Disenchanted at the Grand Theatre

Last night I went to the Grand Theatre to see a production, in partnership with On Pitch Performing Arts, of Disenchanted.  I was not at all familiar with this musical but it is absolutely hilarious!  Masters of Ceremonies, Snow White (Christy Rolfe), Cinderella (Cariel Goodwin), and Sleeping Beauty (Chelsea Morris), along with their accompanist (Jennifer Morgan), present a vaudeville show telling how it really went down with all of the princesses before Walt got a hold of their stories!  Belle (Amy Shaffer) describes how crazy it is to live with objects that talk to her all of the time in "Insane," Hua Mulan (Jason Sin) explains why she really dressed like a man (spoiler alert: she's a lesbian) in "Without The Guy," the Little Mermaid (Andrea Del Mar Santiago) regrets her decision to give up her tail in "Two Legs," Pocahontas (Erin Dawson) points out all of the historical inaccuracies in her portrayal in "Honestly," the Princess Who Kissed a Frog (Quesley Bunch) wonders why it took so long for her to become a storybook princess in "Finally," and Princess Badroulbador (Allegra-Bree Mooreno) laments the fact that her name was changed to Jasmine and that she was relegated to a mere love interest in "Secondary Princess."  The ensemble speaks out about the fact that they were all drawn by men in "Big Tits," that they did not receive any compensation for their life stories in "Not Von Red Cent" featuring Rapunzel (Jenn Tate), that they are forced to starve themselves to keep their figures in "All I Wanna Do Is Eat," and the fact that the princes get all of the credit in the expletive laden "A Happy Tune."  They end the show with the message that they are all good enough as they really are in "Perfect" and a request that you forget the princesses you know in "One More Happ'ly Ever After."  I laughed and laughed at this show and I loved all of the funny little details such as when a stage hand brings out a leaf blower during Pocahontas' song and when Cinderella exchanges her glass slippers for Mickey Mouse slippers because her feet hurt!  Some of the cast members are better singers than others (Bunch was my favorite) but all of their characterizations are brilliant.  Their sparkly costumes incorporate the iconic elements that the Disney Princesses are known for but they have been adapted to be more appropriate for a stage show at a nightclub and they are so much fun.  The audience is sitting right on the stage so it has the feel of an intimate cabaret show and even features audience participation (I was singled out because I was sitting away from everyone else).  I had so much fun watching this musical spoof and I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here).

Note:  This show features humor and language that some might find inappropriate.

Enchanted April at HCTO

Last night I went to see HCTO's delightful production of Enchanted April and I thoroughly enjoyed it!  In England after World War I Lotty Wilton (Stephanie Breinholt) is finding her life and her marriage to Mellersh (Marshall Lamm) to be unsatisfactory.  She sees an advertisement for a medieval castle in Italy to let for the month of April and begins to dream of the possibility of taking it.  The dream becomes a reality when she meets Rose Arnott (Christie Gardiner), a pious and uptight woman who is also struggling in her marriage to Frederick (Jon Liddiard), at her Ladies Club and convinces her to come along.  They decide that it would be more economical to have two more women join them and they create their own advertisement.  It is answered by the wealthy and aimless Lady Caroline Bramble (Kelly Cook) and the imperious widow Mrs. Graves (Karen Baird).  At first their interactions at the castle are tense but soon all four of these unhappy women, as well as their husbands, begin to bloom under the wisteria and sunshine of San Salvatore.  I really love this story because it is all about finding light when life seems at its darkest and I think this is a message we can all benefit from.  The four main women in the cast are all wonderful, especially Breinholt as the free-spirited Lotty, but I absolutely loved Celine Morton as the cook Costanza because, even though all of her dialogue is in Italian, her facial expressions and over the top gestures are hilarious and I also enjoyed Lamm, especially his attempts to speak Italian.  The rotating set is very simple and becomes a Ladies Club, the Wilton residence, the Arnott residence, the Bramble residence, the Graves residence, and a train compartment with the addition of just a few props in the first act and then it is miraculously transformed into the terrace of San Salvatore with a wisteria covered pergola in the second act.  The audience literally gasped when the transformation occurred (you have to see it to believe it).  I say this in every review but I am always so impressed with what HCTO is able to do on such a small stage and I was particularly struck by how the scene where Lotty and Rose tell their husbands that they are going to Italy is staged because it happens simultaneously in the same space (it is choreographed so well because both couples even use the same tea service).  This is a simple play but I walked out of the theatre with a huge smile on my face and I definitely recommend it (go here for tickets).

Fall

I had only the most desultory interest in Fall but I randomly decided to see it last night.  I enjoyed it but, let me tell you, do not go see this movie if you are the least bit scared of heights!  Trust me on this!  After a tragic climbing accident resulting in the death of her husband a year earlier, Becky (Grace Caroline Currey) is cajoled into climbing a 2,000 foot decommissioned TV tower in the middle of nowhere by her best friend Hunter (Virginia Gardner) in an attempt to help her move past her grief and fear.  The climb to the top is exhilarating and they celebrate their success by filming some amazing footage using a drone but, as they attempt to descend, complications ensue and they are trapped on a tiny platform.  There is no way down and no way to communicate with anyone for help.  Will they survive?  There are some incredibly nerve-wracking scenes filled with almost unbearable tension, especially when the girls climb the tower with glimpses of how structurally unsound it is interspersed throughout.  The visuals are also quite impressive in showing the scale of the tower and, even though I don't suffer from vertigo, I had to look away several times!  The narrative does start to lose steam in the third act with a subplot that feels shoehorned in just to add to the runtime and an ending that is a bit anticlimactic after the buildup.  Curry and Gardner give outstanding physical performances but their acting won't be winning any awards, although this could be because much of the dialogue is cringe-worthy (I'm not familiar with either of these actresses).  This reminded me so much of 47 Meters Down and, as with that movie, I think it is a lot of fun and should be seen on the big screen for maximum anxiety!

