Back to the Future at the Eccles

I am not a big fan of adapting popular movies into stage musicals but, since Back to the Future is one of my favorite movies, I thought I would enjoy the Broadway touring production last night at the Eccles Theatre and I did! The musical follows the movie pretty faithfully, with one key change that mostly works, as Marty McFly (Lucas Hallauer) is transported to 1955 after his eccentric friend Emmett "Doc" Brown (David Josefsberg) tests his latest invention, a time machine made out of a DeLorean powered by plutonium. Marty decides to find Doc to help him get back to the future but he inadvertently disrupts the meeting between his parents, Lorraine (Kathryn Adeline) and George (Mike Bindeman), and this puts his own existence in jeopardy. Will Marty be able to get his parents back together? Will Doc be able to get him back to 1985? As with most movie to stage adaptations, most of the songs in this show are contrived and not very memorable (my favorites are "Gotta Start Somewhere," "Something About That Boy," and "21st Century") but it didn't really matter because the production itself is so much fun! The special effects are absolutely incredible, especially when the DeLorean travels to 1955, back to 1985, and then when it flies to June 11, 2026! I actually gasped out loud during these sequences because they are so immersive and I was definitely not alone! The visuals are also a lot of fun and I loved all of Doc's big production numbers, including "It Works," "Future Boy," and "21st Century," because they feature psychedelic projections and dancers dressed in gold lamé haz-mat suits, tuxedos, and futuristic lab coats, respectively. I also really enjoyed the projections used as Doc tries to harness the power of the storm as it hits the clock tower because they replicate the tension during this scene in the movie very well. One of my favorite scenes from the movie is when Marty is chased by Biff on an improvised skateboard through the town square and I wondered how that would be staged. That sequence is actually even more exhilarating in the musical because Biff (Nathaniel Hackmann) chases Marty all over the school and the scene changes happen seamlessly and in the blink of an eye with perfectly executed choreography! The performances are very much informed by those in the movie and Hallauer is incredibly appealing as Marty, Josefsberg is suitably quirky as Doc, and Bindeman is adorably awkward as George but I was most impressed by Adeline because she nails the physical comedy as the love-struck Lorraine and her renditions of "Pretty Baby" and "Something About That Boy" are highlights (she also sounds a lot like Lea Thompson). I didn't love this as much as some of my favorite shows but I definitely had a lot of fun watching it and I recommend getting a ticket (go here), especially to fans of the movie. It runs at the Eccles through June 14.

Bright Star with the JAKS Theatre Company

I was very impressed by JAKS Theatre Company's production of Hadestown: Teen Edition last year so I was very eager to see their version of Bright Star, a favorite of mine, last night at the Regent Street Black Box Theatre. Once again, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing such enthusiastic performances from these talented young performers. After World War II, Billy Cane (Colin West) returns to his hometown of Hayes Creek to see his childhood friend Margot Crawford (Cairi Swenson) but he eventually decides to try writing at a magazine in Asheville for an uptight editor named Alice Murphy (Livy Garner). When the magazine staff teases Alice about her boring existence, she literally transforms back into the wild and rebellious girl she once was in Zebulon during the 1920s and falls in love with Jimmy Ray Dobbs (Dylan Thomas). The narrative goes back and forth between these locations and timelines as Alice learns to deal with heartache and loss and Billy learns the importance of home and the one who really loves him. Some members of the cast are stronger than others but everyone on stage gives it their all and are clearly having a lot of fun. I really enjoyed Garner's performance because her characterization is fantastic, especially her differentiation between the older and younger Alices, and she sings with an incredible amount of emotion in "Please Don't Take Him" (this song always brings me to tears and her rendition was no exception), "I Had a Vision," and "So Familiar/ At Long Last." I also really liked Lauren Hunter as Lucy Grant, because she is completely over the top (almost too much so) but that energy makes her performance of "Another Round" a definite crowd-pleaser, and Caden Feller as Mayor Josiah Dobbs, because his rich baritone voice gives him the gravitas that is needed for "A Man's Gotta Do." However, my favorite vocal performance is from Swenson in "Asheville" (my favorite song in the show) because she imbues it with such longing. The ensemble does a great job with both the exuberant choreography, especially in "If You Knew My Story," "Way Back in the Day," "Picnic Dance," and "Another Round," and the innovative staging, particularly as Billy travels to Asheville in "Bright Star" and as Mayor Dobbs makes a fateful decision on a train in "A Man's Gotta Do (Reprise)." I was also quite impressed with how efficiently they move multiple set pieces on and off stage (my favorite is a rustic wooden cabin). Finally, I love the bluegrass music in this show and I was beyond impressed by the musicians, including Jack Thomas on guitar, Daxton Feller on banjo, Izzie Kewlish on fiddle, and Jacob Stoddard on double bass, because they play live on stage (this was also a highlight of Hadestown: Teen Edition). The audience last night was filled with lots of friends and family members of the cast (I talked to a few of them sitting near me) and they should be very proud because it was a great show. I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here) for one of the six remaining performances (including several matinees) through June 13.

