As much as I try and see a variety of plays and musicals there are always going to be those shows I have as blind spots. Often they are great shows but just not performed often where I live in Utah. One of these shows was Big River, and I’m happy I have now been able to check it off of my musical theatre bucket list. While the new production at Ideal Playhouse is the youth edition, it’s a nice introduction to this landmark piece of musical theatre.

Of course, Big River is based on the classic novel Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. It’s a challenging novel to make into a musical because not that much actually happens in the story. There is a lot of tension especially for Jim but it’s mostly a dialogue-heavy story with them encountering various people as they travel down the Mississippi river. The musical even eliminates some elements such as the time spent with the feuding families that’s a larger chunk of the novel.

This minimalism is enhanced at Ideal Playhouse by them doing the Theatre for Young Audiences version, which is even shorter than the full Broadway version. I’ve never seen either so can’t speak to the differences but it definitely felt like the shortest version possible of this story.

Anyway, there is much to like in this community theatre production. Most notably the strong cast they have assembled. You couldn’t ask for better leads than we have with Yabosh Bonner as Jim and Stockton Palmer as Huck. I was also very impressed with Rosemary Jolicoeur-Webster as Alice (most of the days.) It’s a real treat to get to hear such talented actors sing “River in the Rain, “Waitin’ for the Light to Shine,” and “Free at Last.”

The show at Ideal is directed by Steve Anderson with tech director Dave Bates. They make the most out of their immersive stage elements with projections that stretch out into the audience space and give us thunder, lightning and rain as Jim and Huck make their journey on the river. They had some microphone issues on opening night and not everything went according to plan but I still enjoyed it.

According to Concord Theatricals there is only one other version of Big River currently happening in the US (youth or regular.) It’s just not a show performed very often for whatever reason. Now is your chance to see it at Ideal, and even though it is the shortened version it is worthy of your time and effort to get out to Heber. It wasn’t perfect but I’m glad I made the drive. It is playing through October 11th and tickets can be purchased here.

Big River has music and lyrics by Roger Miller with a book by William Hauptman based on Adventures of Huckleberry Finn novel by Mark Twain.

If you enjoy my writing and would like me to review your production I’d love to. I also have a patreon which is a great way to support my shorter logs for shows I don’t get to review. I have some really fun perks like bonus episodes, patron polls and monthly Q&As with actors, directors and writers. Please take a look here.

Hi friends! I hope you are having a great September and enjoying regional theatre wherever you might be. I have 2 shows to give my quick logs for. As a reminder the logs are for shows I attend as a patron not a critic and I pay for them out of pocket rather than the comped shows I do full detailed reviews of. Let me know if you’ve seen these shows and what you’ve been watching on the stage lately.

Silent Sky- Parker Theatre, Salt Lake

I must admit I have mixed feelings about the play Silent Sky by Lauren Gunderson. While it is wonderful the play shines a light on real-life astronomer Henrietta Leavitt, it is frustrating Gunderson felt her story needs an invented romance and male character in associate Peter Shaw. It goes against the entire message of the play- a message that Henrietta’s story matters and is worth telling. Evidently it didn’t matter enough to actually tell it without a man…

Anyway, putting all that aside the production of Silent Sky at Parker is excellent and worthy of your time. The direction of Joanne Parker creates a combination of intimacy and spectacle that works beautifully on stage. I love how she basically turns the Parker into a mini-planetarium with the constellations and other lighting effects (lighting design by James B Parker.) The costumes by Paige Wilson are also excellent as are the period accurate hair and makeup by Hillary McChesney.)

Emma Widtfeldt is strong yet vulnerable as Henrietta with McChesney giving a convincing Irish accent as Williamina Fleming. If you can go in knowing everything with the Peter character is fake than I’d say Silent Sky is worth seeing at the Parker. It is playing through October 11th and tickets can be purchased here.

Little Shop of Horrors- Centerpoint Legacy, Centerville

With Halloween coming up it’s fun to see some of the horror-influenced shows popping up in Utah. One of the first is Little Shop of Horrors at Centerpoint Legacy. This is an incredible production of this classic musical and one I recommend to anyone looking for quality entertainment.

