Timpanogos Community Theater's The Secret Garden

Last night I saw Timpanogos Community Theater's production of The Secret Garden and I was blown away by the incredible cast! Mary Lennox (Mia Moore) is orphaned by a cholera outbreak in India and is sent to live with her uncle Archibald Craven (William Gardner) at Misselthwaite Manor in Yorkshire. He has been grieving the death of his wife Lily (Sydney Dameron), who died in childbirth, for the past ten years and has closed off his heart, his house, and Lily's garden. Mary receives a cold welcome from the housekeeper Mrs. Medlock (Kristyan Williams) and an indifferent one from her uncle so she is lonely and unhappy. However, she is encouraged by a maid named Martha (River Robinson) and her brother Dickon (Adam Moore) to play outside and she soon discovers Lily's garden. She also discovers her cousin Colin (Josh Moore) who has been kept an invalid by Archibald's brother Neville (Dustin Parmley). As Mary brings the garden back to life, she also brings Colin and Archibald back to life. The songs in this show all have beautiful melodies and the performances from this talented cast gave me goosebumps. Dameron's versions of "Come to My Garden" and "How Could I Ever Know" are incredibly poignant and you can literally hear the pain in Gardner's voice as he sings "A Girl in the Valley," "Lily's Eyes," and "Race You to the Top of the Morning." Robinson's portrayal of the sassy maid Martha made me laugh out loud and her performance of "Hold On" (one of my favorite songs in the show) just about blew the roof off the theater and also garnered the loudest applause of the evening. I loved Moore's voice and physicality (I also really enjoyed him as Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance and Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame) in "Winter's on the Wing" but I especially loved his interactions with his sister Mia in "Wick" (another favorite song from the show) and with her and his cousin Josh in "Come Spirit, Come Charm." I was also really impressed by the staging of this production. The main set features a large house made of stone with two levels and several arches and those arches rotate to become hedges that form a maze leading to the door that opens to the secret garden. These set pieces are moved by the ensemble as Mary and the rest of the children walk through the maze. It is very clever! There are also large moving panels of fabric hanging from the rafters to give the house the impression that it is shrouded and I loved the effect that is created as the ghosts wander around and through them. The whole show is incredibly enchanting and you can't help but leave with a smile on your face! It runs at the Valentine Theater in American Fork through February 22 with performances on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays (go here for tickets).

Note:  I have been impressed by the caliber of talent I have seen at every show from TCT!

Timpanogos Community Theater's The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Last night I went to see Timpanogos Community Theater's production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and, of the three versions of this show I've seen this year, this one is the best! I absolutely loved it! Quasimodo (Adam Moore), a hunchback who has spent his entire life hidden in the bell tower of Notre Dame cathedral, yearns to be a part of the outside world. He summons the courage to attend the Feast of Fools and meets the gypsy Esmeralda (Teresa Jack) when she saves him from an angry mob. However, Quasimodo's master, the archdeacon Claude Frollo (Stanley Johnson), and the new captain of the cathedral guard, Phoebus de Martin (Casey Copier), also meet her and fall in love with her. When Esmeralda rejects Frollo, he orders Phoebus to arrest her but he refuses and they both become fugitives who are aided by Quasimodo until the final confrontation in the bell tower. I was very impressed by the incredibly talented cast, especially the four leads! Moore (he was amazing as Frederic in a previous production of The Pirates of Penzance) imbues Quasimodo with naivete and strength and I loved both his physicality as he moves up, down, and around the bell tower and his powerful vocals in the songs "Out There," "Heaven's Light," and "Made of Stone." Johnson does an excellent job portraying Frollo's torment and his rendition of "Hellfire" is incredibly stirring. My favorite song in the show is "God Help the Outcasts" and Jack's performance of it gave me goosebumps.  I also really enjoyed her dancing in "Rhythm of the Tambourine" and her interactions with Moore in "Top of the World" and with Copier in an incredibly emotional version of "Someday." Copier's characterization of Phoebus is a lot more playful than I have seen before but he still shows a bit of vulnerability in "Rest and Recreation." The ensemble in this show is also outstanding because not only do they effectively narrate events in "The Bells of Notre Dame" and all of its reprises as monks, gypsies, and townspeople but they also move set pieces seamlessly around the stage (I particularly loved the transitions between the interior of the cathedral and the bell tower). The gargoyles (Lily Shepherd, Ben Dunford-Cable, Kristyan Williams, and Scott Mason) who help and inspire Quasimodo are a lot of fun when they come to life and they have great costumes. The choreography in "Topsy Turvy," "Rhythm of the Tambourine," and "Tavern Song" is energetic and engaging and I loved the addition of acrobatic elements (there were a few ooohs and aaahs from the audience). The elaborate multi-level set is spectacular and includes large moving pieces that transform the stage into the interior of the cathedral, the bell tower, the town square, and the Court of Miracles. There is also a beautiful rose window, enhanced by some incredible lighting effects, that dominates the stage as well as some dramatic bells suspended from the rafters. The staging of the confrontation is very clever but I was moved to tears during the final sequence because the members of the ensemble are dressed in white and surround Quasimodo and Esmeralda like angels welcoming them to Heaven (it is so powerful). This production is better than some professional ones I have seen and, in my opinion, it should not be missed! There are four more chances to see it on Monday, Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday at the Valentine Theater (go here for tickets).

