Marilyn and I spent Friday and Saturday at the Utah Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City. We both look forward to this annual trip all year (we brought our tickets last November) and we had so much fun!
Our first show on Friday afternoon was The Play That Goes Wrong in the Randall Jones Theatre. Marilyn had never seen it before and she was laughing out loud before it even started because the stage crew was looking in the audience for a missing dog! The titular play that goes wrong is the Cornley Drama Society's production of The Murder at Haversham Manor by Susie H. K. Bridewell. The cast includes Max (Jim Poulos) as Cecil Haversham/ Arthur the Gardner, Chris (Rhett Guter) as Inspector Carter, Jonathan (Jeffrey Marc Alkins) as Charles Haversham, Robert (Blake Henri) as Thomas Colleymore, Dennis (Chris Mixon) as Perkins the Butler, and Sandra (Nazlah Black) as Florence Colleymore with Annie (Melinda Parrett) as the put upon Stage Manager and Trevor (Cameron Vargas) as the Sound and Lighting Director. The set is slowly falling apart, the props malfunction or go missing, Trevor accidentally plays Duran Duran instead of the sound cues, the aforementioned missing dog is never found, one actor cannot stay still while playing the murder victim, one actor cannot remember his lines, one actor continually breaks the fourth wall to milk the audience for applause, and the leading lady is injured halfway through the show and is replaced by Annie and then Trevor (with scripts in hand) but the show must go on! My favorite aspect of this production is the physical comedy, especially when Cecil and Thomas have to answer the phone with their hands full, when Sandra and Annie have a long and drawn out fight to play Florence, and when Thomas and Inspector Carter are trapped in the second floor study. The cast is superb and everyone has amazing comedic timing, particularly Henri and Poulos. The set is fantastic because it falls apart so spectacularly! Both Marilyn and I loved it!
On Friday night we saw Romeo and Juliet in the Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre. As I've mentioned, this is my least favorite Shakespeare play but this rendition was more faithful to the text than the version I saw recently and I always appreciate that (even though I loved that production). This play tells the well known story of woe about the star-crossed lovers from rival houses, Juliet (Naiya Vanessa McCalla) and her Romeo (Aamar-Malik Culbreth). I really loved McCalla's interpretation of Juliet because she is really sassy in her interactions with Romeo (especially when she interrupts him during the balcony scene) and bossy towards her Nurse (Alex Keiper) in Act I and almost defiant in her interactions with Lord Capulet (Tim Fullerton) when forced to marry Paris (Marco Antonio Vega) in Act II. I also really enjoyed Culbreth's performance because his Romeo is incredibly impulsive and I was quite shocked by a scene between him and Tybalt (Gilberto Saenz). Speaking of which, the fight choreography is really dynamic and exciting to watch. I loved the period costumes and, while the set is very minimal, the colorful ribbons hanging from the rafters during the ball make a very dramatic impression. My biggest complaint, which kept me from loving this production, is the portrayal of Mercutio (Ryan Ruckman). He is supposed to be Romeo's friend and contemporary (Ruckman is quite a bit older than Culbreth) and he is also meant to be witty with a way with words but Ruckman portrays him as a drunken and dissolute rogue which makes his rebuke of both the Montagues and Capulets as he is dying less powerful. Both Marilyn and I enjoyed this performance but we didn't love it.
Saturday afternoon we went back to the Randall Jones Theatre for a production of Emma: The Musical and it was lovely. Emma Woodhouse (Allie Babich) meets her match when she tries her matchmaking skills with her protegee Harriet Smith (Laura Brennan) and Mr. Elton (Jim Poulos), Mr. Churchill (Gilberto Saenz), then Mr. Knightley (Rhett Guter). This is one of my favorite novels by Jane Austen and, even though the songs are not particularly memorable (they mainly consist of large chunks of exposition that are sung), I really loved this adaptation. The cast is outstanding and I especially enjoyed Babich because she has a beautiful voice and her characterization of the conniving but likable Emma is hysterical (especially during "The Recital") but Brennan steals the show as Harriet (especially when she controls Emma like a marionette in the reprise of "Humiliation" which mimics how Emma treats her and Mr. Elton in "A Gentleman's Daughter"). Guter is an appealing Mr. Knightley (Marilyn really liked him) and I loved Saenz as the preening Mr. Churchill, particularly all of his poses during "Should We Ever Meet" (I also liked him as Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet the night before). Melinda Parrett as Miss Bates and Chris Mixon as the hypochondriac Mr. Woodhouse are also standouts in the cast. The set, featuring rose covered arches and wisteria laden columns, is absolutely gorgeous and the regency period costumes (I loved all of the empire waists) are beautiful. Marilyn and I loved this!
Out final show on Saturday night was A Midsummer Night's Dream in the Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre. This was my most anticipated show of the festival because I taught this play for so many years and it did not disappoint! In fact, it was my favorite show! The course of true love does not run smooth when Oberon (Corey Jones), the King of the Fairies, has Puck (Max Gallagher) play a trick on Titania (Cassandra Bissell), the Queen of the Fairies, which inadvertently involves four lovers from Athens, Hermia (Naiya Vanessa McCall), Lysander (Aamar-Malik Culbreth), Helena (Kayland Jordan), and Demetrius (Jimmy Nguyen), and Nick Bottom (Topher Embrey) the weaver. I loved so many things about this production! The set for Athens is very classical with large columns and fabric covered walls but, once the characters go into the woods, the columns become trees (which are moved around and light up) and the fabric is removed to reveal intricate panels of flowers and a moon made of twigs and lights. It is really cool, especially when the columns are moved to show that the characters are lost in the woods. Since the woods are in juxtaposition with Athens, I loved seeing the actors who play Oberon, Titania, and Puck also portray Theseus, Hippolyta, and Philostrate (they are all really good). I loved the entire cast but my favorites are Jordan as Helena, because her interactions with the the other lovers are so over the top, and Embrey, because his antics had me laughing throughout the entire show (but especially during the performance of Pyramus and Thisbe for the Duke). The costumes are some of the best I've seen at the festival (especially for all of the fairies) and I loved that the four lovers gradually come undressed as they come undone! This was such a fun play to end our time at the festival with because we loved it so much!
I enjoyed all four plays this year and I am happy to report that the tarts are as delicious as in years past (I had several). I am already looking forward to next year!
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