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Io - Princess of Argos! Live! at EXIT Stage Left!

music & lyrics by Marci Karr, book & lyrics by Mark Jackson
SF Bay Guardian review March 14, 2001 (Brad Rosenstein)

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Greek lightning
Io – Princess of Argos! is a triumph.

By Brad Rosenstein

IF YOU THINK you're having a bad day,
cast your thoughts on Io, princess of
Argos, who was exiled by her father, King
Inachus, seduced and abandoned by
Zeus, turned into a cow, and left to wander
in the desert with a stinging gadfly locked
in her skull. You gotta love the Greeks. But
give things a few millennia, and the wheel
of fate can spin your way: the original mad
cow is now appearing live in Io – Princess
of Argos! at Exit Stage Left.

Actually, the "cow-horned maiden" of Aeschylus's Prometheus Bound
has aged quite gracefully, now dehorned and wearing a slinky cocktail
number, and her tortured wanderings have landed her in the relatively
cushy confines of a lounge act. Microphone in hand and Jack Daniels
at the ready, Io (Beth Wilmurt) takes us on a musical journey through
her horrendous past, always asking the impossible question "Why?"
Backed by her singing and dancing Grecian Three (Kevin Clarke,
Loren Nordlund, Janet Roitz), this self-aware bovine sings the blues
but can never quite diminish the maddening buzz in her head.

Art Street Theatre tried reimagining the Greeks last year in Messenger
#1 with limited success, but its Io – Princess of Argos! is an absolute
triumph. Writer, director, and lyricist Mark Jackson and
composer-lyricist Marci Karr completely nail the showbizzy tone,
making it a playful, fluid instrument for humor, hallucination, and horror.
The show's dozen songs – backed by Karr on piano and David Babich
on everything else – are completely thrilling in their wit, insight, and
heart. This unfailingly imaginative evening uses its musical energies
honestly, creating an intoxicating glow.

Wilmurt, the company's consistent ace in the hole, is simply brilliant
as Io, her mad, Norma Desmond tics giving way to youthful
guilelessness and mature woe, her beautifully sung performance
traversing the full range from show-stopping razzle-dazzle to funereal
keening. Nordlund is also a standout, hilarious and touching as Io's
conflicted father, and Roitz and Clarke do fine work with Chris Black's
clever choreography, integrating Greek-frieze poses with warmed-over
Bob Fosse. Ironically, the piece only falters in Io's encounter with
Prometheus, a bit of recycled Aeschylus that doesn't quite come off.
But overall this ranks with R&J as one of Art Street's finest
achievements to date. Don't miss this inspired gem.
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