Timpanogos Community Theater's Anastasia

I have always found the idea that the Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov may have escaped the fate suffered by the rest of her family during the Russian Revolution to be incredibly compelling (even though it has now been debunked by DNA evidence) so I am a huge fan of the musical Anastasia. I was able to see the Broadway touring production several years ago so I was very intrigued to see what the Timpanogos Community Theater would do with it last night. I was quite impressed! Young Anastasia (Paisley Shepherd) is given a music box by her grandmother the Dowager Empress (Nicole Tupola) before she leaves Russia to live in Paris. Several years later the Imperial family is arrested and executed by Bolsheviks but there is a rumor in St. Petersburg that Anastasia somehow survived. Two con men named Dmitry (Tanner Tate) and Vlad (William Gardner) want to find someone to impersonate her in order to claim the reward money offered by the Dowager Empress. They find an old music box believed to be owned by the Romanovs and eventually encounter a young woman named Anya (Sierra Livermore) who is suffering from amnesia. As they try to teach her about the Grand Duchess using history books, she recognizes the music box and starts remembering the Imperial family. They escape the clutches of a Bolshevik general named Gleb (Dylan Bradford), who vows to finish the job of executing the Romanovs begun by his father, and eventually arrive in Paris. With the help of Countess Lily (Serene Parker), a lady in waiting, they introduce Anya to the Dowager Empress but is she really Anastasia and does she want the life of a Grand Duchess? The Broadway production is known for the beautiful and elaborate sets and projections that bring St. Petersburg and Paris to life. This show is much more scaled down with simpler set pieces brought on and off stage by the ensemble.  However, the upstage area is dominated by a gilded marble archway from an Imperial ballroom that is covered by white sheets, which are removed one by one as we learn more about Anastasia, and this is very effective at portraying a lost way of life that is rediscovered by Anya. I admit that I really liked this, maybe even more than the Broadway version, because it is less distracting and lets the story shine on its own with a lot more emotion. The staging of the musical numbers is still incredibly dramatic. The red lights in "The Last Dance of the Romanovs" as the Romanov family is captured by the Bolsheviks while waltzing in the Winter Palace are powerful, the ghosts of the Romanovs dancing around Anya in "Once Upon a December" and "A Nightmare" are otherworldly, and the performance of the ballet Swan Lake in "Quartet at the Ballet" as Anya, Dmitry, Vlad, Lily, and the Dowager Empress watch in box seats on each side of the stage is impressive. I also really enjoyed the choreography in "Paris Holds the Key" and "Land of Yesterday" (the Russian dancing is so fun). I've noticed that this community theater is able to attract a lot of unbelievably talented performers that other professional companies would envy and this show is no exception. Livermore is outstanding as Anya and I particularly enjoyed her renditions of "In My Dreams," "Once Upon a December," and "Journey to the Past"  as well as her portrayal of so many different emotions as she transitions from reading about the events in Anastasia's life to remembering them. Everyone else does a great job but Bradford gave me goosebumps, especially in "The Neva Flows" and "Still," because his voice is so beautiful. This is another stellar production from TCT!  It has fewer bells and whistles than the Broadway version but it is all the better for it and I would highly recommend getting a ticket (go here). It runs Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays through July 6.

