FREAKS Alive on the Inside

Where does Abel Dandy go when he runs away from the freak show and his family? Rejected by the circus, Abel and Apollo, his hairy, albeit endearing, young companion, end up in a traveling freak show run by the devilish Minks. Ramon de Ocampo engages listeners with Abel's first-person voice, which brims with awe, hope, and, most importantly, teenage hormones. De Ocampo handles Abel admirably, with good inflection and vocal characterization; however, he flounders a bit with the rest of the cast, giving them campy voices. Also, his silences between sentences seem to go that extra second beyond pausing. Despite these criticisms, his embodiment of Abel does justice to the story. L.E. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/ SEP 06]