Hi theatre friends! I hope you are doing well and enjoying lots of great local regional theatre wherever you might be. I am as busy as I’ve ever been with a movie or piece of live theatre to review almost every night, sometimes multiple in a day. It can be overwhelming but I’d say it’s a happy problem to have to have too much cool stuff to review.

I am still co-hosting the Onstage Blog Theatre Podcast, and we had a pretty fun episode this week. Jacks and my friend Marc joined me to give our ‘pitches’ for what we think would be good investments for shows on Broadway. Give it a listen and let me know which of our ideas you like best:

If you are new to my site I have my normal reviews which I write for theatre I am requested to critique by the company but then I also have these logs I do periodically for shows I see as a patron. Fortunately most company’s want me to review their shows these days so I may have to come up with a different system in the future but for now this works. Today I have 2 quick shows to log but please make sure to read my longer reviews of the many terrific local productions I have written about recently

The Hunchback of Notre Dame- Scera Center for the arts, Orem

Of all the Disney theatrical productions the one I have surprisingly seen the most times is The Hunchback of Notre Dame (even more than The Little Mermaid which caught me off guard.) This is perhaps even more surprising when if you know I’m not the biggest fan of the animated film which it is based on. I admire the chutzpah of it, but I don’t think it all works as a family film. Anyway, I had the chance to see a production at Scera Center for the Arts in Orem and it was another terrific staging of this classic story.

This show was directed by Michael Carrasco and his 2-story set was the biggest standout of the night. The set felt both rich in details while also allowing them to quickly transition from the cathedral scenes to the pubs and Court of Miracles. The costumes (Kelsy Seaver) and make-up (Becky Cline) particularly with the gargoyles and Saints characters that looked extremely convincing as made of stone.

The cast was all excellent with Benjamin Oldroyd playing Quasimodo with authenticity and relatability that can be missing from some portrayals (the character can feel tokenizing in the wrong hands.) I particularly liked how they worked in the sign language of the character into the portrayal. He was surrounded by a strong ensemble with Andrew Lambert as the villainous Archdeacon Frollo.

Unfortunately The Hunchback of Notre Dame just finished its run at Scera but if you are in Utah County Scera is a good option for musical theatre as their shows are almost always worth watching (both their outdoor shell in the summer and indoor shows the rest of the year.) You can find out more about their company here.

Satisfied- Feature Film Documentary

I normally review films over on my film site but since this documentary has a theatrical component I decided to mention it here. It’s called Satisfied and it is about Broadway singer and actress Renee Elise Goldsberry who originated the role of Angelica in Hamilton on Broadway. But the documentary goes beyond that and focuses on her struggles to balance out motherhood of her 2 small children with such a demanding job and role.

I think a lot of women will relate to what Goldsberry is going through and the documentary does a good job of making this exceptional experience of Hamilton feel grounded and easy to relate with. It’s also fun as a theatre fan to see the early start of such a musical phenomenon and how various aspects were workshopped and changed before premiering on Broadway in 2015.

I’m not sure what streaming service Satisfied will end up on but if you are a Broadway fan or just interested in stories about dynamic women/mothers Satisfied is definitely worth a watch. You can pre-order it on amazon here (ad.)

The Huncback of Notre Dame has music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Stephen Schwarts with a book by James Lapine and Peter Parnell. It is based on the animated film from 1996 and the novel by Victor Hugo.

Satisfied is directed by Chris Bolan and Melissa Haizlip and is a documentary with interviews of Goldsberry, Lin-Manuel Miranda and more

These logged shows I usually pay for out of pocket, and I’d love to do that as much as possible. If you have a show you’d like me to take a look at and write a full review let me know. I also have my patreon which is a great way to support what I do and get some really fun perks. Find out more here.