One of the main reasons for our weekend trip to Bear Lake was to see Trent's niece Jaycee in two different productions at the Pickleville Playhouse. Some of my friends have raved about this theatre for years so I have wanted to see a show there for quite a while now. Having Jaycee in the cast was the perfect excuse to finally make the effort. I was so impressed with the theatre (it reminded me of the Playmill Theatre in West Yellowstone) and with both shows! Friday night we went to a cookout which is held each night before the evening show (it tasted wonderful) and then we saw The Ballad of Butch and Sundance, an original melodrama that is partially improvised. Much of what we know about Butch Cassidy (Slater Ashenhurst) and the Sundance Kid (Nathan Kremin) is based on legend rather than fact so this portrays them as performers who become accidental outlaws on their way to Broadway. Etta Earp (Jaycee Harris) convinces them to kidnap her when they attempt to rob a bank because she wants something exciting to happen to her and this gets the attention of her father Wyatt Earp (Oscar Erickson) who chases after them with his associates Joshua (Atticus Adair) and Jerusha (Mary Davis). When Wyatt Earp tracks them down in Bolivia, Butch and Sundance convince him to stage their deaths so they can all use the story for a show on Broadway. This features stock characters, songs modeled on musical theatre standards, and exaggerated acting but I particularly enjoyed the improvisational breaks. The funniest of these is when Butch and Sundance act out possible causes of death, which have been suggested by the audience, for Wyatt to guess like charades. Ours included falling into quick sand, being poisoned by a snail, and being bucked off a bronco into a cotton candy machine and it was hilarious because Wyatt could not guess what they were doing (Etta had to tell him that the horse might be from Denver and this made me laugh so hard). Other funny interludes involved the use of jazz hands, writing a song about Dumbledore, and pretending to be dinosaurs (I loved the physicality of of both Ashenhurst and Kremin). On Saturday we went to see the matinee of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. The story is a bit problematic but I love it for the singing and dancing (apparently I am not alone because it received 90% of the votes in a survey sent to patrons) and I was definitely not disappointed by this production! Adam Pontipee (Brayton Wilds) travels from his mountain home to the nearest town to get a wife and finds the perfect candidate in Milly (Reilly Jane Grace). She agrees to the marriage but is dismayed to learn that she will also have to cook and clean for his six brothers (Oscar Erickson, Atticus Adair, Joey Thompson, Evan Alois, Hayden Stewart, and Will Haley). Her solution is to get them married off and she teaches them how to go courting but Adam thinks they are becoming too soft and suggests they simply go get the women (Julianne Ferreira da Silva, Jaycee Harris, Emma Kate Leishman, Melissa Alotta, Mary Davis, and Morgan Horsburgh) they want to marry. Chaos ensues! The two leads, Wilds and Grace, are absolutely incredible and I loved their performances of "Bless Your Beautiful Hide" and "Wonderful, Wonderful Day," respectively. Another highlight is the high-energy choreography, especially in "The Challenge Dance," because the small space is utilized very effectively. Finally, the costumes are amazing and it was really fun to see the quilts used by the brothers become dresses worn by the brides later in the show. My family and I thoroughly enjoyed both of these shows (we loved seeing Jaycee perform because she is amazing and appears to be having so much fun on stage) and highly recommend getting tickets (we will definitely be coming back for the fall production). Go here for information about the theatre as well as tickets to all of the shows and the cookout.
Note: Teresa and I were singing "Bless Your Beautiful Hide" for the rest of the trip!