Note:  I also really liked Hunter as Persephone and Feller as Hades in Hadestown: Teen Edition.

Power Ballad

I am a huge fan of John Carney (I really like Flora and Son but I absolutely love Once and Sing Street) so I had a lot of fun watching his latest movie, Power Ballad, at the Broadway last night.  Rick Power (Paul Rudd) is an aging American ex-pat who gave up on his dreams of being a rock star to marry Rachel (Marcella Plunkett), an Irish woman, and raise their daughter Aja (Beth Fallon) in Ireland.  He is now the lead singer of a wedding band based in Dublin but he still has dreams of writing and performing his own songs.  While at a wedding gig at a castle, he meets Danny Wilson (Nick Jonas), a childhood friend of the groom who was once a member of a popular boy band but is now working on a solo album.  They end up jamming all night and share the songs they are working on with each other.  When Danny returns to Los Angeles, his manager Mac Darling (Jack Reynor) tells him that his record label is not confident about his new music because they don't think he has a hit single.  He struggles to write one but, when he starts playing Rick's song "How to Write a Song (Without You)" on the piano, his girlfriend Marcia (Havana Rose Liu) loves it because she thinks it is about her.  He ends up recording it and it becomes a huge hit which reignites his career.  Rick immediately recognizes the song as his but he can't prove that he wrote it and his obsession with getting credit alienates both his band and his family.  He travels to Los Angeles to confront Danny but ultimately remembers his reason for writing the song.  I really loved the message about appreciating the life you actually have rather than mourning the life you thought you would have and I was really struck by the differences in how Rick and and Danny sing "How to Write a Song (Without You)" in the final scene.  I also liked the discussion about the high price that fame exacts when trying to stay authentic and I appreciated that Danny isn't portrayed as a one-dimensional villain.  In between the poignant moments are some hilarious ones, especially a scene in which Rick performs one of his songs at a wedding while fantasizing about adoring crowds in a large arena before realizing that the dance floor is empty.  Finally, Jonas and Rudd have great chemistry and I was really impressed with Rudd's singing chops (I can't decide whose version of "How to Write a Song (Without You)" I like better).  This is not quite as good as Once and Sing Street but I really liked it and would recommend it to fans of Carney.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at Draper Historic Theatre