Timpanogos Community Theater's The Pirates of Penzance

Last year I was so impressed by Timpanogos Community Theater's production of The Sound of Music that I immediately vowed to come back for another show. I finally made good on that promise by seeing The Pirates of Penzance last night and I'm sorry that I waited so long because I really enjoyed myself! It is one of the funniest versions of this comedic operetta that I have ever seen! Frederic (Adam Moore) has reached his 21st birthday and wishes to leave the band of pirates to whom he has been mistakenly apprenticed. After leaving the pirates, Frederic meets Major-General Stanley (Brett Hansen) and his daughters, falls in love with the youngest daughter Mabel (Kyra Fowler), and enlists the Sergeant of Police (Aaron Bone) and his constables to arrest the pirates. Chaos ensues when the Pirate King (Aaron Williams) and Ruth (Vivian Mathias), Frederic's former nursemaid, tell him that he was born during a leap year and, since he has only had five birthdays, he must continue to serve his apprenticeship. The set is quite simple, consisting of a ship, the seaside, and a graveyard (there is also an amusing miniature ship that is used several times), and the costumes are a lot more straightforward than in other productions of this show that I have seen (the Major-General does not even have any medals) but it matters not because the comedy comes from the brilliant staging, choreography, and performances without having to rely on sight gags. I was laughing from beginning to end at the physicality in all of the scenes but my favorites were Frederic and Ruth's interactions "Oh! false one, you have deceiv'd me" when he learns that she is not as beautiful as she has claimed to be, Frederic hiding in plain sight from the daughters in "Climbing over rocky mountains," when the daughters feign disinterest in Frederic during "Oh, is there not one maiden breast" (Ciara Hulet's facial expressions killed me), when the daughters keep moving closer to overhear Frederic and Mabel in "How beautifully blue the sky," when the pirates and daughters dramatically gasp for breath during "I am the very model of a modern Major-General," and when the constables and the pirates hide in plain sight from the Major General in "Hush, hush! not a word." The ensemble, who all sing and dance as pirates, daughters, and constables, is outstanding and so much fun to watch and I also loved Fowler's beautiful rendition of "Poor wand'ring one" and Williams' enthusiastic version of "Oh! better far to live and die." My favorite performance, however, was that of Moore because he is incredibly appealing as Frederic! He has a beautiful voice, especially when he sings "Stay, Fred'ric, stay," "Ah, leave me not to pine," and "Oh, here is love, and here is truth" with Fowler, but his comedic timing coupled with his earnest expression (and rosy cheeks) is enchanting! Hurrah for this production for putting a big smile on my face! It runs at the Valentine Theater on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays through May 4 and I highly recommend it (go here for tickets).

Timpanogos Community Theater's The Sound of Music

Today is the first anniversary of my Mom's passing so my sisters and I decided to see a production of The Sound of Music with Timpanogos Community Theater last night. She suffered from dementia and during the last year of her life she loved the movie (she watched it every day and sometimes even watched it twice) so we thought it would be a great way to remember her. It was a bit emotional for me (I cried a few times just like I did when Marilyn and I saw a production at the Utah Shakespeare Festival last summer) but it was also so much fun to see it with both of my sisters because we would exchange knowing glances during particular scenes that my Mom loved. The production is delightful and we were really impressed with it! When a prospective nun named Maria (Maren Miller) is sent to be the governess to the seven children of Captain von Trapp (Nathaniel Brown), she brings music back to their household. Miller has a really beautiful voice and her version of "The Sound of Music" is incredibly stirring. I also really enjoyed her interactions with the von Trapp children, Liesl (Amalie Strongin), Friedrich (Benjamin Kland), Louisa (Summer Mitchell), Kurt (Lincoln Harper), Brigitta (Madison Hirschi), Marta (Chloe Hirschi), and Gretl (Story Harper), in "Do-Re-Mi" and "The Lonely Goatherd." I usually enjoy watching the young actress playing Gretl but in this production Lincoln Harper steals the show as Kurt! His facial expressions are hilarious! Strongin not only has a beautiful voice but she is also a great dancer and "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" with Trystyn Roberts as Rolf is a lot of fun. I especially liked the choreography in this number because Rolf tries to teach Liesl how to dance but she ends up doing her own steps. Other standouts in the cast are Charity Johansen as the Mother Abbess, because her rendition of "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" just about blows the roof off of the theater, and Trevor Williams as Max Dettweiler, because his delivery is very flamboyant. There are some interesting variations in the staging of several numbers, including portraying the funeral of Captain von Trapp's first wife during "Preludium," having the Captain and the children upstage during "Maria" and "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" in order to foreshadow Maria's future, and having soldiers wearing Nazi armbands walking through the audience during "Edelweiss," but they are incredibly powerful. The sets are very elaborate for a community theatre production and I especially liked the arches in the Nonnberg Abbey set and the large staircase in the von Trapp Villa set. The costumes are what you would expect from this show but I did like the play clothes made out of Maria's drapes and I loved her wedding dress. My Mom would have loved this show! Tonight is the final performance but it is well worth seeking out (go here).

Note:  It is always disconcerting for me to see the stage version because it differs significantly from the movie (which I am very familiar with).