The biggest standout of the show is the professional sets that would be at home in any Broadway house. Director Ryan Bruckman and set designer Truxton Moulton have outdone themselves creating skid row and a massive stage (usually Little Shop is performed on a smaller stage) that easily transitions from one set pieces to another with moving walls that make it easy to go from the flower shop to the dentist office and other places quickly. The way Audrey grows both as a puppet but also as greenery that covers the set is also impressive with it even coming up over the walls and out the windows by the end. If you showed this set to an industry professional without telling them they wouldn’t believe it is for a community theatre in Centerville Utah.

The cast is also terrific with Janae Klumpp-Gibb crushing it as Audrey and Jake Heywood as Seymour Krelborn. Brock Dalgleish is a more redneck version of dentist Orin than I usually see but what he does with his voice in “Now it’s the Gas” is a feat to watch him pull off. I don’t know how anyone could ask anything more of a community production of Little Shop of Horrors. The sound mix was sometimes off with the backtrack being too loud but other than that it’s a great night of theatre. I highly recommend. It is playing through October 14th and tickets can be purchased here.

So there you have it! Let me know if you see either of these shows and what you think of them.

Silent Sky is a play written by Lauren Gunderson about astronomer Henrietta Leavitt. Little Shop of Horrors has music by Alan Menken with lyrics and book by Howard Ashman based on the book by Charles B Griffith and the 1960 film.

If you enjoy my writing and would like me to review your production I’d love to. I also have a patreon which is a great way to support my shorter logs for shows I don’t get to review. I have some really fun perks like bonus episodes, patron polls and monthly Q&As with actors, directors and writers. Please take a look here.

For anyone who has followed my reviews over the years they know I am rarely a style over substance critic. It’s pretty hard to wow me on a visual level if the story, characters, and dialogue aren’t impressing me as well. However, there is an exception to every rule and the latest at Hale Center Theatre is such an experience. Their production of The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 is a visual triumph even if the play itself didn’t do much for me.

When you watch the above trailer for the show one might think there is a black and white filter being applied to the imagery. Amazingly enough that is not the case. Through lighting, costumes, makeup and other trickery they have managed to make a black and white experience for the actors and audience. It truly is a jaw-dropping spectacle to see what they have pulled off. Director Ryan Simmons, scenic designer Jenn Taylor, costume designer Joy Zhu and lighting designer Marianne Ohran have worked together to make something astonishing to watch.

This was my first time seeing The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 and the play is set up with a writer who is writing an old-school murder mystery which comes alive around him as he writes in his office. This setup reminds me a little bit of The Drowsy Chaperone but it becomes more visually interesting because The Author (Jacob Glenn Chapman) is the only one in color while everything around him is various shades of gray. The funniest joke of the night actually happens at the beginning as The Author goes through several time periods he could set the story in with the 80s being particularly funny.

My main problem with the play is I just didn’t find it to be very funny. I recently saw the similar A Little Murder Never Hurt Anybody at Covey and that is a much funnier spoof on a murder mystery. Even A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, which isn’t my favorite, is still funnier than this play. Clue, both musical and non-musical, are also another fun entries in the genre. This barely got a chuckle out of me and the audience surrounding me seemed equally underwhelmed by the laughs.

The acting is all professional quality with Claire Kenny as Elsa and David Marsden as Michael leading the company. They are all doing their best to bring as much camp and over-the-top antics to the goings-on. I just wish the material gave them more to work with.

If you are someone that gets a lot of enjoyment out of visual spectacle on stage than I would recommend seeing The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 at Hale. As I said, it’s worth seeing on a visual level for what they have accomplished but prepare for a plot and story that’s just ok. It’s no The 39 Steps which is a comedy that actually delivers on the murder mystery laughs.

The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 is written by John Bishop and first premiered in 1987.

If you enjoy my writing and would like me to review your production I’d love to. I also have a patreon which is a great way to support my shorter logs for shows I don’t get to review. I have some really fun perks like bonus episodes, patron polls and monthly Q&As with actors, directors and writers. Please take a look here.

I don’t know if it is my dyslexia or fidgeting but I never took to music lessons as a kid. As an adult I enjoyed voice lessons for many years but just for fun rather than a serious attempt to learn the skill. Watching the new play 2 Pianos 4 Hands at Pioneer Theatre Company I realize this may have been a blessing not a curse.

