Hi theatre friends! I hope you are doing well. I’ve been busy as usual supporting local theatre in any way I know how. Here’s some of what I’ve seen in the last 2 weeks.

SANTINO FONTANA- OPPA GALA DINNER AND CONCERT, LAYTON

As part of their annual gala dinner and Big Band Concert event On Pitch Performing Arts (or OPPA) had Broadway star Santino Fontana as their guest singer and he is every bit as great a performer as you imagine he’ll be. He sang a lot of obscure songs that I admittedly didn’t know but the quality of his voice is very pleasing to listen to. The highlight of the night was him singing “Love is an Open Door” from Frozen with a bunch of kids from the audience (see above.) All in all it was a very nice evening with good food, company, and music. Can’t ask for much more than that . For more about OPPA click here.

MRS DOUBTFIRE: THE MUSICAL- NATIONAL TOUR AT ECCLES, SALT LAKE

Every once in a while as a critic we end up having an unpopular opinion that ruffles more than a few feathers. Such is the case with my review of the national tour of Mrs Doubtfire: The Musical. Aside from some very impressive costume changes I found little to admire in this bland and movie adaptation. I know nation-wide the reviews were lukewarm of it but here in Utah everyone seems to have really loved it. As is always the case to each their own. I hope I defended my point of view as well as I could. You can read my full review here. To get a ticket to Mrs Doubtfire when it comes to your town look here.

I also wrote up a full review of Fiddler on the Roof at Empress to help UTBA out. You can read that review here.

SOMETHING ROTTEN- MUSIC THEATRE WEST, LOGAN

I was assigned to review Something Rotten at Music Theatre West in Logan for UTBA. They have yet to publish my review so I will just make a few quick points here. I’ve found with a lot of comedic shows the more I see of them the less I love them but that hasn’t been the case with Something Rotten. I think the reason it works better than a lot of other show in its genre is it is so consistently funny through both acts. If you don’t like one joke only a few minutes go before another joke comes and then another. The team at MTW is excellent with terrific chemistry and comedic timing between Sam Teuscher and Landon Weeks as the Bottoms brothers. Chris Metz also has the appropriate swagger for Shakespeare.

I was particularly impressed with how much dancing they worked into the show. It’s probably because director Stephanie Whte is also the choreographer. I swear there was tap dancing in practically every scene. I also loved the egg costumes in the “Make an Omelette” number. Very clever. In th end, Something Rotten at Music Theatre West is worth the drive up to Logan. It’s hilarious and highly entertaining. The Bard would be proud. It is playing until the 21st and you can purchase tickets here.

This is a coproduction with Cache Theatre Company.

NEXT TO NORMAL- OPPA MAIN STAGE, LAYTON

It’s interesting when I attend a particular company enough as a critic and patron I start to see where their strengths lie and where they tend to struggle. The more productions I see at OPPA in Layton the more I feel they are best when tackling the edgy and challenging material over the more fairytale, family-friendly variety. In fact, the very first show I ever saw at OPPA was their production of Rent a few years ago. (They have an education mission so I understand the need to produce the family friendly shows but my favorites have been the edgier ones.) This is definitely the case with their new production of Next to Normal. It’s a challenging show for any company to put on but this team directed by Todd Taylor is up for the task.

Next to Normal tells the story of a woman named Diana who has severe mental illness and the impact it has on her husband and daughter. I know many see husband Dan as the villain of this piece because he pushes her into treatments but I have a lot of sympathy for him. At OPPA Diana is played by Mindi Hansen and Dan is Nathan Sachs. Mental illness as severe as Diana experiences is extremely difficult to support and understand and I think Dan tries his best to be loyal and loving to Diana. At a certain point nothing will save her outside of her own determination and will power. Not medicine, not therapy, not treatments, not love. It’s just a tough situation and I have empathy for all of them.

The most important aspect of Next to Normal is the acting because it will not win over audiences on its music, which is fine but nothing special. Fortunately the cast is all strong at OPPA and left me pondering the themes of the material. Jacob Ericksen has probably the strongest voice of the cast as Gabe and Logan Kelley is understated yet effective as Henry.

My only big critiques is I probably had the worst seat in the house because I was right behind this doorway made by iron bars that obfuscated my view of the action and seemed unnecessary to the action. I also felt the wigs on the women were an odd choice. There’s no reason why Natalie needs black hair or Diana needs long brown hair. Their regular hair would fit the characters just fine, so the wig becomes a distraction to the audience.

Still Next to Normal at OPPA is definitely worth checking out. I would particularly recommend it for young adults and teens (it is R rated material but just language) as it should inspire a lot of conversation. It presents no easy answers which is powerful and true to live. You can find out more and purchase tickets here. It plays through Oct 5th.

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