More Than Community Theater
Rating: 5
The Wedding Singer
River City Community Players
This was easily the best community theater performance I've ever seen. I felt like I was watching something on the level of a Broadway touring company or a professional show. Some of the cast members were of such a high quality, it seems hard to rate their performances as non-professionals, so I won't. I loved this show so much I had to go back and see it again. Time permitting; I would have gone to see it a third time or more.
First and foremost, the credit for this production belongs to Eric Van Horn, who managed to pull together the right cast to perform in the right roles and bring the 1980s back to life in musical form. The choreography was stunning, as well, particularly the "Saturday Night in the City" number, Linda's "Let Me Come Home", and the absolutely awesome thriller homage in "Casualty of Love". Lauren Wilson and Kristin Seefeldt had to have been linked at the hip to have provided such seamless blends of dance and music. This is not an easy task and I was blown away. I think many in the audience were struggling to stay in their seats during this absolutely rocking musical performance. I know I was.
I thought Bradley J. Thomas as Glen Guglia was nothing short of amazing. This performer managed to take what was an otherwise bland character and turn him into something worth watching. In fact, I was excited to watch him every time he came on stage. He has a very stunning vocal range and his dancing is true quality. His "All About the Green" song with Brian Shortess (Robbie) was amazing. Having listened to the Broadway version, I am convinced that this performance was better for an audiophile like me. Although the backup singing needed more projection, it was within pitch range and sounded good. It would have been awesome to have more Glen in the show in this performance.
I'm not sure what the issue was, but Jessica Knecht did not seem to pull off Holly very well from my perspective. She may have been the only weakness in an otherwise spectacular performance. Her pitch was obviously off at times and she failed to really nail the most important note in the show (the high note with the water coming down in "Saturday Night in the City"). Her dancing was ok, but seemed a little over the top at times. I don't know if this was intentional, maybe a bit of choreography miscue, or simply her. I cringed every time she came out, and I don't mean that to sound so crass. She left me desiring greater range in her singing and more sex appeal in her dancing. Her one really shining performance in the show was the song "Right in Front of Your Eyes" with Sammy. I thought she pulled that off well and made you want to see her end up with Sammy in the end. She seems to be a very talented actress and I just would have liked more from her.
Nikcoma Mahkewa was spectacular as George, pulling off an incredibly overt and entertaining flamboyance. He has amazing vocal range and really showed it off in the few songs he had in the show. Even his "Amens" in the bar mitzvah scene were taken to another level. His "Move That Thing" performance with Tracy McClung (Rosie) was sheer comedic greatness and had the audience rolling. They were both hilarious in the scene, as were all the "old people" dancing the robot in the background. Well done!
Vanessa Harper as Julia was the best vocal performance in the show. She sounds like pure silk on the stage and would be worth listening to on the radio. Her obvious chemistry with Brian Shortess made this production a romantic success. They really made this show into the great performance it was. Vanessa's charming sweetness made the audience love her, and led to relief when Glen was finally exposed as a fraud to her at the end, when she could ultimately be united with Robbie. The fairy-tale ending would have seemed too sappy if the character of Julia were not so loveable.
I am very glad that I got to see a second performance of the show, because I think Brian had a throat issue the first night I went. The second performance was excellent. He managed to pull off a likeability that left the audience wanting to see him happy in the future with Julia. That is, after all, the critical piece to the show and the driving force. The audience was with the performance. Ideally, I would have liked to see a little more of that likeability consistently throughout, but it met the mark and I was happy with his work.
As previously mentioned, the "Casualty of Love" performance was excellent. The use of the "Thriller" choreography was wonderful, because it pulled those audience members that were alive in the '80s back to the era. Everybody knows thriller. Even the secondary performances in that scene were off the charts. Mallie Rust as the sideburns lady, Spencer Williams as the groom, Cape Rust as the father, Megan Crain as Donatella the bride, and the rest of the cast in that scene really pulled it off as a family in horror at the hijacking of their wedding by the heartbroken Robbie. Some of the individual nuances of a cast that was truly clicking were evident in this scene, with so much going on and so much depth at the same time.
I really enjoyed Jeff Adams as Sammy, whose Brooklyn-esque accent was comically enjoyable. Some of his scenes really brought the whole show to life, and his one-liners were delivered with excellent timing. Easily the comic lifeblood of this show. Although his dancing may not have been as superb as some of his fellow cast-mates, it was somehow right for the character (should Sammy the goofball really be able to dance well?). I thought his singing was perfect for the role, as well. "Single" was a really solid performance, as was his pairing with Jessica for "Right in Front of Your Eyes".
Although lacking in time on-stage, I though Nicole Theno was excellent as Linda. Her "A Note From Linda" was an excellent individual performance with some very funny body language additions. Having now seen the show from both sides of the theater, I realize why it may have needed the "PG-13" warning. Nicole's dance in "Let Me Come Home" was really well done. It's hard to put it another way, but the dance made you truly love and hate Linda at the same time, which was the perfect reaction for the audience.
I would be remiss if I did not mention the five impersonators that helped Robbie to finally find Julia and Glen in Las Vegas. Jason Coats pulled off a very funny "Fake Billy Idol", Guy Gardner was great as the Elvis impersonator, Rachel Asbury as Tina Turner, Sarah DaMetz as Cyndi Lauper, and Stephen Walker as Mr. T. They all pulled it off and were a nice comedic element to the show. I thought Stephen's vocals sounded marvelous at the end of the show, and I was left thinking it would have been nice if he had been given a little more to work with. You could hear the talent in his voice and I would love to see him in a little more of a role in the future.
The live music was an excellent touch. I really liked the Lead Guitarist Jason Noble. I thought the free form jazz riffs he kicked out during one of the songs (I think it was "George's Prayer") were really wonderful. I also liked the keyboard accompaniment of Chris Alexander during the songs on-stage and thought Tim Loper was spectacular on percussion. The band was part of the show, of course, and it blended wonderfully. I would have liked the sound of the guitars boosted for the scenes where Sammy was rocking out. You could see him with the guitar, and you could hear the guitar, but the guitar sound remained in the background and needed to be matching what was going on on-stage. That being said, I think David Powell pulled off a great audio performance.
The rest of the ensemble was very fun to watch. For such youth, the performances were professional. I was surprised at what Eric and staff were able to accomplish in bringing it all together with such a young cast.
Again, this was a spectacular performance and the best community theater performance I've seen. This was worthy of a touring company and it speaks volumes of the hard work, dedication, and competence of the cast and crew. I look forward to the next Eric Van Horn production and look forward to seeking out some of these individual performers in their future performances. If I could rate this a 6 I would.
read the review at KC Stage
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