Fast-paced, Colorful, and Highly Entertaining NSMT’s ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ Is A Crowd Pleaser

By Shelley A. Sackett

What a set of pipes Olivia Valli has! The granddaughter of iconic singer and actor Frankie Valli (known as the lead singer of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons), Olivia has also played her own grandmother, Mary Delgado, in ‘Jersey Boys’ Off-Broadway. As the omnipresent Narrator in North Shore Music Theatre’s excellent ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,’ she brings an excitement and hip, young vibe to one of the oldest and best-known stories ever told.

Nikita Burshteyn (Joseph) and Olivia Valli (Narrator) and the cast of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” at North Shore Music Theatre

It’s a pretty safe bet, however, that this dazzling, high-energy and delightfully entertaining version of the Genesis tale is a far cry from the one you grew up with.

First, a nutshell primer. Joseph’s father, Jacob, had 12 sons, but favored Joseph and gave him the famous multi-colored coat as a gift. This sends his brothers, already jealous of Jacob’s favoritism, nearly over the edge. When Joseph tells them of his two dreams in which all the brothers bowed down to him, they decide to get rid of him. They throw him into a pit and then sell him into slavery. The brothers then dip Joseph’s coat in goat blood and show it to their father, saying that a lion tore Joseph apart.

Joseph ends up in Pharaoh’s court as his favored vizier after he correctly interprets Pharaoh’s dreams, ensuring Egypt’s survival and prosperity during a predicted famine. Joseph’s brothers, suffering in Canaan, travel to Egypt, where they bow before a Joseph they do not recognize (thus fulfilling his prophetic dream) and beg him to sell them food.

Joseph eventually reveals himself, the brothers retrieve their father, and they all live happily ever after, a family reunited and absolved.

How lyricist Tim Rice and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber managed to come up with their inventively fresh spin on this old tale is one of the unheralded wonders of the world.

Precision-perfect direction and choreography by Gerry McIntyre match Robert L. Rucinski’s always luminous musical direction as the cast and children’s chorus sing and dance their way through numbers that range from a country-and-western hoedown and calypso to 1970s disco and 1920s Charleston. There’s even a 1960s hip-shaking Pharaoh as Elvis and a 1970s go-go number. Somehow, it works; Rice and Weber successfully infuse this well-known tale with a mish-mash of styles without sacrificing narrative cohesion or artistic integrity.

To boot, the quality of talent, from dancing to soaring harmonies and swoon-worthy solos (Valli brings down the house several times with her powerhouse voice and comedic timing), is icing on this already delectable cake. The ensemble meshes beautifully, yet supports individual spotlights, such as Brent Thiessen as Pharoah/Elvis, Nikita Burshteyn as Joseph, Eric Jordan Young as Jacob/Potiphar, and Naomi Kakuk’s dance solo as the slinkiest Mrs. Potiphar this side of Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman.

Although ‘Joseph’ is over 130 minutes long (one intermission), unlike other recent NSMT productions, the show feels well-paced, exciting, and interesting, from start to finish. Even if you’ve seen ‘Joseph’ before, seeing it in the round lends a new twist. And if you’re seeing it for the first time, you’re in for a treat — NSMT’s production was worth the wait!

Recommended.

‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ — Lyrics by Tim Rice. Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Music Direction by Robert L. Rucinski. Direction and Choreography by Gerry McIntyre. Scenic Design by Baron E. Pugh; Costume Coordination by Rebecca Glick; Lighting Design by Jose Santiago; Sound Design by Alex Berg; Wig and Hair Design by Rachel Padula-Shufelt. Produced by North Shore Music Theatre, 54 Dunham Road, Beverly through July 19.

For more information, visit https://www.nsmt.org/

NSMT’s ‘Rent’ Is Well Produced And Timely Entertainment

Posted by Shelley A. Sackett

The cast of “Rent” at North Shore Music Theatre. Photos by Paul Lyden

By Shelley A. Sackett

North Shore Music Theatre is tailor-made for musicals with its theatre-in-the-round, signature creative set designs and talented casts. With Rent, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning musical set in New York City’s East Village from 1989 to 1990, it manages to pay homage to a classic that defined an era while also spotlighting its relevance to today.

Jonathan Larson’s rock opera became a sort of psalm for the era when HIV/AIDS first appeared and quickly steamrolled into a full-blown cultural and health crisis. The musical follows a diverse group of struggling wannabe artists as they navigate love, death, pre-gentrified Alphabet City, and the roller coaster that is always one’s early 20s. Add sex, drugs, performance art and rock and roll to the recipe, and the pot bubbles up and froths over, like a chemistry lab experiment gone rogue.

