Rainbow’s ‘Kit Carson’ a pleasant romp

Rainbow Company's original "Kit Carson's Frontier Adventure" is a small-scaled, 50-minute folk-tale musical designed to give kids a happy time along with a whiff of Nevada's past.

Karen McKenney's script begins in 1868 with a dying Carson being tended to by a young surgeon. The doctor tries to comfort Carson by reading from books that have chronicled the legendary scout's life. Carson, though, refutes the books and tells his story from his point of view.

The five-member cast (Michael Button, Michael Connolly, J Neal, Joel Rudd and Martha Watson), directed by McKenney, impersonates a score of characters in vaudeville-style tone that take us into the forbidden West. Carson's tales as an explorer, trapper and all around tough-guy are punctuated by Neal's songs, which contain a musical-comedy bounce occasionally interrupted by poignant, reflective ballads.

Favorite moments? Well, there's Watson scolding the young Kit as she attempts to deal with the calamity of having 15 children. There's Connolly as a bully foreigner trying to out-race, out-shoot and out-sing Carson (he cheats, too). There's Rudd with stars in his eyes as he dreams of ending his dreary apprenticeship to a saddle maker and following his heart to the unknown. There's the treat in watching Neal's unusual skill in drastically altering his physicality with every role. And there's the entire cast belting out a number called "I'm Gonna Jump Off," which celebrates the courage of trying something new.

Interspersed within the humor are dozens of bits of interesting information -- such as how Mount Charleston came to be named -- and the program notes include brief bios of many of the characters.

Jody Caley's lights give us a marvelous feel for the excitement of the outdoors. And Kris Van Riper's set -- three blow-ups of magazines that open up into landscape sketches -- is creative enough to allow us to forget the show's obviously slender budget.

This isn't a major show by any means. But it's a pleasant romp, rich in talent and good vibes.

Anthony Del Valle can be reached at DelValle@aol.com. You can write him c/o Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.