It’s always a fun experience to see a world premiere of a new musical. While I love watching the reliable favorites like The Music Man or Les Miserables it’s fun to see something at its start and then to follow it as it grows and changes and maybe like last year’s Shucked gets a broadway debut. It is this new adventure that made me jump for the chance to see the world premiere of Hans Christian Andersen in New York at Hale Center Theatre in Sandy.

This show is compiled from music and lyrics by Frank Loesser who famously composed Broadway classics like Guys and Dolls. In 1952 he composed the music for the film Hans Christian Andersen starring Danny Kaye. Now with the blessing of the Loesser family composer Paul Blake has put together the songs from the film and other Loesser classics into a new show about Hans Christian Andersen’s great nephew who puts on a Christmas show to save his family’s failing bookstore.

The strengths of this show are in the song and dance- particularly in the 2nd half. “How’d You Like to Love Me” is bubbly and fun, and “I Don’t Wanna Walk Without You” and “Dancing on a Dime” are catchy. Also “What Are You Doin’ New Year’s Eve” is a classic for a reason. The child performers are all charming and sweet and the costumes by La Beene add just the right touch without going overboard.

The talent is also outstanding as is always the case with Hale. I had the MWF cast which included Alex King as Hans and Korianne Johnson as Bunny. There is also a live band which is very rare at Hale but added a lot to the overall performance (music director Rob Moffat.)

Where the production doesn’t work as well is in Blake’s book. The conflict is underwhelming and it feels like nothing compelling is happening on stage except for the Loesser songs. Some characters like a mail-lady who comes in and out delivering Sears catalogs seem completely unnecessary to the story. Even a ghost of Hans Christian Andersen is given almost nothing to do and spends most of the musical watching events unfold but having no power to become involved himself.

Hopefully as they keep working on the show they will make the book more absorbing. As it currently stands it drags and it feels like watching a cute school recital for kids and not a Broadway show about adults. Still, the bones are there for something fun and like I said I’m glad I saw it and will continue to see how it grows as a musical.

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One of the great parts of my quest to support regional theatre and writing for UTBA is it has forced me to check out theatres a little outside my hometown of Draper. One example is the Heritage Theatre in Perry Utah. It takes me over an hour to get to this small theatre that is housed in an old church, but I’ve never regretted the trip and yesterday was no exception. I was able to enjoy the closing night to their take on The Wedding Singer. Keeping in mind this is a small amateur theatre I think they did a wonderful job, and I appreciate I could feel them stretching themselves musically, thematically and in all other aspects of the production.

The most impressive aspect of The Wedding Singer at Heritage is the live band they had for all the music. No backtracks on this one! The music is by Matthew Sklar with lyrics by Chad Beguelin and a book by Beguelin and Tim Herlihy (who also wrote the movie.) Those who are familiar with my film criticism know I’m not the biggest Adam Sandler fan but I do think The Wedding Singer is his best movie and they capitalize on the most winning aspects of the movie for this musical (this is the 2nd time I’ve seen it but it was years ago.) The script is genuinely funny and they’ve added some very catchy bops especially “Someday” sang by Julia in one of the first scenes.

Spencer B Stevens played Robbie for Heritage and while his voice is not the most polished I’ve heard he did a good job channeling Adam Sandler (who let’s face it doesn’t have the greatest voice to begin with!) Ivy Combe was very sweet and charming as Julia and the 2 had lovely chemistry together. I also enjoyed Austin Williams as Sammy and Holly Lowell as Holly.

I was very impressed with the production design (set designer W Derek Hendricks) full of 80s colors and lights. They even create a dumpster for a scene and a deloreon for the evil Glenn (William Bruce Baird in an appropriately slimy performance.) I appreciate the folks at Heritage went out of their comfort zone for this show. They gave the audience ample warning of the mature content and it added to the humor with a slight feeling of shock factor (you don’t expect to be seeing Grandmas cursing and things like that at a small local theatre in Perry, Utah.) Regional theatres should push themselves in all directions in my opinion.

Directors Bree and Derek Hendricks said in the bio they have directed The Wedding Singer before and that experience probably helped them get the most from all their actors and like I said having a live band on stage really added to the appeal of the show. I’d say go out and support this fun, engaging show but last night was the closing night so I cannot. Still, I hope they feel good about their production and know I was thoroughly entertained.

To find out more about the Heritage Theatre click here.

