Pike Road: "The Fantasticks"

It's been a minute since there was a River Region production of the Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt musical The Fantasticks, now having a limited one weekend run with the Pike Road Theatre Company. -- Its long run at NY's Sullivan Street theatre started in 1960, and has been on the boards in countless theaters ever since.

Director James Keith Posey has conscripted many local stalwarts into the current show, and their efforts follow through with a magically inventive and masterfully realized production in the Pike Road Town Hall's intimate space that invites the audience to experience it directly. Minimalist by design [platform set, colorfully character driven costumes, only a few hand-props delivered from a box on-stage by a Mute (Hank Posey)], the focus is on the romantic story and the glorious musical score.

Luisa [Bella Posey in fabulous soprano voice] and Matt [Andrew Clem] are in love, but are separated by a wall constructed by their fathers: Hucklebee [Mr. Posey] and Bellomy [Jason Isbell] approve of the match, but built the wall because they believe their children would resist if they knew the dads approved -- does reverse psychology work on kids!?!

So, to ensure the couple will get married, they hire "El Gallo" [Brandtley McDonald] and his motley crew -- an Old Actor named Henry [Lee Bridges], and The Man Who Dies named Mortimer [Eric Arvidson] -- to stage an abduction wherein Matt will rescue Luisa by thwarting El Gallo, and be seen as worthy to wed.

Everything goes according to plan with lots of comic melodrama, but as El Gallo/Narrator warns in the opening number "Try to Remember", be careful what you ask for, as real life experiences will intervene to test the reliability of romanticized beliefs. -- And in Act II, we see that disappointment and resistance make reality a better option.

The sheer good will and abundant talent of the actors is infectious; audiences applaud each number enthusiastically [standouts are "Soon It's Gonna Rain", "Never Say No", "They Were You", "Plant a Radish" and the aforementioned "Try to Remember"] and cheer at the end. Well deserved. 

ASF: "BEAUTIFUL: The Carole King Musical"

On Friday night, director/choreographer Deidre Goodwin's energetic production of BEAUTIFUL: The Carole King Musical received enthusiastic responses from its large opening night audience at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. 

As a biographical jukebox musical, the play tracks Ms. King's ascendancy from her early songwriting works written mainly for other artists to perform, to her solo breakthrough album "Tapestry" that solidified her place in the songwriters' pantheon. There are countless songs in an assortment of musical genres performed by the likes of Neil Sedaka, The Drifters, The Shirelles, Little Eva, and The Righteous Brothers.

It also tracks Ms. King's [Julia Bogdanoff] artistic partnership and fractious marriage to Gerry Goffin [Elliott Andrews] and their competitive friendship with Barry Mann [Matt Dengler] and Cynthia Weil [Sarah Goeke] under the mentorship of producer/mogul Don Kirshner [Dan Fenaughty]...the bones of the story that move the plot forward.

The episodic structure requires numerous scene and costume changes [Seth Howard and Dustin Cross in top form], with an "Ensemble" company each portraying several artists in some dazzling production numbers, and prompting some audience members to remark "I didn't know she wrote that one" throughout the evening.

And while we do get caught up in the biographical incidents that inform many of the songs' lyrics, and root for Ms. King to succeed professionally and personally, we're there mostly for the music.

Music Director Joel Jones and his off-stage orchestra give attention to adroit renderings of each song and for musical segues between the scenes, pushing the action forward and guiding the singers to deliver impressive interpretations. -- Take your pick for favorites, but it's Carole King you came to hear; so..."So Far Away", or "Chains", or "It's Too Late", or "[You Make Me Feel Like] A Natural Woman", or "I Feel the Earth Move", or "Beautiful"...You can't go wrong!

Cloverdale Playhouse: "The Emperor's New Clothes"

Director Sam Wootten and his cohort of actors and designers are currently showcasing their 60+ minutes production of Timothy Mason's witty adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen classic, The Emperor's New Clothes at the Cloverdale Playhouse.

Set in a fairytale land where the reigning Emperor's [James Avery] narcissism tests his counselors', and indeed the entire population's, unquestioned loyalty to his every whim, or risk losing their heads. Believing he has impeccable taste in fashion, he changes clothes every hour, demanding admiration from them all. 

Enter two con-artists -- Roscoe [Jalan Pedonesi] and Flo [Mason Stevens] -- who attempt to bilk the Emperor of a fortune by promising to create the most fabulous wardrobe that can only be seen by the most intelligent and discerning individuals, and that only the fools can't see the wardrobe. -- They go on to "create" these new items, relying on everyone to pretend to see the new clothes so they won't appear to be fools. -- Lots of silliness punctuates a series of episodes they bring us to the final resolution where the Emperor parades around almost naked, much to the horror of the citizenry, until a Boy [Carson Campbell] exclaims the truth..."the Emperor has no clothes".