Yet, all is not doom and gloom. Strength, connection and love see these folks through the dark times of marginalization, false narrative and sickness. These themes reflected reality 30 years ago, and, sadly, they resonate just as powerfully today.

Jeffrey D. Kmiec’s set conjures the gritty area of 11^th Street and Avenue B. Metal scaffolding gives the actors platforms and the audience the feeling they, too, are up on a roof, clinging to its rungs for dear life. Simple props evoke a shabby warehouse loft apartment and later a CBGB-esque club, restaurant and others.

The musical spawned many hit songs that became anthems for the era, such as “Rent,” “Tango: Maureen,” “Seasons of Love,” “La Vie Bohème,” “Out Tonight,” and “Take Me or Leave Me.” All receive superior treatment from NSMT’s terrific orchestra (under Robert L. Rucinski’s direction) and a cast of great voices.

A brief primer is in order to make sense of the fast-paced and complex string of scenes and keep track of the huge roster of characters.

The action opens on Christmas Eve. Two roommates, Mark (Aaron Alcaraz), a filmmaker, and Roger (Austin Turner), a rock musician, struggle to stay warm and keep the electricity going in their “apartment.” Their voice message machine brings the audience up to date. Their rent is not just due; their former roommate, Benny, their new landlord, is reneging on their oral agreement and demanding that, unless they pay last year’s rent in full, he will shut off their electricity and evict them. Mark’s mother leaves an edgy, passive-aggressive message from Mark’s hometown on Long Island.

We also learn in short order that: Mark’s girlfriend, Maureen (Cate Hayman, a knockout talent), dumped him; Roger contracted AIDS from his former girlfriend, who slit her wrists; and their friend, Tom Collins (Aaron Arnell Harrington, great vocals), a gay anarchist professor of computer-age philosophy at NYU, was just mugged outside their apartment.

Roger, a former “pretty boy front man,” longs to write one last, great song before his inevitable death.

Tom is rescued by Angel (Robert Garcia), a cross-dressing street drummer. It’s love at first sight, uncomplicated by the specter of AIDS since they are both already positive. Rounding out the scene are Mimi (gifted singer Didi Romero), Roger and Mark’s neighbor and an exotic dancer and drug addict, and Joanne (Kat Rodriguez, another excellent singer), Maureen’s new girlfriend and a lawyer.

All this within the first few minutes.

At this point, the plot thickens to a dense pea soup. Benny (former roomie, current landlord) shows up at Mark and Roger’s and tries to convince them that, his threats to evict them notwithstanding, he is actually a good guy. He’s trying to raise money from investors so he can buy the building and turn it into a cyber arts studio that will benefit them all. All they have to do is convince Maureen to call off her organized protest against his plans. If they do that, Benny promises, they can officially live as rent-free tenants.

Aaron Arnell Harrington (as Tom Collins) with Isaiah Rose Garcia (as Angel Dumott Schunard)

Roger and Mark refuse.

Mark heads over to the protest to help Maureen with the sound system. Instead, Joanne (the new girlfriend and lawyer) is there, mucking with the equipment. The two circle each other like territorial alpha dogs before uniting in their shared dislike of Maureen’s manipulative, promiscuous nature. They literally join forces in the harmonious and witty duet dance, “Tango: Maureen.”

Despite their non-commutable death sentences (this was the late 80s, early 90s when there was no such thing as hope or a cure for those with AIDS), these neighbors bond to support and help each other. They share from the heart at their weekly support group and talk freely about their dreams for the future. Collins (Harrington) plumbs his soul (and baritone vocal chops) in “Santa Fe,” where he imagines he and Angel opening a restaurant.

One of “Rent’s” strangest numbers is Maureen’s protest performance piece, “Over the Moon.” Hayman is riveting as she writhes, growls, howls and scats her way through the wild number that combines song, dance, poetry and punk. Even when just seated at a table or as a member of the chorus, Haywood would command attention, even if she wasn’t impossible to ignore due to her height. Her physicality and raw talent are magnetic.

Thanks to Larson’s robust score and narrative lyrics, the show doesn’t bog down despite its dramatic morass. “La Vie Bohème” celebrates the group’s love for their lifestyle and priorities while acknowledging its pitfalls and fallout. As Act I ends, Mark and Roger learn that their building has been padlocked, a riot has broken out and Roger and Mimi share their first kiss.

Act II begins with the full cast singing “Seasons of Love,” a reminder that no matter what happens, life is to be measured in love. The plotlines blur frequently, with the musical numbers throwing a lifeline of coherence and entertainment. Maureen and Joanne’s duet, “Take Me or Leave Me,” is hands down the show’s most impressive. Hayman (Maureen) and Rodrigues (Joannne) reach such a high pitch on every level, it’s hard to believe they don’t spontaneously combust. There is always one such number (when we’re lucky) in every musical, and in NSMT’s version of “Rent,” this is it.

