Hi theatre friends! I hope you are doing great and enjoying local theater in your community. If you are new to my site I have my reviews where I give a full and detailed critique of the live theater and then I have my logs for shows I paid to see and was attending as a patron not as a critic. Today I have 3 shows to fill you in on and 1 new works festival.

Finding Neverland- Centerpoint Legacy, Centerville

I already did a log on this show a few weeks ago but I wanted to see the other cast. It was the TThS cast and it was truly an astonishing piece of community theatre. If they offered a way to purchase a proshot of this production I would. It was absolutely beautiful and I would put Centerpoint up against most equity theaters let alone community theater and for such a bargain. It’s phenomenal.

What impressed me the most about Finding Neverland is the artistry on display. I’m normally not a big projections person but the way they used them in conjunction with the dance and costumes for a whole artistic experience was astonishing (director Kristin Pettingill Callor). I think it was “Circus of Your Mind” everything became black and white like an M.C. Escher painting (the costumes are always top rate at Centerpoint. Costume designer Tammis Boam). The songs are also absoloutely beautiful especially in Act II with songs like “When Your Feet Don’t Touch the Ground” and “What You Mean to Me” (I wish they would let me do full reviews there because it has been a few weeks since I saw this show but you can watch my out of theater reaction above to get an idea of my thoughts back then.) I loved both casts but Isaac Carillo and Jessica James Lewis had wonderful chemistry as Barrie and Sylvia. Finding Neverland has finished at Centerpoint but I’m glad I got to see it twice. They have Fiddler on the Roof coming up and I’m sure that will be outstanding. Can purchase tickets here.

Lucky Stiff- West Valley Arts, West Valley City

I had seen the musical Lucky Stiff one time before and really enjoyed it but I think I liked it even more at West Valley. What a hilarious night of theater by a very talented cast. It’s a ridiculous story in the spirit of screwball comedies of the 1960s with a bizarre premise that leads to a lot of laughs.

To make this kind of farce effective the actors have to sell without being over-the-top or grating and they did a great job with that at WVA. I was particularly impressed with Brandon Ngo as our neurotic lead Harry and Amber Woody as the unhinged Rita. I love how director John Sweeney brings the experience up into the audience and on the platforms so we are surrounded by the chaos. The creative set by Morgan Golightly is also very impressive. I especially loved the floor that turns into a giant roulette wheel. I’m not always the biggest fan of WVA’s choices but Lucky Stiff really worked for me. You have a few more chances to see it this weekend and tickets can be purchased here.

Exploration of New Works- Harrington Center for the Arts, Lehi

It always amazes me with all the theater I see that I am still finding out about new companies and playhouses I’ve never attended. One such example is the Harrington Center for the Arts in American Fork. I believe they are working to build the center but evidently they’ve been putting on productions and supporting the arts for a while and I’d never heard of them. I was very excited to hear about the Exploration of New Works festival they put on over the first weekend of May and it was an exhilarating experience to be a part of.

I attended 2 of the nights of new works. The first was First Pages of 6 plays in progress. They all showed potential but my favorite was Spartan Moms: A Play in 3 (Thoroughly Interrupted Acts) by Amy Banta about these stressed out Moms that is very funny.

The next day was 2 45 minute musicals in progress. The first is Too Many Voices by Tyler Thompson which didn’t do as good a job as I’d like of giving me a feel for the music and what is unique about it’s story of a mental health crisis. There’s definitely heart there and I absolutely love Noah Hurley who is one of the leads but they will definitely have a challenge of it not feeling derivative of other similar shows.

The other show is currently called The Untitled Mars Project Rae Covey and Lynn Spector. This is very exciting and has huge potential. It is about the true NASA project where people did a mock Mars simulator in 1990. I saw a documentary about this at Sundance and it’s a fascinating story. What a great idea for a Broadway musical and I loved the songs. The cast with Nina Au and Ethan Kelso are also great. Keep an eye out for this because like I said it has huge potential.

To find out more about the Harrington Center click here.

The Drowsy Chaperone- Draper Historic Theatre, Draper

I first saw The Drowsy Chaperone in previews in 2006 on Broadway with Sutton Foster and the original cast. It was fantastic then, and I’ve loved it ever since. It’s been interesting to see it evolve over the years but even at it’s worst it still makes me laugh and has a sweetness to it that I enjoy.

The production at Draper Historic has all of the good parts of the show with a more bubbly Man in the Chair than I am used to seeing played by Christopher Stockstager. I like that they didn’t scrub out the innuendo as I have seen some Utah casts do and he sang and danced along with some of the ensemble scenes. I also enjoyed Pam Winrow and Kian Byington as Mrs Totendale and her Underling respectively. “Love is Always Lovely at the End” is a highlight of the show. I also appreciate they used the apartment some for our exits and entrances like the Chaperone coming out of the murphy bed is very funny.

All that said there was about 2 years where anything at Draper Historic was some of my favorite pieces of community theatre of the year. The last few shows I’ve seen there have been a bit underwhelming in the choreography and use of projections. Just not the scrappy creativity I was seeing for a while. They also tend to overact many of the songs. It’s fine but just not the outstanding community theatre I was seeing for a while. I do not have my digital program any more so I’m not sure on the director for The Drowsy Chaperone. It still has a couple more perform aces and tickets can be purchased here.

So there you have it. Let me know if you have seen any of these shows and what you thought. Happy theatre going!

Finding Neverland has music and lyrics by Scott Frankel, Gary Barlow and Elliott Kennedy with a book by Allan Knee and James Graham based on the play The Man Who was Peter Pan by Knee and the screenplay by David Magee (1998 play, 2004 film) It debuted on Broadway in 2015. Lucky Stiff has music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics and book by Lynn Ahrens based on the novel The Man who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo by Michael Butterworth. It debuted Off-Broadway in 1988. The Drowsy Chaperone has music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison with a book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar. It premiered on Broadway in 2006.

These logged shows I 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.