Category: Village Theatre

Singin’ in the Rain – Musical

Type: Musical

Recommendation: It’s worth seeing. Old timey musicals are not really my preference but this one is a classic. I haven’t seen the movie but the stranger sitting next to me in the theater said she liked the live Village Theater version better than the movie.

Negatives: The story may not be as accessible to millennial like myself (but I’m an old soul) since this is based on the 1951 movie, which is based on the “roaring 1920s.”

Story, Script, and Lyrics: The story was about traditional silent movie Hollywood stars struggling with actually having to act/speak in “talkies” (talking motion pictures). A lot of the comedy was corny, old timey, slapstick, and/or campy but I guess it was a different time back then.

Cast and Theater Company: Village Theater consistently provides quality theatrical productions and this is no exception.

  • John David Scott: Really, no noteworthy comments. I did detect a lisp on a couple of lines but all around, he did well as the male lead.
  • Kathy Selden: Like John, I don’t have any noteworthy comments. All around, she played a great female lead.
  • Gabriel Corey: Provided much of the comic relief. Initially, I found his humor annoying but as the show progressed I warmed up to him. He was not Equity so I was pretty impressed at the quality of his performance. He was probably my favorite performer in this production.
  • Jessica Skerritt: She was very difficult to assess since her character was supposed to be annoying with a shrill voice. I’m so curious how she really sings/acts/speaks for more traditional roles.

Venue and Set: The audience ended up having to watch pre-recorded video instead of live-action drama during several scenes. It was a little annoying because I paid to watch live-action drama but this was probably a necessity because of the subject matter (silent films vs “talkies”). However, I was impressed with the real water raining on the stage while the main character danced soaking wet! Kudos for that Village Theater!

Music and Audio: Like every Village Theater production, the live music and audio engineering was high quality. I’m still trying to figure out how they were able to preserve the microphones during the rain scene! Despite all this, I was a bit disappointed the actors only pretended to play the piano and violin. This was after I saw “Pump Boys and Dinettes.”  But hey, you can’t be everything!

Price: $$ – Moderately Priced at $50-78 from the Village Theater Website

Dates:

  • November 10 — December 31, 2016 in Issaquah, WA
  • January 6 — 29, 2017 in Everett, WA

Seating: Assigned Seating

Link: http://www.villagetheatre.org/issaquah/singin-in-the-rain.php

Pump Boys and Dinettes – Musical Revue

Type: Musical Revue

Recommendation: Not really. If you’re expecting a musical, you’ll be sorely disappointed. It was more of a “musical revue” … so essentially a concert of songs you don’t know performed by people you also don’t know. Don’t get me wrong. It was very well done but just not what I was looking for.

Negatives: As mentioned above, there was no developed plot or storyline so it was basically a concert.

Story, Script, and Lyrics: There was no developed plot/story. Basically, it was about mechanics and waitresses singing country, folksy, honky-tonk songs about random things in their lives. I feel like good musical revues should have a decent storyline to follow.

Cast and Theater Company: Anything from Village Theater is top-notch quality with Equity Actors. All the talented actors played a wide variety of instruments.

  • Joshua Carter: Nothing too noteworthy with acting and singing except he had a lot of corny lines. But he had sick guitar skills. I was surprised to see him play the piano as well randomly in the show for about 10 seconds.
  • Sylvie Davidson: “Pretty little thang” had some great pep but was overshadowed by her sister dinette.
  • Sara Porkalob: Powerful voice took over the sister duo. They did color-blind casting on her character (she’s an Asian in a Caucasian role).
    Michael Feldman: Played an Elvis-like role like a pro lady’s man. Pretty entertaining.
  • Levi Kreis: Dashingly handsome pianist with great hair and crazy keyboard skills. Like Joshua he played guitar for about 10 seconds.
  • Olivia D. Hamilton: Bassist who didn’t really sing/talk or have a huge role. She was just worth mentioning because I’m pretty sure they did gender-neutral casting on her character, whose name is “Eddie” and is supposed to be one of the Pump Boys. Seattle seems to do this a lot.

Venue and Set: Everett Performing Arts Center is your standard high quality community theater. The set was pretty decadent but I expect no less from the Village Theater.

Music and Audio: Village Theater always has high quality audio engineering but they do love to turn the volume up. I’ll admit, it was so high that sometimes I was cringing. Many times the music also overpowered the actors. Score for non-synthesized piano and drums though!

Price: $$ – Moderately Priced at $45-65 from the Village Theater Website

Dates:

  • September 15 — October 23, 2016 in Issaquah, WA
  • October 28 — November 20, 2016 in Everett, WA

Seating: Assigned Seating

Link: http://www.villagetheatre.org/issaquah/pump-boys-and-dinettes.php