The show is one of the longest-running shows on Broadway, closing in 2008 after a 12-year run. Even if you’ve seen the show several times, it’s time to do it again. Its 1990’s messages of perseverance in the face of adversity, community and connection in times of divisiveness, and protesting unfairness and cruelty couldn’t be more contemporary.

‘Rent’ — Book, Music and Lyrics by Jonathan Larson. Musical Arrangements by Steve Skinner. Direction and Choreography by Marcos Santana. Scenic Design by Jeffrey D. Kmiec; Costume Design by Rebecca Glick; Lighting Design by José Santiago; Sound Design by Alex Berg; Video Design by Beth Truax. Presented by North Shore Music Theatre through September 28.

For more information, visit https://www.nsmt.org/

‘Grease’ Is The Word at NSMT’s Knock-Out Production

Posted by Shelley A. Sackett

By Shelley A. Sackett

If you think you’ve seen enough disappointing summer theater productions of the iconic film starring the incomparable John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in their impossible-to-replicate roles (as I frankly did), think again and high-tail it to North Shore Musical Theatre’s rip-roaring, talent-laden, thoroughly enjoyable rendition of this phoenix of a musical.

For a little over two hours (one intermission), director and choreographer Kevin P. Hill, music director Milton Granger, and a superlative cast that includes the always pleasurable-to-behold Kathy St. George, create a Grease so fresh and vibrant that it’s hard to believe it’s based on a 1978 film that is based on a 1972 play.

The plot is as simple as an Archie and Veronica comic book.

During the summer of 1958, greaser Danny Zuko and straight-laced Sandy Olsen fall in love at the beach. As Sandy prepares to return home, she worries that she’ll never see Danny again, but he comforts her that the summer is “only the beginning” for them.

On the first day of his senior year at Rydell High School, Danny reconnects with the members of his greaser gang the T-Birds: Sonny, Putzie, Doody, and his best friend Kenickie. Sandy arrives at Rydell and is introduced to the girls’ gang, The Pink Ladies—Marty, Jan and leader Betty Rizzo—by mutual friend Frenchy. At lunch with their segregated social posses, Danny and Sandy each separately describe their summer. Sandy is unaware of Danny’s alternate T-Bird persona until she mentions his name, which the Pink Ladies recognize. Rizzo’s back goes up, her feathers obviously ruffled in a way that does not bode well for our virginal heroine.

Itching to kick the hornet’s nest, Rizzo gets the Pink Ladies to surprise Sandy by reuniting her with Danny at a school event. The two are blindsided. Sandy is thrilled and reaches out, expecting the tender, lovestruck Danny she last saw on the beach. Danny, buckling under the peer pressure of being a calm, cool and callous T-Bird, makes fun of her to maintain his tough image.

The rest of the musical follows the antics of these teenagers as they navigate raging hormones and high school mores against an ever-shifting canvas of adventures and romances. The burning issue, however, is simple — can Danny and Sandy ever reclaim the innocent passion they shared when out of the spotlight of peer scrutiny and pressure to conform?

Thanks to high-energy song and dance numbers and a stellar production team, our star-crossed lovers’ potentially boilerplate journey from point A to point B and back again is anything but. As always, NSMT has many tricks up its sleeve, making expert use of its theater-in-the-round. This time, the guest star is an actual car that ambles onto stage (Kinicke’s red wannabe babe magnet, “Greased Lightning”) not once but twice. Rebecca Glick’s clever, creative costumes (“Beauty School Dropout” is a knockout for many reasons, one of them being the chorus’s costumes) are visual bonbons, and Jack Mehler’s scenic design is simply dazzling.

But the real stars of the show are the actors. Unusual in a cast this large, on which there are incessant singing and dancing demands, there is truly not a weak link in the bunch.

Lily Kaufmann (Frenchy), Caroline Siegrist (Sandy Dumbrowski), Sunayna Smith (Jan), Brittany Zeinstra (Marty), and Bailey Reese Greemon (Betty Rizzo)

As Sandy, Caroline Siegrist holds her own against inevitable comparisons to the late Newton-John. Her rendition of “Hopelessly Devoted to You” breathes new life into the legendary number. Bailey Reese Greemon lends Rizzo a sadness and resignation that is more nuanced than Stockard Channing’s signature portrayal (and can she sing and dance!). Brittany Zeinstra (Marty) is fabulous, especially in “Freddy, My Love,” and Jeremiah Garcia (Roger) is over the moon in “Mooning.” Nick Cortazzo (Danny) and Jayson Brown (Doody) are also noteworthy.

