I have to admit I am not the biggest fan of the musical Hello Dolly. It has a few standout songs but I mostly prefer them in Pixar’s Wall-e than in the actual musical. I also find the story to be on the bland side and it just doesn’t do much for me as a piece of musical theatre.

That said, Hale Centre Theatre in Sandy is always excellent at big spectacle productions so I knew this version of Hello Dolly would be outstanding and it actually was! It’s still not my favorite show but they did about as good a job with it as can be done. Director Ryan Simmons has filled the stage with incredible sets including a large full scale moving train and enough confetti to rival any New Years Eve celebration (set design Kacey Udy)

I saw the MWF cast with Jennifer Parker Hohl playing Dolly Levi and she was good in the role. I appreciated how she and the other performers brought out the comedy in the show. I’ve never thought of Hello Dolly as that funny of a show but they proved me wrong by interacting with the audience and making everything as funny as possible.

There was also a sense of Victorian whimsy to the costumes, sets and other production details (costumes by Joy Zhu.) I particularly liked Dolly’s iconic red dress we get for her iconic “Hello Dolly” number.

As is always the case with Hale the singing in Hello Dolly is top notch. Also the choreography by Afton Wilson is outstanding. Sometimes in theatre in the round you can end up seeing the backside of most of the characters if you get unlucky (recently happened to me at Hale Orem’s Once) but that wasn’t the case here. The multi-layered circular sets moved around enough to make sure everyone got a good view of the action.

Hello Dolly will never be a favorite show of mine but I do respect its role in musical history and it has a couple of bops. However, I would still recommend heading out to Hale to see the show because of the incredible spectacle and quality singing. Plus, they brought out the humor of the show, which was fun.

Michael Hohl is good as Horace Vandergelder but he’s written as kind of a pig so I don’t know how I feel about him and Dolly ending up together. I particularly don’t like his song ”It Takes a Woman.” Gross

It says sold out on many of their shows but there were a lot of empty seats when I went so don’t be afraid to go standby or call the box office to see if any late cancellations. Hello Dolly plays through June 10th and you can find out more here.

Avenue Q is one of those shows I’ve always been intrigued by but never got the chance to see it. I honestly knew it for the fact it beat Wicked at the Tonys winning Best Musical, Book, and Score. Of course, I also knew it is a raunchy musical with puppets and you don’t see those every day. This last Saturday I got the chance to see Avenue Q at The Sanctuary Theatre Company in Salt Lake and it was a fantastic experience!

Sanctuary Theatre is a very small black box style theatre that focuses on diverse and blind casting boasting ‘talent above looks.’ Some of the Avenue Q cast had more experience with puppetry than others with the most seasoned pro being Tobias Flenderson who performed puppet Rod. Emma Thomas was also great as Kate Monster who has my favorite song of the show “It’s a Fine Fine Line”

I recommend if you go and see Avenue Q that you arrive early. The way the seating is arranged you will want to be as close up as possible to have the best experience and there also isn’t a ton of parking at the theatre. A few of the songs were probably funnier in 2004 when the musical was written (Music & Lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, Book by Jeff Whitty) but feel more awkward than funny today particularly “If You Were Gay” and “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist” but I still enjoyed them. The cast for the most part is energetic and great with the puppets so it all works.

The way they did the Christmas Eve character wasn’t my favorite but McKenna Jensen is a lot of fun as Gary Coleman (although less funny since he’s passed away in 2010.) This show is obviously for adults only but it does give a fair amount of sweetness along with the shocking content! Director Connie Beaty stages everything so you become invested in both the puppeteer and the puppet which is not an easy task to achieve!

I definitely recommend checking out Avenue Q at The Sanctuary Theatre Company, which plays until the 27th (it’s a small theatre so its selling out.) It’s funny and unique and would be a great show to go to with friends and have a rousing discussion with after the show. You can purchase tickets here.

I’ll be honest with you my loyal readers- sometimes I don’t feel like seeing a show I have booked. Especially with this new job I can end the day exhausted and wanting to just crash but I have tickets to a show I scheduled weeks ago for that very night. 9 times out of 10 I get out there and use my ticket and I’m always glad I did. Even if the show isn’t great I rarely regret making the effort to support local theatre. Such was my experience yesterday at Draper Historic Theatre’s produciton of Jekyll and Hyde: The Musical. I was tired after a long nearly 8 hour shift and wondered if I should just eat the ticket. Well, I went and I’m so glad I did because it was an amazing experience!

Despite being in my hometown I had only been to DHT one other time and it was years ago to see a production of A Christmas Carol. They have a reputation of doing a lot of parody theatre which isn’t my favorite so I hadn’t given it much thought. Now after seeing what they did with Jekyll and Hyde they are on my radar and I will be seeing more shows there.

This was also my first time seeing Jekyll and Hyde on stage. I’m a big Linda Eder fan so I had heard the songs many times but never actually seen it. I know it doesn’t have the best reputation as far as its book (and I can see why. It takes forever to introduce Hyde) but the spectacle and theatricality of the songs and story provide a lot of great opportunities for actors to really go for it in their performance. It was a ton of fun.

For a small stage (sold out crowd which I love to see) director Melissa Van Dam uses the areas they have well even bringing the actors out into the aisles, which I love in theatre. There’s one point where Jekyll was practically singing to me all covered with blood and it was a blast! I also thought the costumes by Katrina Smith and Rachel Edlund were strong for the entire cast and how they created a distinct identity for both Jekyll and Hyde was brilliant.

