Hi theatre loving friends! I’ve got a bunch of productions to update you on. Some of them I’ve reviewed for UTBA and others were just for this log. Let’s get started!

THE WEDDING SINGER- IDEAL PLAYHOUSE, HEBER

It’s always super exciting when a new theater company opens up even if it means the long drive out to Heber. I am so excited what the folks at Ideal Playhouse are doing renovating 2 theaters in the town of Heber that will be showing all kinds of concerts and productions as well as new and classic movies. I reviewed their opening production of The Wedding Singer (a musical I find very underrated) and I enjoyed it enough to see it a second time. I think it is a terrific start to their company! You can read my review here.

DADDY LONG LEGS- CACHE THEATRE COMPANY, LOGAN

Everyone knows how much I love and adore Daddy Long Legs as a musical. I even recently interviewed its music and lyricist Paul Gordon

TRecently I was up in Logan to see my friend Caroline’s new store Kings Finest Vintage (if you are in Logan you should totally check it out!). So I saw Daddy Long Legs while I was up there at a new to me company Cache Theatre Company. Sadly I must admit this was probably as close as I will ever get to disliking a production of this beloved musical. They did not give me a program so I can’t site details but the leads had nice voices but the direction choices were very strange. In particular they chose to have Jervis sitting behind a desk for most of the show. This cuts off a huge part of his performance. He also didn’t collect the letters like I’ve always seen (usually they are pinned on the wall and he is reading over them.) It just made the chemistry non-existent and it’s a show that lives and dies on chemistry. It was also in a banquet hall with incredibly uncomfortable chairs and the whole experience just wasn’t pleasant (I was going to stay another day for the second cast but decided against it.) Oh well! On to the next staging! They have a production of Beauty and the Beast Jr coming up to Cache Theatre Company and it looks like it is in a more comfortable theater so is probably worth checking out here.

MATILDA: THE MUSICAL- FRIENDS OF HERRIMAN ARTS COUNCIL, HERRIMAN

Most people know I have my issues with Matilda: the Musical– particularly with the book but it still has some very catchy tunes and is worth seeing. Continuing on this weekend they have a production at Butterfiled Park Pavilion in Herriman that is outstanding. They even had a full live orchestra present! I reviewed it for utba you can see my review here. Matilda: the Musical is playing through 6/17 and tickets can be purchased here.

THE LITTLE MERMAID- DRAPER AMPITHEATER, DRAPER

Like with Matilda, the Broadway adaptation of The Little Mermaid is one I have a lot of issues with. It is not my favorite but I can still have a good time seeing it. In fact, this year I saw a truly unforgettable production of it at Bluffdale Arts that had a cast of over 200 people! You can read my review of that here. This week I was able to attend a staging of it at Draper Amphitheatre and it was a lot of fun. It was made more memorable by the rainstorm and the actors pushing on through the storm. The highlight was the aerial performers that did incredible flips and twists and helped give the appearance of swimming. The cast was all strong with Naomi McClure standing out as Ursula. Director Susan DeMill really tried to make the stage come alive in new and creative ways. It’s still not my favorite adaptation but it made for a memorable night with my friends. This run is over but they have Legally Blonde Jr coming up and you can purchase tickets here.

THE LIGHTNING THIEF- WEST VALLEY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER, WEST VALLEY

First of all, I want to say I am thrilled to hear that WVPAC has gotten an extension on their funding and we have at least another year of their wonderful productions. They are an ambitious, exciting company that we need in this valley and I will continue to support them in any way I can. This weekend I saw their new production of The Lightning Thief and I really think they did about as good a job as could be done with this imperfect material.

I actually have read Rick Riordan’s book this musical is based on and while I enjoyed it I wouldn’t call myself a fan- something of which I know there are many. I remember when this musical premiered on Broadway it had a small run and then wasn’t nominated for any Tony awards in 2020 which there wasn’t much competition in 2020…

To be honest I can see why it didn’t get much awards love. The attempt by music and lyricist Rob Rokicki and book writer Joe Tracz to translate this book into a musical is not successful. The story is over-loaded with a barrage of characters that come in and out of the story without any real consistency- some even die and then come back to life at seemingly random times. The storyline and plots are also equally numerous and fragmented. For example, just in villains we meet demons, Smelly Gabe, a Minotaur who kills a character, Luke the son of Hermes, Medusa, a spirit named Chimera, Hades and more. How are we supposed to keep all of this straight? It also doesn’t help that it should never have been a musical to begin with. There’s not a memorable song in the bunch and the songs just take time away from the story and we need that time to understand what is happening.

That said, the folks at WVPAC did an outstanding job putting on this flawed show. The visual effects and set design was impressive and creative. For example, the way they create a train, bus, the underworld, ocean all works and is quite seamless. I also enjoyed the puppetry they used and the entire cast was strong. Ren Cottam puts his all into the role of Percy Jackson and is asked to be dramatic, funny and stretch his action chops and he rises to the challenge.

If you love fantasy and love these books you definitely have to see this show for the ambition alone. Plus, it’s something new and fresh and that should be supported. I didn’t love the material they had to work with but they did what they could with it and I respect that. The Lightning Thief is playing through June 19th and you can purchase tickets here.

Most of the logged shows I pay for out of pocket. If you would like me to be able to see and write about more shows please consider checking out patreon which has some really fun perks. More information here. Thank you