Even if you entered the Timber Lake Playhouse's Boeing-Boeing unaware that author Marc Camoletti's play was a farcical comedy - its elbow-in-the-ribs title somehow not divulging that information - all it would take is one look at Nathan Dahlkemper's scenic design to know that some serious slapstick was bound to be in store.
There's a lovely sincerity to the Playcrafters Barn Theatre's production of Bernard Slade's Moving, and Saturday's performance possessed such realism - with notable acting from every member of director Bryan Woods' cast - that I had to wonder how such an impressively produced piece could feel so mismatched with its script.
Leaving Friday's Countryside Community Theatre performance of Singin' in the Rain, I overheard one woman say to another, "Well, that was a different take on it." Actually, I would love to see a different take on this classic musical written by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, with lyrics by Arthur Freed and music by Nacio Herb Brown. But director/choreographer Christina Myatt's production is, instead, an homage to the original film with only-slightly-adjusted re-creations of Gene Kelly's original choreography, yet one boasting just enough beautiful, original touches to avoid direct mimicry of the movie.
The inherent danger in seeing any production of Footloose, whether on stage or screen, is that you risk having those maddeningly catchy pop tunes trapped in your brain for days. I'm therefore pleased to report that, less than 72 hours after attending the Timber Lake Playhouse's speedy and sprightly take on the musical, I no longer have "Let's Hear It for the Boy," "Holding Out for a Hero," and the rest playing in an endless mental loop. It's actually the performances by Karl Hamilton and Elizabeth Haley that I can't get out of my head.
There's nothing rotten about Quad City Music Guild's current production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels; Thursday's preview performance was delightfully wicked from beginning to end. There is, however, plenty that's dirty in this musical stage adaptation of the 1988 film, which starred Michael Caine and Steve Martin. The raunchy humor is sharp and smart, including the plethora of usually groan-worthy double entendres, and it's all delivered remarkably well by director Greg Bouljon's cast.
I quite like the tone of the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre's More Than Meets the Eye, as director Joseph R. DePauw's production brings a natural feel, and a welcome lack of affectation, to a play that kind of screams for affectation. Instead of overplaying the plot's cross-dressing humor, Friday night's performance offered a softer, more realistic approach to its comedy that rendered the jokes more subtle, but still laugh-out-loud funny. Unfortunately, the laughs in author Fred Carmichael's play are, if not few, fairly far between (though when the jokes do hit, they're good ones), and it doesn't help that DePauw's pacing is a bit on the slow side, lengthening the wait between punchlines.
The District Theatre's Xanadu is perhaps the silliest, cheesiest, guiltiest-pleasure piece of musical theatre I've yet seen on a local stage ... and I loved it! Director Tristan Tapscott plays up the goofiness of this self-referential take on the 1980 cult-film favorite, finding delight in its pokes at the movie's ridiculousness and in the infectiously energetic songs, and the resulting mix of fluff and flash adds up to two hours of pure entertainment.
Prior to seeing Saturday's performance of The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse, my partner's daughter Madison was most interested in seeing how the production would show Stanley getting flattened. I'll admit: I was most curious about that part, too.
Among Bye Bye Birdie's signature numbers is the show-tune staple "Put on a Happy Face," and barring one intentionally, gloriously sour exception, the cast for the Clinton Area Showboat Theatre's winning and energetic production of this Broadway warhorse has done just that.
Countryside Community Theatre has plenty to be proud of with its current production of The King & I - the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical about a British schoolteacher who moves to Siam in 1862 to teach the king's many children - as Friday's performance hit all the right notes anyone might expect from this classic. There's enough familiarity in director David Turley's outing to remind audiences of the film or similarly staged productions, but also more-than-enough fresh takes on the characters to make this production Countryside's own. And underlying all this is a true cheeriness that extends from the cast to the audience. Despite the show's moments of anger and sadness, I was brimming with joy and full of smiles when I left the theatre.
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