So many useful lessons for the target audience of children to be learned: the pitfalls of vanity and peer-pressure, and the value of honesty, are important at any age; and while this production does not overtly mention it, it is easy to draw correspondences to the contemporary political scene for adult audiences to ponder.

Mike Winkelman's inventive sets get a bit cumbersome as they shift from scene to scene, but that's a minor issue here; Katie Pearson's costumes are colorful and "fairytale" appropriate; and the ensemble of adult and youth actors commit lots of energy and inventiveness to their respective roles.

Come for the story, come for the lessons, come for the laughs, come for the family-friendly entertainment offered by The Emperor's New Clothes.

Wetumpka Depot: "The Roommate"

You know you're in good hands when you start with an intelligently witty script, add an award winning guest director, cast the production with two of the River Region's most respected actors/directors who have collaborated many times, and then invite an audience -- result: 90+ minutes of entertainingly provocative theatre at the Wetumpka Depot.

Directed sensitively by Tina Turley [retired recently from Theatre Tuscaloosa], Jen Silverman's 2015 one-act play The Roommate was on Broadway in 2024 starring Mia Farrow and Patti LuPone. It tells the unlikely story of two distinctively different women: Sharon [Kim Mason], a conservative naively trusting divorcee, who opens up her home to Robyn [Kristy Meanor], a liberal pot-smoking vegan lesbian, whose reason for escaping New York to Iowa is mysterious. How they connect and interact, and how each influences the other is the center of the plot.

The play's episodic structure, with multiple costume changes and shift of set dressings, signal the linear time movement, and challenge the cast and crew to keep the story moving forward without sapping the on-stage energy; it is mostly successful in using music to ease the segues from scene to scene, but some of the changes could benefit from shortening the time they take in order to sustain audience attention.

That being said, it is a real treat to watch the comfort level and listen to the subtle dialogue interpretations of two masterful actors playing to their strengths at humor and pathos so audiences relax and engage with their stories and relationship.

Whether introducing Sharon to drugs, or analyzing their own or others' sexuality, or Robyn's con-artist mentoring, or watching how they seem to shift their conservative or liberal beliefs, it is clear that each woman is a survivor who also relies on others to survive.

Be prepared to laugh out loud at their antics, or commiserate with the dilemmas each experiences; perhaps allow The Roommate company to get you to search inwards to find a common ground with someone different from yourself.

ASF: "Chicken & Biscuits"

A near-capacity audience at Friday's opening night of Chicken & Biscuits in the Alabama Shakespeare Festival's Octagon Theatre frequently became the de facto congregation at an African-American family's funeral service for Rev. Bernard Jenkins, shouting "Amen" and "Hallelujah" on cue, and surging to their feet in a rousing ovation at the end of the performance.

An entertainingly infectious comedy-with-a-message, playwright Douglas Lyons's Chicken & Biscuits became one of the most frequently performed plays in the USA soon after its 2021 Broadway debut. 

And though there are so many familiar tropes [family secrets, feuding siblings, rebellious teenagers, a gay interracial couple, et al. that we've seen via Tyler Perry and others], and the big surprise is amply signaled from the start, there is some freshness to Lyons's script; its success rests on the director and acting company who at ASF deliver the goods in non-stop rollicking style for about two hours.

The eight member acting ensemble -- Tristan Andre, Rosalind Brown, Tea Guarino, Ethan Jack Haberfield, Tracy Conyer Lee, Krystel Lucas, A. C. Smith, AhDream Smith -- are directed with flair by Ron Himes, who keeps the energy high as they engage in preposterous antics of a family grounded by love that isn't always their top priority...as one character remarks: "Family is a loaded word."

People ought to be on their best behavior at a funeral, especially honoring a man who meant so much to so many, and whose shoes as head of a family and pastor of a church will be hard to fill. But best behavior is challenging to almost every character. -- Lyons takes most of Act I with lengthy expositions to establish individual character traits and their relationships to one another [we get to know them pretty well, and look forward to each comic conflict], so when it comes time for each of the principals to deliver testimony to their father, grandfather, father-in-law, prospective in-law, each one tops the other in a hilarious "throw down" sequence. -- And when the surprise comes, Act II serves to unravel everything and bring it to a satisfying conclusion.

To their credit, the ensemble's exaggerated behavior is aways grounded in truthfulness, and no matter how much we might laugh when they're at each others' throats, there's a sense that this "family" truly love one another, are willing to learn from seeing things through other people's perspectives, and forgive one another so they can truly celebrate what it means to be a family.

Enjoy the ride.

