[yasr_overall_rating]
Jeff and Hunter, two struggling writers, hear about a new musical theatre festival, but the deadline for submissions is a mere three weeks away. With nothing to lose, the pair decides to try to create something new with the help of their friends on the eighty-eights. It’s a love letter to the musical theatre – a uniquely American art form – and to the joy of collaboration.
The Firehouse Theater in Farmer’s Branch delivered a perfect example of what community theater should be. The crowd was filled with friends and supporters, the quality of acting and singing, the choreography, and set design worked well and made for an entertaining night. The players enacted the Broadway hit “[title of show],” which pulls audiences through the creative process and how success, and failure, can change the dynamic within a group of friends. It uses generic “showbiz” terms and details its stories progression with a group of songs filled with uniquely catchy tunes and satirically charged details about how artists, especially those among the theater set, move in emotionally charged stages of creativity, filled with doubt (see the song “Die, Vampire, Die!”) and euphoria, often at the same time. The ultimate message, chase your dreams, it nothing new, but the way it’s told is fresh and unique. Oh, and a lot of fun.
Like everything else about the show, the cast is a simple group of four friends Jeff (Cody Dry) the musician, Hunter (Joshua Sherman) the writer, Heidi (Noelle Mason) the working actress, and Susan (Elisa Danielle James) the part time actress/full time businesswoman who’s having a hard time letting go of the security of her day job. Rounding out the company, and providing virtually all the music is Andrew Friedrich (Larry), who sits at the piano and utters few lines, and only then after his “union” gives approval. Each member works in concert with the others to the point that no one actor stands out overall; each has their moments to shine.
Dry and Sherman get the choice lines and songs with dry’s Jeff trying bring a sense of reason to the show. He showed great expressiveness while singing, but felt a little out of touch during some speaking lines. Sherman did a fantastic job bringing Hunter’s complex emotions to the stage. Of the four players, he seemed most comfortable in front of an audience. Mason’s strong vocals gave Heidi the confidence required, especially during vocal performances, such as the nostalgic “A Way Back to Then.” James nails Susan’s quirkiness and provides a great deal physical expressiveness to her role. She has fantastic comedic timing while showing a knack for making snarky sarcasm endearing. Friedrich’s musicianship worked well throughout the play, and I never missed having a full orchestra. The score worked well and complemented the simplicity of storytelling at work. Friedrich’s simple one-liners were well-timed, but his greatest strength lay in his ability to contribute so much to the look and feel of the play while remaining unobtrusive.
Director Lon Berrea and his team created an engaging set without flashiness. Essentially, it was contained within a music rehearsal room with a single piano, four chairs, and few other props. They kept the show pacing fast and furious in keeping with the original’s intent of remaining at about 90 minutes in length, a fact mentioned more than once in the dialogue. It seemed this pacing kept audiences engaged where a slower pace might have left too much “dead air” on stage.
Keeping in mind that this was a community theater production, and one whose cast and crew clearly maintained a great deal of enthusiasm for the show, it wasn’t perfect. Vocals overall sounded pure, but each performer had moments of “pitchy singing” and struggle to maintain breath control. They did an excellent job given the difficulty of some of the singing material, but missed on a few notes. The production clearly had a “community theater” feel, even though the actors and production crew worked tenaciously and with professionalism.
There remains a purity in community theater that pulls true theater fans into the experience. You are guaranteed an enthusiastic audience, passionate and energetic performances, and a fun night knowing full well what you are witnessing was created on a shoestring budget by individuals who simply love their craft. This performance of “[title of show]” demonstrated a commitment to pure artistry, one I was more than happy to have witnessed.
To buy tickets please go to the official website at FirehouseTheatre.com
Now playing at the Firehouse Theatre in Farmers Branch thru May 1st