All that said, the real standout of this production is the unbelievable performance by Tanner Tate who I don’t think I’ve seen before. It is shocking to see such a gorgeous belting voice in a humble little theatre in Draper. Especially as he is increasingly torn between Jekyll and Hyde his performance grows and becomes so manic and intense it’s honestly better than this material or venue deserve. I don’t give hyperbole lightly but I was blown away by him. Whether it is the power ballad of “This is the Moment” or the sexy “Dangerous Game” Tate and his beautiful voice and tremendous acting are outstanding and worth making the trip to Draper if you can (He’s in the MWF cast, and I feel bad for the TTHS guy because there’s no way he’s as good as Tate.)

The girls are also good particularly Rachel Olsen who plays Lucy but Tate was just on another level. I hope he keeps performing and I will see anything he is cast in the future.

As far as critiques there were some microphone issues but mostly the backtrack wasn’t the best. I wish they could have had a better one but when the singing is great I can forgive a weak backtrack.

Jekyll and Hyde: The Musical is playing at Draper Historic Theatre until May 27th and you can purchase tickets here.

Like most Broadway fans I love Hamilton (of course) but I also love Lin Manuel Miranda’s first musical to hit big In the Heights. In fact, I think musically it’s as strong as Hamilton with Hamilton having the edge in the book department (although this is still an entertaining book.) I’ve seen In the Heights a number of times and loved the 2021 movie that deserved much more love than it got. Today I got the chance to see a new production of the musical at The Grand Theatre at SLCC. It was a preview performance so it will probably grow and develop throughout its run but I still thoroughly enjoyed this production and highly recommend you check it out.

The best part of the show at The Grand is the production design by Caroline Cain and the dancing with choreography by Vincent Ortega. The Grand stage lives up to its name and is a lot of stage to cover but they did a great job capturing Washington Heights with the various stores, hair salon and limo service. The cast is large and the choreography makes it feel like a community with big bold movements. At times the actors do forget to walk through established doors and walk through what are supposed to be walls but that’s a small complaint for a wonderful set.

I enjoyed all of the performances of In the Heights but my favorites were the female characters especially Sophia Morill Mancilla as Vanessa. She has fantastic chemistry with Armando Serrano who plays the lead Usnavi and her solo in 96,000 is gorgeous. Sonia Mairtza Inoa-Rosado Maughan is also strong as Abuela Claudia- the grandma for all the characters on the street.

Director Vincent Ortega has clearly worked with his cast to develop a sense of family and community and that works wonders in making this production work. Even if a few of the singers are imperfect it doesn’t matter because that’s the way communities are. We are imperfect, unpolished humans and a home is where we can be our flawed selves. In a way the imperfections make the whole experience more memorable and endearing.

I do wish they had been able to spring for a live band. That would have added a lot but I understand not always a possibility. I also loved the fireworks sequence at the end of Act 1. Lighting designer Paul Yeates pulled that off beautifully. Tickets are $24- $30 which is well worth it for the quality of the production. Get your tickets here

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One of my favorite local finds of the last 2 years is the charming and wonderful Empress Theatre in Magna. I had never even been to Magna before seeing my first show there and it’s a lovely little town and the Empress has been there since 1916! Recently they had to cancel 2 of their shows because of grant cuts so if you can support them please do. They deserve it.

The latest show at the Empress is Disney’s musical take on Freaky Friday. This is the 4th version of the body swapping mother/daughter story from Disney and it’s a show that makes a lot of interesting choices. I wish I could have gone with someone who has a teenage daughter because I’d love to hear their take. The Disney Channel has done a filmed version of this story and you can hear my thoughts on that and the other 3 versions on Hallmarkies Podcast with my friend Marisa.

It was quite brilliant of the Empress to have Freaky Friday in May to coincide with Mother’s Day and I was happy to see the seats mostly full. They always do such a great job there I hope the word continues to spread. Fortunately Freaky Friday is no exception to this excellent trend. The biggest strength to the show is the performances of Beck Skeen as Ellie (daughter) and Jen Kroff as Katherine (Mom). They are fantastic at embodying a teen in a mom body and a mom in a teen body- no small task but they are up for the challenge.

At first it was a little stressful because Kroff was wearing too big of shoes and I swear I thought she was going to turn her ankle about 100 times but she finally took them off and threw them to the side. There were a few mic problems but other than that their performances are allowed to shine and I bought them as mother/daughter.

The rest of the cast is also excellent with Eli Carillo standing out as Ellie’s boyfriend Adam and Parker Jones as young Fletcher (during “Parents Lie” he truly looks devastated as the song goes on.) I also enjoyed how director Beth Bruner used the entire stage including a platform area to tell the story and a scene with a wedding cake toppling over was very convincingly done (I gasped!) (props manager Jennie Jonsson did an excellent job with that cake)

To be honest, as a show Freaky Friday is a work I’m a bit torn on. It makes very interesting choices with the characters and story. There are 2 songs in particular that I’m not sure if they are brilliant or just plain weird:

First, there is a song called “Biology” which is sung by mom in teenager body which is very strange when you think it is sung by an adult.

But the really strange song comes in “Parents Lie” sung by teenager in mom body to her little brother. On one hand I like the subversiveness of being frank with children but it goes too far and I don’t think teen Ellie would be so mean to her brother- saying hugs are a lie is a lie and I don’t think she would be that bitter and again mean to her little brother. It feels weird to have an adult sing that to a child.

Obviously the Empress has no choice but to perform these songs as written but I just think it makes for a strange and uneven experience of a show. But it’s one that I would be interested to talk about with teens/moms to see how they feel.

If you’ve seen Freaky Friday on stage or the DCOM I’d love to hear what you think. In the meantime, it’s playing at the Empress until May 27th so get out there and see it! You can purchase tickets here.

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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.

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

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.

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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