Cloverdale Playhouse: "Perfect Arrangement"

The surprise appearance of playwright Topher Payne at the curtain-call of the Cloverdale Playhouse production of his Perfect Arrangement put the icing on the cake of the enthusiastic audience response to his popular play.

It's the 1950s: rampant homophobia abounds, the so-called "Lavender Scare" precipitated the federal government's ban on homosexuals to openly serve within its ranks, direct allegations or even a suggestion of "moral depravity" were equated with a security risk; and in Perfect Arrangement, two gay couples have invented a scheme to protect their jobs.

Government employees Bob Martindale [John Selden] and Norma Baxter [Stefani Priskos] are both gay, but for appearance and job-security have married each other's actual partners Millie Martindale [Bethany Warman] and Jim Baxter [Cody Charles Douell], and live in adjoining apartments that connect through a closet, a clever recurring joke. Their feigned heterosexuality is taken for granted by outsiders. So far, so good.

But, with Bob and Norma's boss Ted Sunderson [Scott Denton] insisting they investigate and fire suspected homosexuals in the government, and Ted's ditzy wife Kitty [Caroline Adams] insinuating herself into the women's lives, and the arrival of icily enigmatic and often married Barbara Grant [Emily Lowder Wootten deftly changes the atmosphere in the room], the stakes are raised for everyone involved.

What started as familiar sit-com fluff changes direction that forces the gay couples to re-assess their priorities. What once was comfortable is no longer so. Choices need to be made. Should they dig-in and risk being found out? Can they find the strength to be open about their sexuality, with consequences that risk their jobs and reputations? Is it morally defensible for Bob and Norma to prosecute other homosexuals while they remain unscathed? 

No spoilers here; but LGBT+ struggles persist in 2026, and their voices and their very lives are still at risk.  

This is all played out on Mike Winkelman's set reminiscent of television's I Love Lucy apartment; with period appropriate costumes by Mary-Louise Manning, director Christopher Roquemore's lively direction, and the veteran cast in top form in delivering Payne' glittering dialogue with agile assurance, Perfect Arrangement challenges all of us to recognize and celebrate our differences.

Pike Road: "Tuck Everlasting: the Musical"

Tuck Everlasting: the Musical, an exuberant family-friendly show by the Pike Road Theatre Company, has audiences captivated by James Keith Posey's solid direction, Kim Isbell's challenging choreography, and the combined talents of an excellent acting troupe who inhabit their characters to tell an important story about family love and what it means to be immortal.

It's a blend of a magical story, relatable characters, a pleasant musical score, and an energetic cast of triple-threat actors-singers-dancers in both the principal roles and ensemble players, which make its two-hour playing time go by in a flash. 

It doesn't hurt that three of the River Region's prominent theatre families [Haberkorn, Isbell, Posey] are featured here, and are complemented by PRTC's largely veteran performers.

Based on Natalie Babbitt's novel, it tells the story of 11-year old Winnie Foster [a most engaging Emery White] who happens upon Jesse Tuck [masterfully played by Micah Posey] at a spring in the woods nearby the home she's running away from; you see, her Mother [Candi Morton] and Nana [Sarah Viswambaran] don't understand her need for adventure and new experiences.

There are complications, of course: though Jesse appears to be seventeen, he's actually several decades older; he and his family had tasted the spring water which magically granted them "everlasting" life without any apparent physical aging...and Winnie is intrigued. -- When Jesse introduces her to his family -- his mother Mae [Jennifer L. Haberkorn], father Angus [Jason Isbell], and brother Miles [Tanner Parrish] -- Winnie sees in them a surrogate family unlike her own, and wants to become like them. Be careful what you wish for.

Meanwhile, Winnie's family has hired Constable Joe and his naively inept assistant Hugo [Thomas G. Haberkorn and Jack Posey are a hilarious comical double-act] to find her; and when the "oily" Man in the Yellow Suit [Kevin Morton] gets wind of the spring water's effect, he sets out to make his fortune in selling it.

Fluid operation of moveable set pieces transition from one scene to the next; lighting enhances atmosphere, though often leaves actors' faces hard to see; costumes help develop characters; the play's many songs develop the plot and character conflicts, and are presented with clear diction and a good balance with the recorded sound-track.

And the choreography -- Kim Isbell is in top form with this production, creating complex dance patterns and movement; requiring the cast to give full commitment to extensions in footwork and arms, and in faces that tell their story. They are highly disciplined and confident. Well done.

Ultimately, a decision must be made: should Winnie drink the water and join the Tucks, or should she remain with her family and live as Nature dictates? While there are pros and cons on both sides, Tuck Everlasting: the Musical dramatizes it in a striking ballet sequence that requires no dialogue to communicate a satisfying conclusion.