The play stars Richard Todd Adams and Matthew McGloin as Ted and Richard respectively. Both gentlemen are aspiring concert pianists, and we follow the entire journey of their training from being a little child pianists to adults who hopes to be successful musicians. Of course, classical music is an incredibly demanding profession and the men may or may not have what it takes to make it.

Naturally such a story would require actual piano playing from our 2 leads. We get all kinds of music with everything from Mozart to Elton John to “Heart and Soul” and it’s really fun to hear such great tunes at the theatre. In many ways it feels like we are getting the best of both a concert experience and a play, which is fresh and fun.

Both Adams and McGloin have done this show multiple times and one can sense this in the confidence of their performances. They also have terrific chemistry and bounce off of each other well like old friends do.

One of my favorite parts of the play is the increasing sense of desperation on the part of the 2 men. They have put in so many hours into their piano playing that quitting doesn’t feel like an option. If they quit than their entire life will be meaningless but staying feels like a pipedream and waste of time at a certain point.

The production elements for 2 Pianos are on the simple side. It mainly features 2 grand pianos and Ted and Richard in formal wear. The stage features panels that can work as shadowboxes where storytelling will take place. They didn’t use this feature much but it provides variety to the experience and is creative. Everything else on the production side works great for this particular show.

The first part where the men are young boys trying to win points to their fathers and satisfy demanding teachers is my favorite part of the play. Director Tom Frey makes all of the elements come together and work seamlessly and like I said it feels like we are getting a play and a concert at the same time. I especially enjoyed the “A Medley of Pop Tunes” number where we get a bunch of recognizable songs strung together.

2 Pianos 4 Hands is playing through September 27th at the Meldrum theatre at the U. It’s a burst of energy that will leave us thinking about our own attempts to master new skills. It is pretty family friendly and tickets can be purchased here.

Two Pianos 4 Hands is a play with music written by Ted Dykstra and Richard Greenblatt. It was first performed in Toronto in 1996

If you enjoy my writing and would like me to review your production I’d love to. I also have a patreon which is a great way to support my shorter logs for shows I don’t get to review. I have some really fun perks like bonus episodes, patron polls and monthly Q&As with actors, directors and writers. Please take a look here.

One of my favorite parts of being a community theatre critic is watching companies evolve and grow over time. One such example is in Provo at The Covey Center for the Arts. Over the years I’ve seen them master what productions work best for their Briton Black Box theater. It’s usually shows with minimal set changes and a small but expert-level cast. Their latest is a campy good time for all involved A Little Murder Never Hurt Anybody. They also tend to select shows that feature relationships. I honestly think a season pass to Covey would make for great date nights for couples looking for fun entertainment.

What’s interesting about this show in particular is I have long said A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder would be better as a straight play and not a musical. This play proves this as it has almost all of the elements of Gentleman’s Guide without the bland songs.

Anyway, as one can imagine from the title A Little Murder Never Hurt Anybody is a play on a murder mystery but taken to a screwball premise. It’s kind of like Arsenic and Old Lace in that regard. The plot focuses on Matthew a 1930s socialite who decides his wife Julia’s presence is dragging him down and she needs to go. He then foolishly tells Julia of his plans and it becomes a tit-for-tat over the course of the year where Matthew tries and fails in his bumbling attempts at homicide. This perhaps sounds harsher on paper than it is in the actual play. All of the murder attempts are over-the-top and director Ben Cumins does a good job keeping tone light and silly.

Matthew C Kohl and Hillary Straga are very funny as our leading couple and they bounce off each other well with the witty script. I also really enjoyed Tanner Frederiksen as a bumbling detective that felt like an old-time radio character even down to his voice and mannered performance. Everyone else is excellent but my absolute favorite of the cast is Autumn Bickmore as Bunny. I love a well-done ditzy character, and this performance is a terrific example of that archetype.

Most of the technical aspects of the production are on the simple side with it being all set in one room with nothing getting in the way of the actors and their performances. Jessica Moody’s costumes stand out the most especially the Halloween costumes the characters wear in the October scenes (it goes by an entire year of shenanigans.)

Again, on paper, A Little Murder Never Hurt Anybody might sound intense or upsetting but it’s really not. It’s very funny and one couldn’t ask for better acting from a community theatre production. I highly recommend checking this play out. Bring a loved one and have a great time. It is playing at the Covey until October 11th and tickets can be purchased here.

