Review: Gaslight conjures up 'Henry Potter'

The company’s newest offering is “Henry Porter and the Sorcerer’s Secret!” Peter Van Slyke, who writes just about all of the Gaslight’s plays, is behind this take off. It sort of follows the original “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” plot — Henry goes off to learn magic, makes friends, has some enemies, plays a game on flying brooms, fights the dark forces.

This, like most of Gaslight’s plays, is just plain silly. But there are reasons to love what the theater — and Van Slyke — do.

For instance:

The character’s names: Van Slyke strays just enough from the original monikers — it wouldn’t do for us not to recognize who he is spoofing. There’s the title character. The name of the school is Frogwaits (Hogwarts in the J.K. Rowling book). Rumpledore is the headmaster (Dumbledore in the original); Newminus Madgridge (Rubeus Hagrid); and Zlandagor — in the books he was “he who cannot be named,” Voldemort. In case we didn’t get the name association, we have visual clues — for instance, Gregor Belfry has white blond hair, giving a strong hint that is the role of Harry’s fellow student, the bully Draco Malfoy.

The sets: Tom Benson has whipped together the Gaslight’s sets since its beginning 37 years ago. He is pretty much a master, transforming the small stage with his imagination and his wit. In “Henry Porter,” we go from a drab home (where Henry grew up) to Flagon Alley, where Henry can do his shopping for a magic wand, to Frogwaits, to a dungeon with a pair of hissing snakes protecting the door, and up into the sky for a game of Gringwich, played on flying broomsticks. He even had an oversized train slip on to the stage to cart Henry off to his school.

The songs: Sometimes the lyrics are changed to fit the story, sometimes that’s not necessary. They most often were popular in the ’60s and ’70s. But always they are tunes we recognize and can’t wait for the performers to sing. In “Henry Porter,” magic was the theme and Van Slyke had a slew of songs to choose from. “Black Magic Woman,” “Magic,” “Do You Believe in Magic” (altered to be “If I believe in magic …” — were all sung out. A three-piece band provides the music, and it is tight. Music director Linda Ackermann is a piano wizard. Watch her hands fly over the keys.

The actors: Gaslight packs its stage with talent. Most are strong singers, all can elicit laughs with a flubbed line — most of the time intentionally flubbed — physical comedy, and by just standing on stage and starring at the audience, daring it not to laugh. Jacob Brown took on the title role in the performance we saw, and he gave the character just the right amount of befuddlement. Mike Yarema’s rendition of Henry’s oversized Aunt Prunella was a hoot, and when he broke into a bluesy (maybe that was boozey) rendition of “I’m a Woman,” the audience couldn’t contain itself. Janee Page showed some impressive pipes and evil stripes as Belladonna, Zlandagor’s sidekick. And Christopher Younggren took on the role of Zlandagor — and he was perfection as a villain.

The corn: Oh, Gaslight is bursting with it. The after-show olio is where the actors really let loose with the bad jokes. The olio for “Henry Porter” is a take off of a Muppets show. “We were going to start with a human cannonball,” goes one bad joke. “Unfortunately, he got fired.”

When the question “Think this show promotes cruelty to animals?” is asked, the response is “Only if they are watching television.”

And the story about the truckload of frogs that broke down on the highway? No worries: “It won’t be long before it’s toad away.”