The Drowsy Chaperone at the Grand Theatre

I love The Drowsy Chaperone and I don't think I will ever get tired of seeing it because not only is it a hilarious parody of the genre with every musical theatre trope you can think of but it is also a poignant ode to the power that musical theatre has to transport you away from from the real wold and all of your problems to a place where happy endings are possible for a few hours.  I had the chance to see it again at the Grand Theatre last night and I thoroughly enjoyed it!  Because Man in Chair (Jason Campbell) is feeling a little bit blue he decides to listen to the LP of the cast recording for his favorite musical The Drowsy Chaperone.  As he listens the musical comes to life in his apartment with frequent pauses for his commentary on the show which becomes more and more personal.  Mrs. Tottendale (Dawn Veree) and her Underling (Jeffrey Black) are hosting the wedding of oil tycoon Robert Martin (Clayton Barney) to a Broadway star named Janet Van De Graaff (Morgan Fenner) who is giving up her glamorous career for love.  Robert is leaving the wedding details to George (Luke Logan), his best friend and best man, while Janet's Chaperone (Lauren Slagowski), who gets drowsy when she drinks champagne, is charged with keeping the couple apart to avoid bad luck.  Broadway producer Feldzieg (Doug Caldwell) is unhappy about losing his biggest star and sets out to stop the wedding by hiring a Latin lover named Aldolpho (Dru) to seduce the bride.  An investor in the Feldzieg Follies is also worried about losing its biggest star and hires two gangsters (Steve Shoemaker and Kaltin Kirby), who are posing as pastry chefs, to stop the wedding bit a ditzy chorus girl named Kitty (Natalie Wren) is hoping to take Janet's place.  The happy ending is in doubt until Trix the Aviatrix (Kacee Neff) is enlisted to marry four couples on her plane while flying to Rio.  This production features the original Broadway version which does not have an intermission (it also omits "Message From A Nightingale" which usually happens at the beginning of Act 2) and I think it is delightful.  The choreography in the big song and dance numbers "Fancy Dress," "Show Off," "Toledo Surprise," and "I Do, I Do in the Sky" is really fun but I especially enjoyed the tapping (I always love to see tapping) in "Cold Feets," the roller skating in "Accident Waiting to Happen," and the Busby Berkeley-like sequence in "Bride's Lament."  I am always intrigued to see how the furniture and other items in the apartment are incorporated into the choreography and the use of a Murphy bed in "As We Stumble Along" is hilarious.  The entire cast is very strong but the stand outs for me are Dru, because not only is his performance completely over the top but he also has a beautiful voice (he might be my favorite Aldolpho), and Campbell, because it is so fun to watch him mimic the choreography while sitting in the chair.  I had a smile on my face from beginning to end and I highly recommend it (go here for tickets).  There are performances Thursday - Saturday until September 14.

Arsenic and Old Lace at HCTO

Last night I went to see Arsenic and Old Lace at HCTO and I could not stop laughing at this classic madcap comedy!  Two elderly spinsters, Abby and Martha Brewster (Jayne Luke and Melany Wilkins, respectively), are known in their Brooklyn neighborhood for their numerous acts of charity.  However, their charity includes poisoning lonely old men who come to their home looking for lodging with their homemade elderberry wine.  Their nephew Teddy (Josh Needles), who believes that he is Teddy Roosevelt, helps them by burying the men in the holes he digs for the Panama Canal in the cellar.  Chaos ensues when their other nephew Mortimer (Jon Liddiard) discovers one of their victims in the window seat and when their estranged nephew Jonathan (Matt Kohler) suddenly appears wanting to dispose of one his own victims in the same window seat.  It takes an unwilling accomplice (Jonathan McBride), a bumbling policeman who really wants to be a playwright (BJ Oldroyd), and a curious fiance (Brianna Meikle) to end the mayhem!  What I loved most about this production is the over the top performances, particularly Liddiard because he is hilariously overwrought and Kohler because he is such a melodramatic villain (his facial expressions killed me), and all of the physical comedy, especially every time Teddy charges up the stairs while fighting the Battle of San Juan Hill, when Mortimer gets tangled up in the phone cord, when both Teddy and Dr. Einstein struggle getting the bodies out of the window seat (I sat near the window seat so I had a great view of the shenanigans), and when Officer O'Hara describes the plot of his play in detail.  The set features the kind of fussy drawing room that you would expect two elderly spinsters to inhabit and I loved the all of the details (my favorites of which were the Victorian portrait on the wall near where I was sitting and the red velvet sofa).  The elaborate costumes worn by the Brewster sisters are very amusing because they are in sharp contrast to those worn by the other characters and I laughed out loud when they appeared in black bombazine gowns and veils to conduct the funeral service for their victim.  This is one of the most performed plays for a reason and this particular production is very well done.  I loved it and I highly recommend getting a ticket for a fun night out (go here).  It runs through September 21.