A Little Murder Never Hurt Anybody is a play by Ron Bernas first performed in 1991 in Michigan. I had never heard of this play before. Have any of you seen it?

If you enjoy my writing and would like me to review your production I’d love to. I also have a patreon which is a great way to support my shorter logs for shows I don’t get to review. I have some really fun perks like bonus episodes, patron polls and monthly Q&As with actors, directors and writers. Please take a look here.

While I love the classics of musical theatre I also have a soft spot in my heart for new works and try to be forgiving of flaws to companies brave enough to take them on. This week we even have a US premiere here in Utah with Flowers for Mrs Harris at The Ruth. While this is far from a perfect show I appreciate the homage to the French New Wave particularly the work of filmmaker Jacques Demy as well as designers like Givenchy, Chanel and of course Christian Dior.

Many will be familiar with the feature films Mrs Harris Goes to Paris which has been adapted into movies 3 times most famously in 1958 with Angela Lansbury and recently in 2022 starring Lesley Manville. It’s a sweet story about a cleaning lady in 1957 who saves money to buy a dress from Christian Dior- the flowers dresses to be more specific. It’s the kind of simple mature women-focused stories we don’t often get these days and worthy of your time.

The production at The Ruth features Dianna Graham as Ada Harris and the first act of the musical is her 3 year quest to save the $520 needed to purchase a Dior gown. After years of loneliness she wants to have “Something to Come Home to.” We all need our goals and what I find so endearing about the story is she is rewarded with not just the dress at the end of it but a whole community of friends that feed off of her goal-setting and positive spirit.

The music has more in common with an opera than traditional musical theatre. The dialogue is minimal and the songs aren’t melodic in the way we usually see in American musicals. Like I said, it reminds me a lot of Demy and his films like The Umbrellas of Cherbourg or The Young Girls of Rochefort. It is on the plodding side at times but I still find it overall worthwhile and interesting.

The production at The Ruth is helmed by director Barta Heiner and most importantly she gets the fashion and atmosphere right. Dennis Wright is phenomenal with his costumes and the models that they have wearing the dresses look like professional models. It’s very impressive (I wondered if they’d use the ballgowns from Cinderella but these all looked new.) The accents were also excellent throughout both British and French.

I saw the show opening night and I hope they are able to work on the sound mix as the music track is frequently too loud for the singers hurting the overall immersion in the story. I also wish a character named Pamela hadn’t been in the musical as she is unbelievably selfish not really fitting the tone of the piece but I realize The Ruth can’t do anything about that. Almost all of the actors play multiple roles, both French and English counterparts and I can only imagine how challenging that is to pull off.

Like I said, I know Flowers for Mrs Harris won’t be for everyone but I enjoyed it and appreciate The Ruth trying something new. It is playing through November 15th and tickets can be purchased here.

Flowers for Mrs Harris features music and lyrics by Richard Taylor and a book by Rachel Wagstaff based on the book Mrs ‘Arris Goes to Paris by Paul Gallico.

If you enjoy my writing and would like me to review your production I’d love to. I also have a patreon which is a great way to support my shorter logs for shows I don’t get to review. I have some really fun perks like bonus episodes, patron polls and monthly Q&As with actors, directors and writers. Please take a look here.

Hi friends! I hope you are doing well and enjoying lots of great local theatre wherever you may be. I have 3 quick events to update you on today. In addition, I am seeing Flowers for Mrs Harris at The Ruth this evening and will post a review quickly after. After that I will be traveling to Toronto for 6 days to attend the Toronto International Film Festival, so there will be no theatre reviews or reactions for a week. Anyway, here’s a few experiences I’ve had recently.

Shrek- Draper Historic Theatre, Draper

I’ve said it many times in my reviews but Shrek the Musical is a million times better than it has any right to be and I’m genuinely amazed at the quality of the songs and story the creators were able to come up with for an animated film I think is just ok. Draper Historic is the 3rd recent version of the show I’ve seen and yet I still find it funny and sweet each time it is put on (even if productions vary slightly in quality.) I saw the Onion cast at Draper Historic and it’s a ton of fun.

