Hi friends! I hope you are all doing well and enjoying great community theater wherever you are. I have 3 shows to update you on today and all 3 worth your time.

SCHOOL OF ROCK- CENTERPOINT LEGACY THEATRE, CENTERVILLE

I first saw the musical adaptation of the School of Rock film in June at Creekside Theatre Fest in Pleasant Grove. While that production had some technical challenges I was really impressed with the show itself especially the song “If Only You Would Listen” which has become a new favorite showtunes. So I was thrilled when I saw that Centerpoint Legacy was putting on the show in August. They are quite possibly my favorite community theater in Northern Utah and certainly the biggest quality for the lowest price you can ask for.

Now having seen the MWF cast I can say their School of Rock did not disappoint. One can easily tell that this musical has an all-star team behind it with Julian Fellowes writing the book, Andrew Lloyd Webber the music and lyrics by Glenn Slater (with additional lyrics and music by Jack Black, Mike White and others.) It’s a very tricky thing the book pulls off because the lead Dewey Finn (J.R Moore) is a very unlikable character especially in a show with children. He is rude, ungrateful and seems completely oblivious to what a school even is. At one point he asks the children to go off campus and get him lunch which is just wild. You’d think he would at least be trying to play the part. Later he’s accused by Patti of not even knowing how to read and not that illiteracy is a character flaw but it does seem plausible given his total cluelessness of what a normal school day consists of.

Anyway, the thing that makes it all work for Dewey is his authenticity. That might sound weird given he is lying but his responses to the world around him are authentic and natural. And then what makes that work with the kids is he allows them to be authentic. When the kids sing “If Only You Would Listen” it becomes endearing because Dewey is in fact the only one who is listening.

J.R. Moore makes for a good Dewey at Centerpoint with him doing more of a Jack Black impersonation than Kristian Huff did at Creekside but he has a nice chemistry with the children and it works for the role. Michaela Shelton stood out even more as Rosalie Mullins. She has obvious opera experience and was incredible in the “Queen of the Night” sections. The kids are all also terrific and play their instruments convincingly.

Director Danny Inkley creates a believable rock environment for the Battle of the Bands segments and the scenic and projection designs by Joshua Roberts give that 80s power band feel we need.

Most importantly School of Rock at Centerpoint is a show anyone can enjoy. The whole family will be able to relate to it and be entertained. Plus it might start some good discussions between teens and parents hopefully encouraging parents to listen more effectively to their kids. I would say School of Rock is an underrated Broadway musical and the production at Centerpoint is a rocking good time! Stick it to the man and go see it! It is playing until Aug 31 and tickets can be purchased here.

DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS- TERRACE PLAZA PLAYHOUSE, WASHINGTON TERRACE

I haven’t been up to Terrace Plaza since their Christmas show Scrooge for a number of reasons (mostly they are a long drive from my house) but when I saw they were putting on Dirty Rotten Scoundrels I jumped at the chance to visit them again and check this show off of my musical theater bucket list. Now that I have I’m glad because I think it was one of the stronger outings from Terrace Plaza and a show that’s uneven but really grew on me as it went into its second act.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is based on the 1988 film starring Michael Caine and Steve Martin about 2 con men who try and cheat an heiress out of her money but as they do so they end up being the ones conned by her. The musical has music and lyrics by David Yazbek and a book by Jeffrey Lane and was famous for getting Norbert Leo Butz his Tony Award (his speech at the Tonys is an all-timer!)

At Terrace Plaza I saw the T/Th/S cast with Nicholas Balaich playing a confident and slick Lawrence and Jeff Erickson as a bumbling Freddy. My favorite of the cast, however, was Scott Ogden as Andre and Carla Zarate as Muriel. Their little side relationship was so winning and lovely I could have had the entire show about them. I loved their banter in “Like Zis/Like Zat.”

It took a while for this show to get going. I felt like the first act was far too focused on disabled jokes with Freddy pretending to be an injured victim. It just got old fast and I even contemplated leaving at intermission but I’m glad I didn’t because it turned around. Like I said Andre and Muriel were so winning and soon after the 2nd act starts they abandon the wheelchair bit and it became funnier for our leads.

The production was all solid at Terrace Plaza. The direction by Whitney Cahoon kept the action moving across the stage and up the staircases to different platforms. The costumes by the team have a glamorous appeal to them and the choreography by Katie Swainston was energetic and fun.

I was surprised when Terrace Plaza chose to put on Dirty Rotten Scoundrels as it definitely has its non-family friendly moments so I don’t know I’d bring the young ones to this but for adults it’s one of the better shows I’ve seen from them and a good time to be had by all. It is playing until September 21 and tickets can be purchased here.

BANDSTAND- DOGOOD THEATRE COMPANY, PLEASANT GROVE

I was so excited when I heard a company was putting on Bandstand here in Utah and even more thrilled when I learned it is a new company trying to make a name for themselves. DoGood Theatre’s production of Bandstand is the first time the show has been done in Utah and they crushed it in this production. Especially with the quality of the lead singers with Kiley Todd Drake playing Julia and Luke Urry as Donny I don’t think anyone could ask for better leads in a community production like this. Drake was especially powerful in her closing number “Welcome Home” and Urry got every high note thrown at him. It was so good.

The show also has real emotional depth to it. Something you don’t typically see with WWII stories. I was moved by the journey of the characters as they dealt with their PTSD and conflicted feelings over a war we typically paint in only heroic colors. I describe more of my thoughts in my review for UTBA. You can read it here. Bandstand is playing until the 24th. Please go see it. You can purchase tickets here.

Aside from the show I reviewed for UTBA I paid for all of these logged shows out of pocket. I’d love to cover as many local shows as possible but I need your help to do so. If you’d like me to review more theatre and appreciate what I do please check out the patreon here