If you like what I do please consider supporting me on patreon. There’s some great perks and I sure appreciate it https://www.patreon.com/hallmarkies

If you’ve followed my theatre content for any amount of time you know how much I love Bright Star. It’s knocking on Les Miserables’ door as my favorite musical and certainly is my favorite musical of the last decade. I love it for many reasons but it has it all as far as emotions. It’s tragic, romantic and has some laughs. It’s the perfect balance. I also love the songs (music and lyrics by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, book by Martin.)

I’ve seen Bright Star at least 9 times and have given productions of it my best musical award twice (I’m thinking I need to exempt it this year because I just love the show so much I’m biased for it.) The latest production comes from Lehi Arts Council and I was prepared to give it a pass because it’s a small venue and arts council but I didn’t need to. It is an outstanding production across the board and I’m not surprised to hear it is selling out so get your tickets quick!

The biggest standout of Bright Star at Lehi Arts Council is the very talented cast. Again, nobody would ever expect the quality of the singing and acting we are treated to here in such a small intimate venue in Lehi. Shannon Ricks has a beautiful alto sound as Allice Murphy and she’s up for the intense scenes the role calls for. She also has wonderful chemistry with the very handsome and talented Ethan Kelso as Jimmy Ray. I also really enjoyed Dylan Manzahares as Billy Cane, Brooklyn Ashby as Margo, and Felicia Sandor as Lucy. Everyone is wonderful.

The costumes by Denise Gull add the right touch (includes some pretty fast dress changes as Alice goes from old to young.) They go a little crazy with the fog machine but other than that the production (Garrett Roblyer) is just right for the black box style theatre.

Tickets for Bright Star are selling fast so get yours while you have the chance. It’s a beautiful story with terrific performances in an intimate and thoughtfully prepared space. You won’t regret it! Can purchase tickets here.

If you like what I do please consider supporting me on patreon. There’s some great perks and I sure appreciate it https://www.patreon.com/hallmarkies

Hi everyone! Now that I have started this new site for my theatre reviews I am going to introduce a new approach to my reviews. For the shows I am not covering for UTBA I am going to try and post quick journal or log type responses the day after the show. This will go hand in hand with my reaction videos made on instagram at intermission (where possible) and directly following the production. As these logs are more reactions than reviews, I do not feel the need to comment on every technical aspect of a production- just will note what stands out to me. With the amount of shows I see this is the approach makes the most sense and will be most enjoyable for the readers. So let’s get to it!

Once

First up for May is the new production of Once at Hale Centre Theater Orem. This is based on the beloved film by John Carney that won an Oscar for the song “Falling Slowly.” Like the film, music and lyrics here are written by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. Another review I read said they cleaned up the lyrics (I assume with permission) for the Hale production (which I believe because the movie has a lot of cursing) but there is still a little bit of profanity including the F word in a song.

I was fortunate to see the TThS cast for Once and they are all outstanding, not only singing the folksy/rock numbers very well but playing their own instruments on stage. It is so refreshing to have live music at HCTO as they usually stick to backtracks, and I will always prefer live music over backtracks. Kristian Huff and Malia Mackay have terrific chemistry as the leads (simply named Guy and Girl) and I enjoyed following their journey; although, I do feel her character is written more “manic pixie dream girl” than I remember in the movie. It’s like she exists solely to brighten up the world of the men she meets and doesn’t get much of her own goals and motivation.

I do think Once has a problem in having “Falling Slowly” placed as the second song and then none of the proceeding songs can quite live up to its greatness. I haven’t seen the movie in a while but in my memory they build up to that song and it is later in the narrative. The proceeding songs aren’t bad just not on the level of “Falling Slowly.” It didn’t win an Oscar for nothing. Also, while fun, none of the supporting characters are given much to do and are fairly forgettable.

That said, I had a great time watching Once at Hale Orem. They elevated the material with wonderful singing and instrumentals including a very talented violinist Libby Ferguson. It’s worth going just to hear her play.

Once is playing through June 3rd and you can pick up tickets here.

If you like what I do please consider supporting me on patreon. There’s some great perks and I sure appreciate it https://www.patreon.com/hallmarkies

Hey everyone! April was an incredibly busy month for me and theatre having seen 14 shows in a 30 day month- not too shabby! I had the chance to talk with my friend and fellow theatre critic Maren about what we both saw and it’s a super fun conversation.

Some of the highlights of the month was seeing Bright Star twice at Hopebox Theatre in Kaysville, Company at The Empress, Cabaret at UofU and the filmed version of Spirited Away: Live on Stage. For May I hope to be able to do more individual reviews but make sure you are following me on social media to keep up with all the fun.

If you like what I do please consider supporting me on patreon. There’s some great perks and I sure appreciate it https://www.patreon.com/hallmarkies