Nathan Metcalf and Marion Pack are terrific leads as Shrek and Fiona and have excellent singing voices but it is Nathan Kristjanson who steals the night as Lord Farquaad. The kneeling walking can be a bit of a gimmick in any production but he really makes it work and I was dying laughing at his sniveling villainous glee in every scene. He’s one of the best Farquaad’s I’ve seen. I also was really impressed with Jackson Horman as Pinocchio and his performance of “Story of My Life.”

The production elements were all strong including the choreography which Draper Historic almost always nails on that small little stage. Director Melissa van Dam gets the most out of her cast (I’d shout out others but don’t have my digital program and can’t find the info on their website.) Shrek is playing through Sept 13th and worth your time. Tickets can be purchased here.

Daddy Long Legs- Centerpoint Legacy, Centerville

This will just be a quick log because I have already covered this production 2 other times. Yes, I saw Daddy Long Legs at Centerpoint Legacy 3 times and I loved it each time. I love this show and find it endlessly rewatchable (clearly…) The TThS cast had Mackenzie Turner as Jerusha and Jacob Coates as Jervis and I love the nerdy sweet takes they have on the characters. It is easy to feel their love for the characters and they have terrific chemistry together. I really appreciate director Liz Christensen’s choices in the piece particularly having Jervis not pin up the letters making him seem a little more grounded and relatable than other productions. I do think having the oil painting in the projections was weird but other than that I adored this production and would see it again if I could. Sadly it has finished its run. Next up for Centerpoint is Little Shop of Horrors and tickets can be purchased here.

Arturo Sandoval- Utah Presents, Kingsbury Hall, Salt Lake

My next report is a little bit different because technically I was comped my ticket but there isn’t much to critique in a concert (especially with my knowledge of jazz which is minimal) but I wanted to make you all aware of Utah Presents and the wonderful experiences it offers for our community. I was fortunate to attend the jazz concert of Arturo Sandoval who is a 10 time Grammy winner and musician. This is part of the Utah Presents season and these are all performances put on at Kingsbury Hall throughout the year including musicians and dancers of a wide array of genres and styles. Tickets go for as low as $13 for adults so this is an incredible opportunity to see top-tier live entertainment at an affordable price.

As far as Sandoval goes it was a really fun concert. He isn’t just a trumpeter but performed on a variety of instruments and even sung one song- “Smile” written by Charlie Chaplin. He seemed to have great chemistry with his band and they are also all very talented. I always appreciate it in a concert when the musician is personable and shares with us their process for writing and selecting songs and Sandoval did that in spades. He seems like a delightful human and that makes the overall concert experience even more enjoyable. I don’t get to see musicians like Sandoval often so am grateful for Utah Presents in giving me the opportunity. Next up is Ballet Hispánico, which looks great. Tickets can be purchased here.

So there you have it. Let me know if you’ve seen any of these shows and what you’ve been watching!

Shrek has music by Jeanine Tesori with lyrics and book by David Lindsay-Abaire based on the DreamWorks film and the novel by William Steig. Daddy Long Legs has music and lyrics by Paul Gordon with a book by John Caird based on the novel by Jean Webster.

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.

If you have followed my reviews for any amount of time you know I have mixed opinions about the Disney Theatrical adaptations of their animated films. Some I love like Beauty and the Beast or The Lion King and others I could live without like Mary Poppins. You can see my ranking of the Disney theatricals here:

When it comes to the Broadway adaptation of Tarzan I had it grouped in the lower grouping but then I saw it this summer at Herriman Arts Council and was quite taken with it. This made me excited when I heard Empress Theatre was putting it on to give it another look and see what I thought of it. Now I’ve seen it and yeah it’s definitely a show I underestimated at first and I’ve moved it up a few slots in my Disney Theatricals ranking.

Anyway, that’s a long introduction to saying I enjoy Tarzan as a musical and I had a great time with it at The Empress Theatre in Magna (people get all concerned when they hear Magna but it’s honestly just a hop up from the airport. No big deal!) This is community theatre so it is not going to be perfect but it is spirited and any unpolished elements are all part of the charm of the experience.

This production is directed by Cheryl Cripps Richardson, and I admire the way she used the unusual Empress stage to its full advantages. If you’ve never been they have a half-way theater-in-the-round with a large platform above the stage they can act scenes out on. For Tarzan they used the platform as part of the jungle and then had 2 large ropes they could swing on to create a swinging through vines effect. They also bring in other visual effects in the story like using strobe lights to create the vintage film reel look in “Strangers Like Me.”

