Hi theatre friends! I hope you are doing well. Sorry this log is late. I’ve just been so busy with my trip to Toronto and everything else plus I’ve been writing full reviews for most of what I see so it’s been delayed. Anyway, here are a few quick thoughts on what I didn’t get to review. This log will be even more brief than my usual logs because I have long since lost the digital playbills of these shows and a bunch of them were rewatches so I have full reviews for you to read at your leisure.

First up I want to talk about West Side Story at Draper Historic. This was an ambitious show for this company to try and mount and for the most part I feel they succeeded. The most interesting choice was having a bilingual and multi-racial cast with Yunnie Kim playing Anita and other cast members appearing to be Filipino or Asian backgrounds. This is not blind casting as they do add in dialogue with Asian slurs along with the anti-latino rhetoric thrown at the Sharks. I’m not sure it all 100% works particularly for Anita who is singing about Puerto Rico and her island home but I appreciate the swing and trying something new. Also, the dance was outstanding with them filling up the stage with movement. Gabriella Zuniga was also strong as Maria with Cade Marshall as Tony. This production has finished but they have Little Shop of Horrors coming up next, which should be a nice change of pace from the intensity of West Side Story. Tickets can be purchased here.

The next grouping is all shows I have reviewed or logged previously on this site. I saw them again as part of playing host to my friend Jacklyn Collier who is also my co-host for the Onstage Blog Theatre Podcast (see above for the episode.) Because her time was so limited we saw 5 shows in 2 days which was pretty epic. In addition to seeing the shows the talent for almost all of them greeted us and we even got to participate with the cast preshow meeting at Hopebox and get a behind the scenes tour of Hale Center Theatre. It was a wonderful weekend I will never forget. So here’s what happened:

First up we saw Joseph... at Hale Center Theatre. This was the same cast as I saw for my review (I’m going to see it again with my sisters and see the other cast.) While I have my critiques of the direction it’s still a ton of fun and delivers on the spectacle you want from Hale. Jacks was blown away by it which was fun to see her response. Joseph plays until October 24th and tickets can be purchased here.

Next, we saw Anything Goes at Hopebox. Like I said, this was neat because they invited us into their cast meeting and I got to see the other cast with Lindsey Stephens as Reno and Savannah Ruiz as Hope. Daylen Bills played Billy in both casts and was delightful. The whole cast was great and I’m so glad I got to see it a second time. The most impressive aspect was the amount of dancing packed into that small space. If this was in Draper I probably would have seen it even more. That’s how much I enjoyed it. Hopebox has Cinderella next and I will be seeing that this weekend. Tickets can be purchased here.

The next morning we saw Pride and Prejudice at The Ruth. This was the same cast as I reviewed except for we had the understudy for Darcy played by Dustin Farmley. He was great and managed to have chemistry with Lauren Pope which can be challenging sometimes with understudies. I did get to see Elena Belen Shill as Lizzy and she is also commanding in the role. I know they say it is only 2 hours and 20 minutes which would have worked perfect for our 3 show day but we didn’t get out until almost 3 hours making us late for the next show but it all worked out so that was fine. The addition of Anne Post Fife as a deaf Mrs Bennet adds a fresh new approach to the material that I really enjoyed especially since they just did this show in 2023. Pride and Prejudice plays at The Ruth until November 7th and tickets can be purchased here.

Next we had Cyrano at Parker. We were actually at their last day of performances and because it has 5 acts we arrived at the interlude after Act 1, which was perfect timing. Roger Dunbar is an incredible actor and I loved seeing him as Cyrano again and Russ Maxfield was perfectly cast as the sweet but oafish Christian. I felt proud to show Jacklyn this production as I think it holds up with anything she might see Off-Broadway in New York as far as the acting, fight choreography, production design and overall experience. The Parker has To Kill a Mockingbird next but I won’t be seeing that until October 17th (I’d love to review their shows but no luck so far on that front.) Tickets can be purchased here.

Finally, we saw Curtains at Heritage but I was reviewing that show so there is the full review here. Like I said, it was a weekend I will never forget and I know Jacks feels the same way. Thanks to all who made it so special.

The last show I will quickly log is Noises Off at Scera. I love this play and jump at any chance I have to see it. This production proved to be an interesting experience because the audience felt low energy and were not responding to the slapstick humor. While not perfect the actors were doing a good job with the broad comedy but it was just not landing well with the audience. I was surprised how much this was impacting my enjoyment considering how much I love this play. Fortunately for Act 2 they started to loosen up a bit and by the chaos of Act 3 it was more of a lively audience. My favorite part of Noises Off is almost always Garry played here with a funny fatigued expression by Carson Davies and the ditsy Brooke played by Chloe Barrus. The set is also very impressive with 2 stories and the double sides that is flipped around for the different acts. This is playing through October 10th and I’d recommend it but hopefully you’ll have a more energetic audience than I did. Tickets can be purchased here.

I also got to attend the opening season event put on by Pioneer Theatre Company. I was honored to be included at that party. Make sure to support their new season here.

West Side Story has music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim with a book by Sarthur Laurents based on Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat has music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics ad book by Tim Rice base don the Biblical story. Anything Goes has music and lyrics by Cole Porter. Pride and Prejudice is based on the novel by Jane Austen with the adaptation penned by Melissa Leilani Larson. Cyrano de Bergerac is a play written by Edmond Rostand in 1897. Noises Off is a play by Michael Frayn written in 1982.

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.