The Addams Family at HCT

I consider HCT's 2019 production of The Addams Family to be one of the best I've seen of this show so I was very excited to see a new version last night. I had so much fun watching it (I was sitting next to a teen seeing it for the first time and her excitement was infectious) and I think it may even surpass their earlier production! The Addams family relies on their dead ancestors to help them through life and they need them now more than ever because Wednesday (Tearza Leigh Foyston) has fallen in love with a boy from Ohio named Lucas Beineke (Danny Kenny). She wants his uptight parents, Mal (Chandler Bishop) and Alice (Claire Kenny), to meet her family, including her father Gomez (Josh Richardson), her mother Morticia (Bailee Morris), her brother Pugsley (John Nelson Wakley), her uncle Fester (Dallin Bradford), her Gradma (Heidi Scott), and their butler Lurch (Thomas Wood), so she arranges a dinner and requests that they give her just one normal night. Chaos ensues when a mishap involving a poisonous potion occurs and it is up to Uncle Fester, with the help of the ancestors (Alec Foote, Alex Joyner, Jonathan Avila, Collin Larsen, Sophi Keller, Kristi Curtis, Channing Spotts, and Kennedy Bradford), to convince everyone that love is the answer.  This features a nearly perfect cast and I especially enjoyed Richardson (reprising the same role from the 2019 production) and Morris as Gomez and Morticia, respectively, because their interactions are hilarious (watch their facial expressions). Foyston is one of my favorite Wednesdays because her voice is very well-suited to the score. I especially enjoyed her renditions of "Pulled" and "Crazier Than You" because they are so powerful. Wakley is adorable as Pugsley (he can definitely scream) and Bradford is a different Fester than I've seen before (I liked him) but Wood absolutely steals the show as Lurch (he is often in the background but you should watch everything he does because he had me laughing out loud, especially his interactions with Thing). The choreography is a lot of fun and, in addition to the big song and dance numbers "When You're an Addams," "Trapped," "One Normal Night," "Full Disclosure," and "Move Towards the Darkness," I really loved the integration of the ancestors in a kick-line with Morticia in "Just Around the Corner," a Pas de Quatre with Fester in "The Moon and Me," and a tango with Gomez and Morticia in "Tango de Amor." I loved Wednesday's iconic black minidress, all of Morticia's slinky gowns, and Gomez's velvet smoking jacket but the costumes for all of the ancestors are epic (my favorites are the Conquistador and the Viking). Finally, the set is absolutely incredible. The proscenium is surrounded by portraits of ancestors (be sure to watch them throughout the show) and the stage is dominated by an ornate wrought iron staircase that is rotated to become different rooms with the addition of elaborate set pieces and props (I loved all of the dead flower arrangements). The visuals, which change for each of the different rooms, are my favorite aspect of this production and they, along with lots of amusing little details, are what make it so spectacular! This would be the perfect show to see during the Halloween season and I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here). It runs on the Sorenson Legacy Jewel Box Stage through November 16.

My Penguin Friend

Last night I returned to the Broadway to see My Penguin Friend and I think it is one of the most heartwarming movies I've seen in a long time.  It tells the true story about a Magellanic penguin who traveled from Patagonia every year to visit the man in Brazil who nursed him back to health after being caught in an oil spill.  Joao Pereira de Souza (Jean Reno) is a fisherman living on the coast of Brazil who has isolated himself from the villagers around him because he is still grieving the loss of his young son who died many years ago in a boating accident for which he feels responsible.  A penguin is separated from his colony during its annual migration from Patagonia and washes up on Joao's beach sick and covered in oil.  Joao brings the penguin home, much to the dismay of his exasperated wife Maria (Adriana Barraza), and cares for him tenderly until he is ready to be released back into the wild.  When the penguin, dubbed Dindim by a girl in the village, returns the following year, it brings Joao back to life and Dindim ultimately helps him reconcile his son's death.  The underwater cinematography following Dindim's journey from Patagonia to Brazil and back again is incredibly beautiful and immersive and I loved the footage of the penguin colony because I learned so much about their behavior.  There are also some shots from Dindim's POV that are highly amusing because he is very curious and a little bit naughty.  Some liberties are taken with the story but it is really touching, especially a scene when Dindim is in peril and another when we realize that Joao is desperate to save him because he was unable to save his son.  Reno gives a performance that is subtle but affecting and I also love that Dindim is portrayed by ten different rescue penguins. This is such an uplifting movie about the power of friendship and forgiveness that I think almost anyone would enjoy it!

Peter and the Starcatcher at Murray Park Amphitheater

Last night I was able to see Peter and the Starcatcher under the stars at the Murray Park Amphitheater and it was enchanting!  This show is a really clever and imaginative origin story for Peter Pan which explains how a mistreated orphan boy gets magical powers after arriving on Neverland and how the inept pirate Black Stache becomes Peter's arch-nemesis Captain Hook.  The entire cast, most of whom play multiple roles with the addition of costumes and props located on stage, is fantastic.  I particularly enjoyed Trinity Medina as Peter, Cece Capps as Molly, Georgia Collings as Smee, and Hunter Oliphant as Mrs. Bumbrake because they all give slightly different interpretations of their characters from ones I've seen before.  However, Matthew Davids absolutely steals the show as Black Stache because he is incredibly flamboyant as a misunderstood poet looking for a hero to defeat so that he can become a menorable villain.  His facial expressions are hilarious and many of his ad-libbed lines had me and the audience laughing out loud, especially a line about being a Disney villain wannabe.  I also loved his physicality, particularly in the scenes where he loses his hand and where he impersonates Michael Jackson.  A multi-level stage is transformed into the ships The Wasp and The Neverland as well as a volcanic island with ordinary objects that are used in very creative ways (I especially loved having a rope represent different areas on the ships, green parasols as the forest, and a ladder as a crocodile) so the audience must use their imagination much like the Lost Boys do.  I was also impressed by some really clever staging and choreography including how Molly reveals her powers, how Molly shows the stars to Peter, and how Peter and Molly are thrown overboard.  The costumes are also a lot of fun (the use of a fan as a mermaid's tail is ingenious) and all of the amusing sound cues by pianist Jennifer Hansen and percussionist Angel Williams add to the playful vibe.  There are some small pacing issues with this production because I think the second act loses steam but this is a complicated show to mount and I am impressed with what a community theatre company was able to do with it.  Unfortunately, last night was the final performance but there are still a few opportunities to see shows at the Murray Park Amphitheter (go here) before the summer ends.

Note:  I felt a hint of fall in the air because I needed a jacket after the sun went down.