For community theatre a lot is asked of the actors with the swinging, dancing (Gweny Adams particularly impressed me with her interpretative dance approach to the Leopard in the early sequences. Choreographer Dylan Panter), singing, and of course acting. Ashley Bates leads the team in all aspects as Kala (Adult Tarzan isn’t actually introduced until “Son of Man” and Jane isn’t introduced until the end of Act 1). Bates is warm yet determined as Kala and has a beautiful alto voice for songs like “You’ll Be in My Heart” and “As Sure as the Sun turns to Moon.” All of the animal cast performed their roles with abandon, which made the experience very entertaining and sweet.

Tyler Rasmussen and Sophie Manzanares have lovely chemistry as Tarzan and Jane respectively and she is able to keep the British accent consistently throughout the show. Ian Bates also makes for a deliciously moustache twirling villain in his Clayton (if you haven’t caught on I prefer my villains to lean into the camp whenever possible in musical theatre.)

Obviously not everything was perfect the night we attended but the cast soldiered forward like any good night of community theater must do. Tarzan at The Empress Theatre would be a great choice for introducing young ones to musical theatre and is guaranteed to entertain the whole family (and maybe one they don’t see as frequently as other Disney shows like The Little Mermaid.) I definitely recommend it. It is playing through September 6th and tickets can be purchased here.

Tarzan features music and lyrics by Phil Collins with a book by David Henry Hwang based on the 1999 Disney film and Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs

If you enjoy my writing and would like me to review your production I’d love to. I also have a patreon which is a great way to support my shorter logs for shows I don’t get to review. I have some really fun perks like bonus episodes, patron polls and monthly Q&As with actors, directors and writers. Please take a look here.

Before I start this review I’d just like to acknowledge this is my 201st post here on the site. Thanks to anyone who has read my reviews and allowed me to see their shows. It’s a privilege I don’t take lightly. Here’s to 200 more!

One of my favorite parts of reviewing the Utah theatre scene is following and encouraging new companies as they grow and add their unique voices to our community. One of the most promising additions this year is Sentinel Theatre Co out of American Fork/Pleasant Grove (Utah County oddly doesn’t have as much live theatre as other parts of Northern Utah. Sentinel began their journey with a bold introduction of Dogfight this year (which blew me away) and wisely went with a more crowd-pleasing choice for their second production- Bright Star. Y’all know how much I love Bright Star so I was thrilled when I heard this news and of course I had to see it twice (2 days in a row in fact) and while the production was simpler than Dogfight it’s still a must see of this season’s local theatre.

If you didn’t know Bright Star is a bluegrass musical set in 1923 Blue Ridge Mountains, North Carolina. It follows the love story between Alice Murphy and Jimmy Ray and how a town/family become changed by their love. While the story is admittedly on the basic side it’s the heart of its characters and beauty of the music that keeps me coming back to this show time and again.

At Sentinel the main cast features Kailey Simmons as Alice and Nathan Bowser as Jimmy Ray. The Saturday matinee has understudy Reagan Frederiksen as Alice, and I was able to see both women lead the show. They are both excellent and one can’t go wrong with either one of them as Alice. If I was going to differentiate I’d say Simmons has more of the folksinger feel where Frederiksen is more Broadway belt but they both work great for this material and have chemistry with Bowser. He is also excellent but what is so impressive about his performance is how he transitions believably from young to older Jimmy Ray before our very eyes. It’s not just his hair and makeup changing in these scenes but his cadence and manner of walking are noticeably different.

The production is directed by Andrew Jefferies and after the massive sets of Dogfight I was surprised how simple he and set designer Kristyan Williams kept things for Bright Star. The mountain backdrop is stunning but most of the rest of the sets consists of chairs, tables, podiums and platforms moved around for the various scenes. This simplicity felt intentional because it forced the audience to focus on the acting and dance choices going on. I don’t think of Bright Star as a dance-heavy show but they made some unique choices that made it stand out.

Choreographer Stephanie Cole used the ensemble to helped add a layer to the storytelling by having dancers emulate what is happening to the characters through their dance. In early scenes the dance is bubbly and light, other moments the women are pregnant or holding babies, and at the climatic train sequence they are stomping along with the music. This adds a layer that if you feel you’ve seen all Bright Star has to offer it may just surprise you.

