Happy day to all my theater loving friends! I hope you are doing well. I’ve been pushing myself very hard lately on pretty much every front- working 2 new temporary jobs, my other work, film criticism and of course watching live theater. It’s amazing I’ve still managed to see as much as I have but I’m fortunate to have been able to do so. I also had the chance to recap the Tony Awards with my friend Marc for OnStage Blog

I also have 5 local shows I couldn’t wait to tell you about. Some I reviewed for utba and others are just mentioned on this log. Please let me know what you have been watching at a theater near you.

SHE LOVES ME- SPRINGVILLE PLAYHOUSE, SPRINGVILLE

It’s always fun when I get a chance to check out a new to me company (there’s so many in this area I could see a new one every day!) and it’s especially fun when they are doing one of my favorite shows. I recently had this experience when I went to the Springville Playhouse for the first time and saw their take on She Loves Me. I absolutely adore She Loves Me and this was a really fun community version of this wonderful musical.

I think the key is the Parfumerie story that it is based on just works. Whether it is this, The Shop Around the Corner or You’ve Got Mail it’s a great concept for 2 people to fall in love over their words. They hate each other in real life but are in love as penpals. It’s a great idea. She Loves Me takes this concept and then adds music by Jerry Bock and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick and it is completely charming.

At Springville they had a talented cast led by Allison Dean as Amalia and Jared Gaskil as George. They had a nice chemistry together and both brought a nerdy energy to their button-up personas. It’s super fun to see them become unglued and surprised as they realize they are falling in love. The sets and costumes were also very impressive with a 2-story set creating the Parfumerie store and then Amalia’s apartment, the restaurant etc.

The only downside was it was all performed at a school and the office chairs were pretty uncomfortable and the sound they had to work with was frustrating. It would be nice if when company’s are in an environment like that they gave a little notice on their social media so we could bring a cushion or something like that. I appreciated at Sugar Factory recently when they even had cushions to rent but they did give me a heads up so I brought my own pillow. I have never felt She Loves Me’s length before but I did feel it this night.

She Loves Me has finished its run in Springville but I look forward to seeing more from them. You can find out more here.

SEUSSICAL- HALE CENTER THEATRE OREM, OREM

I debated about whether I wanted to see Seussical at Hale Orem. I had just seen it at Centerpoint a few months ago and wasn’t that impressed with the show and figured it might just not be for me. (I have season tickets to HCTO so that’s why I had a ticket.) Eventually I decided to give it a shot and I’m glad I did. It was a lot better and just the visual components of the show alone were more than enough to make up for the scattershot script.

Seussical has music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens (who would go on to do Anastasia which I also don’t love) and it is of course based on the works of Dr Seuss. The problem is in attempting to tell all of Seuss’ diverse stories they fail to find a coherent narrative throughout them all and it’s just kind of sporadic and all-over-the-place.

Nevertheless, the folks at HCTO have made an incredible immersive experience with practical sets (not the AI!) and dynamic lighting, whimsical costumes. They also did a good job bringing out the humor of the piece. In particular Blake Barlow as the Cat in the Hat was very funny and since I was laughing I didn’t mind the disjointed story. Wade Robert Johnson is also very endearing as Horton the Elephant who takes care of the Whos no matter how small and sits on Mayzie’s egg.

I don’t think Seussical will ever go down as a favorite show of mine but HCTO has done about as good a job staging it as one could do. I recommend checking it out. It plays through August 3rd and you can buy tickets here.

INTO THE WOODS- OPPA, LAYTON

Anyone who has followed my content for any amount of time knows I’m not the biggest fan of Stephen Sondheim’s magnum opus Into the Woods. I respect things about it but I don’t think the subversion in Act 2 pays off and I just find the whole experience to be rather long and frustrating. Nevertheless, it is extremely popular particularly here in Utah so I often find myself seeing it and in spite of what people may think I can give a fair review of a show I’m not crazy about. I recently saw the production at OPPA and especially if you’re a fan of this show you should totally give this one a shot.

There are 2 aspects that made this version of Into the Woods stand out. The first is giving it a 1950s setting both in costumes and iconography in the backdrops with domestic housewife posters and advertising for the day. I think someone could even go further with this and have it be set in a city park with buildings around it, giving the woods an urban feel. It could be a cool way to freshen up a oft-told story. Nevertheless, I really appreciate that they tried to make it their own (director Kristie Post Wallace did a great job.)

The cast was also one of the strongest I’ve seen at OPPA. They have an education mission so I’m pretty forgiving of their imperfect casts but this one basically everyone was bringing it. I particularly enjoyed Caitlin Olsen as the Witch (I think she is one of the strongest singers acting in Utah today and her acting is compelling as well.) and Preston Fulllmer as the Wolf and Cinderella’s Prince was absolutely hilarious in both roles (I don’t think these roles are usually cast with the same actor but it really worked.)

There was some kind of problem happening with Cinderella’s costumes. I assume this comes from the show being double cast but her dress was starting to come apart and I was nervous it was going to literally fall off her and there were a couple other costume construction issues. This is community theater after all. That said, this is a very strong take on Into the Woods and especially if you love this show and what it has to offer I highly recommend it. It runs through July 13th and you can purchase tickets here.

OLIVER!- HOPEBOX THEATRE, KAYSVILLE

Hopebox is a really special local theater with a wonderful mission of supporting individuals fighting cancer in the community. They’ve also never missed for me. Even if it is a show I’m not crazy about like Seven Brides for Seven Brothers they still put on a quality production that makes for an entertaining night of theater. I recently reviewed Oliver! there for UTBA and it was an incredible experience. I absolutely loved their steampunk take on the classic story. Being it is set in the Victorian era the steampunk sensibilities really make sense and work and it fit the venue so well. I highly recommend checking it out. You can read my review here. Oliver! plays through July 13th and you can purchase tickets here.

SCHOOL OF ROCK- CREEKSIDE FESTIVAL, PLEASANT GROVE

One of the shows on my musical theater bucketlist for some time has been School of Rock. I knew about it because it comes from Andrew Lloyd Webber, Glenn Slater and Julian Fellowes (all who I love) but I had never had a chance to see it. Fortunately I got the chance at Creekside Theatre Company in their Summer Festival series and I wrote my review for UTBA. There were a lot of technical issues which was unfortunate but I still really enjoyed the experience. I love the comradery between Dewey and the kids and there are some really catchy tunes especially “If Only You Would Listen.” I was thinking about it and I honestly think I prefer School of Rock over Matilda which might be a hot take but there it is. You can read my full review here. School of Rock plays through July 1st and you can get tickets here.

All of these logged shows not part of UTBA 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