I was really looking forward to seeing Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at Draper Historic Theatre last night because this show always makes me laugh. Their hilarious production definitely did not disappoint! Lawrence Jameson (Nathan Metcalf), a suave and sophisticated international con man, and Freddy Benson (Ethan Cecil), a two-bit American hustler, both find themselves on the French Riviera. They end up collaborating when Jameson gets in an awkward situation with Jolene Oakes (Madison Twede), an heiress from Oklahoma, but they both take credit when their plan is a success and eventually decide that Beaumont-sur-Mer is not big enough for both of them. They agree that the first one who cons Christine Colgate (Sophie Manzanares), the American Soap Queen, out of $50,000 can stay and the other will leave town. Hilarity ensues when Benson pretends to be a soldier suffering from hysterical paralysis, when Jameson impersonates the famous Viennese psychiatrist Christine hires to cure him, and when Muriel Eubanks (Beth Bollinger), one of Jameson's previous marks, returns to town but who is conning whom? What I enjoy most about this show is all of the physical comedy and this cast does a great job with it. Cecil, especially, is a lot of fun to watch in "Great Big Stuff," "All About Ruprecht," "Ruffhousin' Mit Shuffhausen," and "Love Is My Legs" because he is so over the top and has really funny facial expressions. I also loved Twede's energetic rendition of "Oklahoma" and Bollinger's overly dramatic performance of "What Was a Woman To Do." The ensemble in this show is another highlight and I was very impressed with how well they perform the dynamic choreography in "Give Them What They Want," "Great Big Stuff," "Oklahoma," and "The More We Dance." The costumes are a lot of fun (the ensemble have so many of them) and my favorites are the cowboy and cowgirl outfits in "Oklahoma" and the couture gowns in "Give Them What They Want." Finally, I loved the stage, which is configured as a luxurious resort with marble floors and staircases, chandeliers, and balconies covered with bougainvillea, the set pieces brought on and off stage by members of the ensemble costumed as maids and porters, and all of the projections used to denote various locations. I had so much fun watching this entertaining show ("It was a blast! It was a ball! It was a gas! I loved it all!") and I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here). It runs at the Draper Historic Theatre on Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays through June 20.

Pressure

I always enjoy a well-made movie about a topic I find interesting featuring an actor I like and that is exactly what I got with Pressure last night.  It is June 1944 and General Dwight D. Eisenhower (Brendan Fraser) is preparing for the D-Day invasion of Normandy which could change the tide of World War II.  Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery (Damian Lewis) is pushing for a launch on June 5 so the Allies do not lose the element of surprise but Eisenhower wants a report from his meteorological team, which consists of Colonel Irving P. Krick (Chris Messina), an American who has successfully advised him during several battles in North Africa, and Group Captain James Stagg (Andrew Scott), a Scottish meteorologist recommended by Churchill, because the operation depends upon a favorable weather forecast.  Stagg is distracted because is wife Liz (Tamsin Topolski) is heavily pregnant and immediately runs afoul of Eisenhower, his personal assistant Kay Summersby (Kerry Condon), as well as the entire team with his prickly behavior.  Frick relies on historical weather patterns and predicts clear skies for June 5, which is what Eisenhower wants to hear, but Stagg uses barometric pressure data from weather stations all around Normandy in real-time and predicts a severe storm system.  Eisenhower reluctantly calls off the invasion on Stagg's recommendation, which is ultimately proven correct, but will he believe Stagg when he forecasts a window of calm on June 6?  Even though I knew the date of the invasion as well as its outcome, I was on the edge of my seat when Eisenhower makes the decision to go or not go and when the officers wait to hear the results of the battle because the editing, which features fast cuts between images of the officers at Allied HQ, the atmospheric conditions, and the soldiers preparing to deploy and then storming the beaches, is very effective at building tension.  I have always been fascinated by World War II so I really enjoyed seeing the events leading to D-Day from a new perspective (I knew about Allied efforts to deceive Germany about the location of the invasion but I never considered the importance of the weather) and, as nerdy as it sounds, I found the process of collecting weather data to be strangely compelling.  Finally, I really like Scott as an actor and his understated performance as Stagg is one of his best, especially when juxtaposed with Fraser's brashness as Eisenhower and Messina's arrogance as Frick (one of the biggest highlights is seeing Frick and Stagg go toe-to-toe).  I thoroughly enjoyed this and highly recommend it.