The other big standout of the night is the 9 person orchestra that accompanies the production. Led by music and orchestra director Cheri Bennett this talented group plays the beautiful songs expertly and allows the actors freedom to explore their characters that a backtrack is never going to provide. Especially for a show like this which is supposed to be local and old-school it adds an authenticity that makes everything feel special and more memorable.

As far as any critiques I’d give I do wish they hadn’t had to move from the Valentine Theatre over to Liahona Preparatory. Liahona just tends to have more sound and other issues but not a big deal. Also there are a few times when perhaps they get a little too abstract for the material. Like they have the ensemble holding Billy’s sweater in “I Can’t Wait” which makes the huge reveal in Act 2 a little less meaningful. Also while I like the simplicity perhaps a little more could have been done to differentiate scenes like the Southern Journal office from the Shiny Penny club but that’s just me.

I know a lot of couples are looking for good theatre to see together and I can’t think of a better date night than going to see Bright Star at Sentinel. It gives 2 beautiful love stories in one and a story about hope that anyone can appreciate. If you think you’ve seen it all before they do enough to make this production stand out and unique. It is playing through September 6th and tickets can be purchased here.

Bright Star has music and lyrics by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell with lyrics by Brickell and book by Martin

If you enjoy my writing and would like me to review your production I’d love to. I also have a patreon which is a great way to support my shorter logs for shows I don’t get to review. I have some really fun perks like bonus episodes, patron polls and monthly Q&As with actors, directors and writers. Please take a look here.

I’ve said it many times in these reviews but some of the strongest theatre companies in Utah are the various arts councils and one of my personal favorites is Payson Community Theatre. They have consistently put out excellent shows and yet it still seems like they are under the radar and not praised as much as they should be. Their latest production of Newsies continues this strong tradition and is definitely worthy of your time.

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Of course, Newsies is based on the classic Disney film from 1992 about a group of newsboys who went on strike in 1899. The film was actually a big flop at the time of release and Roger Ebert put it on his worst of the year list saying that he hated the film. I, on the other hand, was at just the right age for it and loved it, so I was thrilled when the material got the attention it deserves with a bit Broadway musical.

The production at PCT boasts a massive cast with nearly 60 people all choreographed and involved in telling the story of the newsies strike. Director Jeremy Showgren seemingly has thought of everything with all of the elements working together quite seamlessly. The biggest standout is the choreography from Emma Black. It’s hard enough to get such a large ensemble coordinated together but the dance moves are surprising and creative. At one point “Seize the Day” all of the “boys” even did somersaults together! The use of the paper being ripped and tossed around the dancers is also very effective and eye catching in this number.

Other standouts in the show is the combination of a practical 2-story set that easily morphed from the Medda’s club to the refuge but the very effective use of projections even managing to get the typing on the screen coordinated with the stage when Katherine (Sheridan Hansen) is typing “Watch What Happens.”

I wasn’t surprised to learn the cast consists of a lot of families doing the show together. One can feel this chemistry and it makes even less polished performers endearing and enjoyable to watch. My favorites of the cast are Alexa Back as Race (get her a lead next time), Bennett Claybaugh as Les (so cute) and Trevor Brackney as a very moustache twirling version of Pulitzer (he did a lot with a relatively bland role.) I also think Hansen and Andrew Cook have great chemistry as Jack and Katherine and they make the somewhat lame song “Something to Believe in” memorable.

There are times when the backtrack and performers are not in perfect sync and a few other technical imperfections but nothing that stops everyone from having a great evening of community theater. Taking the entire family to see Newsies at PCT would be a wonderful experience. Plus it’d be a great chance to teach kids about labor and its role just in time for Labor Day! Newsies is playing through Sept 1st at Salem Hills High School (this is a much better venue than the old high school.) Tickets can be purchased here.

Newsies: The Musical features music by Alan Menken with lyrics by Jack Feldman and a book by Harvey Fierstein based on the 1992 film of the same name and a screenplay by Bob Tzudiker and Noni White.

If you enjoy my writing and would like me to review your production I’d love to. I also have a patreon which is a great way to support my shorter logs for shows I don’t get to review. I have some really fun perks like bonus episodes, patron polls and monthly Q&As with actors, directors and writers. Please take a look here.