I had the pleasure of enjoying a night out of theater that hasn't happened in a while. I thought the drive from Fort Lauderdale to West Boca Raton would take forever - thank God for the Turnpike! At max it was 30 minutes to get to West Boca High School, the parking was excellent, the theater lobby looked great, the gentleman at the ticket window was actually pretty funny - and the ushers all smiled and warmly welcomed everyone. The pre-show music was definitely more my style - very 80s, very hip, very groovy. Setting the tone for the older crowd that this is NOT the Lawrence Welk Show.
Sitting down and reading the program it was good to see a lot of information on the cast and crew - I feel a lot of theaters should do that if they don't already. Mr. Fitzwater had an excellent Curtain Speech on the show, on the experiences, on his award and on the future season. Nicely presented and it didn't last forever.
Now, I know the movie "High Fidelity." And I was expecting more of the John Cusack feel. But this was a little better. More heart, more character, more music. In the beginning of the show I could see kinda why it only lasted 13 performances, as the Artistic Director Patrick Fitzwater had mentioned in the Curtain Speech. But as we got into the first Act, I wondered why it didn't last 13 weeks.
First off - I always have my favorites. Even in a bad show, I can pick out the one person in the cast who actually feels their part and shines. So for this, I found three:
1. Sandi M. Stock. Now, I had worked with her before when I stage managed her show in Boca Raton, and I did come out to see and support her, of course - but she shines. She has acting range that I didn't get to see before. He look as Jackie was just very fun, and her style as Liz was very Barbra Streisand. It worked for her, it worked for her character and it worked for the audience. She was a true friend to Rob whether he wanted to admit it or not. Props to the Costume Designer, Rick Peña for creating a look for both of her characters that sits well with her dancer body. She was a pleasure to watch and I'm so very much stealing her song, "She Goes", for auditions!
2. An unlikely character at first to be noticed fully was Dick, played by Bruno Vida. He is my 2nd favorite. He totally OWNED his character: eye contact, stage business, facial expressions on everything that was going on - he was IN his character, he WAS his character and it played well. I look forward to seeing him in other parts on stage to see the range of characters he can commit to.
3. My third favorite, was Marie LaSalle/Charlie, played by Kaitlyn O'Neill. She owned the female numbers on stage. Her presence, her moves, her stares, her words - everything. Just standing on stage she drew focus and a wonder as to what she will do next. She's mysterious...no other word for it. Her wig (I think it was a wig - if not, her hair is phenomenal) fit her frame and her attitude perfectly as Charlie. The Marie LaSalle look was really nice, even if she only played a little guitar. I'd like to follow her stage journey as well to see her range of characters - she's fantastic to watch and I'd like to see her engrossed in more characters with more stage time.
All in all, it was worth the trip to get out of the house. Props to the Lighting Designer, Lance Blank, for his fantastic masterpiece to dance around the actors and set the mood. The set was good, good use of the space by Sean McClelland, and the band was wonderful: not too hard on the ears, and not rushing the actors. The entire cast made every character believable and it helped the audience want to be in Rob's world with Rob's problems and listen to Rob's full life story.
And, I wouldn't be "me" if I didn't give props to the SM, Ms. Britni Serrano, for calling a great show and smooth set changes. Well done, Britni!!!
