Li'l D has a serious case of hero worship. The pint-size drummer at the Westley School for the Performing Arts dreams of working with Sunny Bridges, a hip-hop sax player with a hep-cat attitude, a pointy goatee and a career so intense it's draining his soul.
Li'l D and Sunny are cartoon representations of Atlanta entertainer Andre Benjamin at different stages of life. A Bankhead kid who discovered his creative flavors at a Buckhead middle school, Benjamin (who calls himself "Andre 3000") co-created the phenomenally successful pop group OutKast — later using his amazing adventure as inspiration for the clever Cartoon Network series "Class of 3000."
On Saturday night, the Alliance Children's Theatre unveiled "Class of 3000 LIVE," an hourlong stage treatment of the TV show's pilot episode, in which the zany Westley School kids go on a loopy quest for a new music teacher. Directed by Rosemary Newcott, "Class of 3000 LIVE" captures the spirit of a cartoon that is splashed with indelible personality and quirky storytelling.
As a celebration of Atlanta's unerring sense of community, it's a resounding success and a charming little children's entertainment. But for the most part, the play with music never quite captures the magical flow of the cartoon original, and the pithy writing often drowns in the clutter.
Though designers Kat Conley (sets) and Sydney Roberts (costumes) have a good time spinning visual cotton candy, cartoons have a way of zipping through time and space that's hard to replicate in the physical realm of the theater.
One of the best sequences is when Li'l D (the delightful Bernard Jones) tries to mimic the dance moves of Sunny (Sinatra Onyewuchi). As the slightly swishy resident rich kid, Eddie, Justin Tanner is fun to watch. But Sharisa Whatley's Tamika isn't nearly as sassy as her cartoon equivalent. ("Prove it, or move it.")
Brandon O'Dell is well-nigh perfect as carrot-top brainiac Phil, and Wendy Melkonian plays sweetly ditzy Madison as if she's swallowed the giddy Kool-Aid.
But something is missing here, and a good part of the problem is Onyewuchi, who just can't capture the charisma and spunk of Sunny Bridges. If I hadn't watched the cartoon before the performance, I may have been a little less disappointed, but I think I would have been lost.
"Class of 3000" — which comes across as a kind of urban "High School Musical" for the elementary-school set — deserves an "E" for effort. It means well. But as a piece of theater, it never quite cranks its thang up.
THEATER REVIEW
"Class of 3000 LIVE"
Grade: B-
1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays. Through March 29. $25-$35. Alliance Theatre, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St., Midtown. 404-733-5000, alliancetheatre.org
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