“Pure Imagination: The Magical Candy Shoppe” mystified audiences at the Panara Theatre on April 17-19. All performances included captioning and ASL interpretation.
Golden feathers taped to the floor could be seen leading audience members to the theater entrance. Upon entry, audience members were handed a glow stick.
“Pure Imagination” tells the story of zany candy maker Professor Lumen, played by student Emilio McDonald. The professor discovers a magical, golden feather that gives his candy the power to make its consumers dance. One night, the feather is accidentally broken into seven pieces. The professor must travel to seven lands and find seven magic makers–each using a distinctive dance style–to put the feather back together.
Each of the seven lands embodied a different quality: courage, wisdom, selflessness, gratitude, optimism, empathy and forgiveness. A 3D model was projected onto the backdrop, detailing the different lands and creating an immersive experience for the audience.
The show featured a variety of different dance styles, including tap, jazz, hip hop, ballet and aerial dance. Additionally, performers displayed other unique talents, including roller skating, ribbon twirling and juggling. The costumes were crafted with a variety of materials, from feathers and silks to sequins and suspenders.
The show also included the work of the late Robert Panara, “When The Wakening Sun Is Golden,” featuring student Brendan Malloy’s artistic interpretation of the poem in ASL.
At the end of the show, performers paraded through the aisles, encouraging viewers to dance along and wave their glow sticks.
Outside the theater, a display with colorful sticky notes and markers encouraged audience members to write what imagination means to them. A display of a dress worn during the performance was outside, with a placard detailing the work behind the costume. A green screen and a computer showing the 3D model of the seven lands were also displayed.
Thomas Warfield, who conceived, directed and choreographed the production, closes his legendary 28-year career at RIT/NTID with “Pure Imagination.” He has left his mark on the Rochester community with a powerful, yet peculiar show—unlike anything Panara Theatre has seen before.