Beast

Last night I spontaneously decided to see Beast and I enjoyed it a lot more than I was expecting.  After his estranged wife dies from cancer, Dr. Nate Samuels (Idris Elba) takes his two teenage daughters Meredith (Iyana Halley) and Nora (Leah Sava Jeffries), who blame him for abandoning their mother during her illness, to her village in South Africa to try and repair his relationship with them.  They stay with Martin Battles (Sharlto Copley), a family friend who manages a game reserve, and the four of them eventually go out on a game drive together.  When they stop in another village, they discover that every inhabitant has been savagely killed by a lion which, as Martin explains, is unusual behavior.  It turns out that poachers have killed this lion's entire pride and he is fighting back.  This includes injuring Martin and trapping Nate and his daughters in their incapacitated jeep.  Nate must now fight for the survival of his family against a relentless predator.  Despite some incomprehensibly bad decisions made by most of the characters (the daughters are told to stay in the vehicle at least 812 times and, you guessed it, they don't stay in the vehicle) and a predictable outcome, there are some really tense action scenes that had me holding my breath.  These are definitely enhanced by long tracking shots that are almost more menacing for what they don't show than what they do because I was always on edge not knowing where the lion would come from.  Elba is really great as an action hero (the final confrontation between his character and the lion is fantastic if a bit improbable) but he also delivers in the poignant scenes between Nate and his daughters.  Copley, who always seems slightly unhinged to me, is also really believable as a naturalist and the young actresses have nice interactions with Elba.  This is a well-crafted thriller that is more entertaining than the usual late summer fare and I recommend it!

The Drowsy Chaperone at Murray Park Amphitheater

Last night I saw my third production this year of The Drowsy Chaperone at Murray Park Amphitheater (go here for the production at the Empress Theatre and here for the one at HCTO).  I obviously love this show because, like Man in Chair, I believe in the power of musical theatre to take you away from your problems to a place where happy endings are possible for a few hours!  This show is a hilarious spoof of the genre and, as Man in Chair (JD Ramey) listens to his favorite Broadway cast recording of the popular 1920s musical The Drowsy Chaperone, he stops frequently to poke fun at all of the musical theatre tropes used in the show as the cast brings it to life in the middle of his apartment!  Mrs. Tottendale (Natalie Savage) and her Underling (Erik Christianson) are hosting the wedding of oil tycoon Robert Martin (Dallin Lewis) to the Broadway star Janet Van De Graaff (Emily Witte) who is giving up her glamorous career for love.  Robert is leaving the wedding details to George (Jenson Haws), his best friend and best man, while Janet's Chaperone (Macy Rhees), who gets drowsy when she drinks, is charged with keeping the couple apart to avoid bad luck.  Broadway producer Feldzieg (Kevin Elzey) is unhappy about losing his biggest star so he sets out to stop the wedding by hiring the famous Latin lover Adolpho (Damon Yauney) to seduce the bride.  An investor in the Feldzieg Follies is also worried about losing its star and hires two gangsters (Daniel Bearss and Alessandro Falabella), disguised as pastry chefs, to stop the wedding but a ditzy chorus girl named Kitty (Meagan Rudd) is hoping to take Janet's place.  Mayhem ensues but the happy ending comes eventually when Trix the Aviatrix (Ashley Gates) is enlisted to marry four couples on her plane while flying to Rio.  It is hilarious when the cast freezes in place every time the Man in Chair stops the record, when they perform the same movement over and over when the record has a scratch, and when they perform as different characters when the Main in Chair accidentally starts the wrong record at the beginning of Act 2.  I really enjoyed seeing Ramey once again as Man in Chair (he performed the role in the SCERA production last year) because he is really funny in his interactions with the audience but he also shows a lot of vulnerability when he compares this musical to real life in "Love Is Always Lovely in the End."  The rest of the cast also does a great job with Yauney and Rhees as standouts, especially in "I Am Adolpho."  The choreography is a lot of fun, particularly the tap dancing in "Cold Feets," and the rollerskating in "Accident Waiting to Happen," and the cast is fantastic in the big song and dance numbers "Toledo Surprise" and "I Do, I Do in the Sky."  Finally, I loved the set because the Man in Chair's elaborate apartment takes up the entire stage and the actors in the show enter from the refrigerator and from behind bookcases with minimal props (it reminded me of the set when I saw the Broadway touring production several years ago).  I had so much fun watching this show under the stars and I definitely recommend getting a ticket to one of the two remaining performances (go here).

Note:  As with The Sound of Music, I enjoyed all three productions of this show for different reasons and I can't pick a favorite!