Wichita 2007: the mystery of Carbuckety!
This production has too many orange boys. When I first saw it, I kept seeing too many Platos - or possibly too many Pouncivals! Basically, they have a Plato based on Broadway/Troika Plato (grey/brown with eye patch), and a Pouncival based on Broadway/Troika Pounce (nothing like London Carbuckety), and a Bill Bailey based on Broadway/Troika Tumblebrutus... and... uh. A Carbuckety, who seems to be based on Admetus.
Add that to Mungojerrie and Skimble (and a limited makeup palette!) and you have lots of orange. Let's break it down.
(Wichita masterpost here.)
Here's Carbuckety (Aaron Umsted) with Alonzo (Todd Alllen Walker). Not that Carbuckety's unitard is base yellow and his wig and arm/legwarmers are mostly orange; he has a white muzzle extending down over his chin, and his eyebrow/lashes streak up over his forehead. He has a distinct white 'blaze' coming back up from his nose to his wig, faintly outlined with black. (Also Alonzo is pretty.)
Carbuckety is also part of the Raffish crew! Left to right, him, Alonzo, Skimble (Billy Johnstone), Tugger (Alex Michael Stoll), Munkustrap (Johnny Stellard).
By comparison, Mungojerrie and Pouncival are Siamese. (Left to right: Bill Bailey (Tyler Foy), Tantomile (Paige Williams), Growltiger (Nicholas Saverine), Pouncival (Ryan Koss), Mungojerrie (Roy Lightner). Coricopat (David Caamano) is kneeling in front.)
Here are Coricopat and Pouncival (Cori still in Siamese get-up from the head down). Coricopat has his usual asymmetrical makeup. Pouncival has grey in his wig, his eye patches are centred on the eye socket rather than extending down from the wig, he doesn't have very distinct patches on his unitard (unlike Bill Bailey), and he has no white on his forehead or chin (unlike Carbuckety, Skimbleshanks, and Mungojerrie).
Now, Carbuckety here isn't exactly Admetus (any more than any of them are exact copies of any Broadway or London design). But when it's translated under the stage lights, he's about as recognisable as an Admetus type as any of the others are for their own stage antecedents. Basically, he's a tall redhead with symmetrical makeup and eyebrows, and he hangs around looking benevolent in the background a lot! (He's especially cute when he bounces with Skimble in the car during the Gumbie Cat tap section.)
But he isn't Plato. Just to clear up all the eye patch boys in one post... here's Plato (Taureen Everett). This is a very definite Broadway/Troika boy - and in no way orange!
