes as well as moving the plot forward.
Accompanying him from the start was his little sister Sabine. This character was unique to this production and while it can be risky to stray too far from the original work, it proved to be an asset. Laura Jimenez played the role with confidence and her upbeat demeanor carried each scene she was in.
A weak aspect of the night was the transitions between scenes. Instead of blacking out the lights and having the stage crew replace and rearrange props, members of the cast in costume did it. This left an awkward pause between scenes that dragged on. While this may work well in other performances, it did not in this one.
Playing the namesake of this play, the three musketeers were played by Glynn Long as Athos, Derek San Filippo as Porthos and Daniel Ramos III as Aramis. The three complemented each other well and each had the charisma to play their individual roles, as each of the characters had varying personalities.
A commendable factor was that this play had strong female characters and capable actors to play them. Katia Burke played the intelligent but evil Milady de Winter. Burke’s facial expressions accompanied the villainous role she was playing.
Milady was at one time in the past married to Athos, and together Long and Burke acted out the strongest scene when they meet again. The scenes subject of love and betrayal was conveyed in a stunningly agonizing way.
With many different subplots within the entirety of this play, it was amazing that they were able to pull off the production with such clarity. The Summer Arts Conservatory is a new collaboration based on providing an opportunity for high school students to work with seasoned instructors and students and to familiarize them with their potential future college. Its productions are based solely on donations from their members and the community.