It is Avionce Hoyles, however, who brings down the house as Teen Angel in “Beauty School Dropout,” leaving the audience wishing the number would never end. And then there is the always riveting Kathy St. George (Miss Lynch), never more divine than when she so clearly is having a cheeky good time in a role she seems to be born to play.

Avionce Hoyles (Teen Angel) with Lily Kaufmann (Frenchy) and the cast

While the show is certainly raw entertainment, chock-full of ear and eye candy, there is a layer of introspection below its surface. The moral themes of identity, fitting in, and balancing self-worth, self-doubt and societal expectations are as relevant today as they were in 1972. Then again, in these dark times of relentless stress, turmoil and immorality, why not let go of the need to peel the onion for deeper meaning and just kick back and enjoy the show!

Grease – Book, Music, and Lyrics by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey.Kevin P. Hill (Director & Choreographer), Milton Granger (Music Director), Jack Mehler (Scenic & Lighting Design), Alex Berg (Sound Design), Rachel Padula-Shuflet (Wig & Hair Design), Rebecca Glick (Costume Coordinator), Alaina Mills (Associate Director & Choreographer). Presented by North Shore Music Theatre at 54 Dunham Rd., Beverly, MA, through August 24, 2025

For more information, go to nsmt.org

NSMT’s ‘The Wizard of Oz’ Couldn’t Be More Enjoyable

Posted by Shelley A. Sackett

Ethan Carlson, Sean Bell, Bridget Delaney, and E. Mani Cadet in “The Wizard of Oz” at North Shore Music Theatre thru July 20, 2025. Photos by Paul Lyden

By Shelley A. Sackett

North Shore Music Theatre continues its streak of winners with The Wizard of Oz, a spectacular extravaganza of a show that has everything going for it — top-notch talent, a stunning set, spot-on direction, clear and understandable sound, clever costumes and lighting, marvelous choreography, and a bang-up live orchestra.

Oh, and did I neglect to mention its iconic theater-in-the-round stage, which is used to maximum effect throughout the nearly three-hour (one intermission) show?

Even those who think they are too jaded to enjoy yet another go round of the same story should hightail it to Beverly and catch this version, which is infinitely more enjoyable than the recent film and Broadway versions combined.

As the lights dim, five overhead surround theater screens counsel that this production is dedicated to the young at heart. As they fade to Kansas fields of grain, Dorothy (a fabulous Bridget Delaney) comes skipping down the aisle, followed by Toto (the equally fabulous Bug Minnie). Eye-winking foreshadowing is a nice addition to the familiar story about Dorothy’s conk on the head during a tornado, her journey to Oz while out cold, and her return to Kansas with renewed appreciation that there is “no place like home.”

Farmhand Zeke/Cowardly Lion (E. Mani Cadet) plays with the rope in his hand the same way he will later swish his lion’s tail. Hickory/Tin Man (Sean Bell) plays with a tin funnel on his head and Hunk/Scarecrow (Ethan Carlson) walks across the stage carrying a scarecrow. Setting the stage for who the characters will become in Dorothy’s dream, these little touches lend a nuanced humanity to their fictional avatars.

Choreographer Briana Fallon, costume coordinator Rebecca Glick and wig and hair designer Rachel Padula-Shuflet deserve huge shout outs for the way they interpreted many of the static events of the story, starting with the staging of the tornado. As the overhead screens project twisters, dancers clad in shades of gray skin tight leotards swirl and twirl across the stage carrying pieces of debris. The concept is brilliant, its execution breathtaking. This team will later gift the audience with orange spat footed crows, a sassy showgirl trio of talking apple trees, a scarlet field of dancing poppies, bejeweled snowflakes and, of course, flying monkeys.

While the second act predictably drags a bit (what second act doesn’t?), the familiar songs (“Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead,” “Over The Rainbow,” “Follow The Yellow Brick Road,” among them) and the fabulous talent temper any lull with freshness and upbeat excitement. As Almira Gulch/Wicked Witch of the West, Michele Ragusa is spellbinding. Her vocal chops and comic timing are impeccable (plus she really knows her way around a theater-in-the-round such that her time with her back to any section is unnoticeable). Kerry Conte (Aunt Em/Glinda) shines as Glinda, her voice like a wave of a pink crystalline wand.

And then there is elder statesman David Coffee (Professor Marvel/The Wizard), beloved Scrooge in NSMT’s A Christmas Carol. There is even an inside joke (“You’re a humbug,” one character chides him) which the adoring crowd ate up in spades.

Perhaps the true unsung heroes of the evening is the ensemble of munchkins, a corps of the most adorable and proficient youngsters (a standout is Ashley Fox, a rising 8^th grader worth following). Kudos to the team that prepared them.

Finally, no musical theater review would be complete without a tip of the hat to its music director (Matthew Stern). The jazzy number that opens Act II outside the Emerald City, complete with green costumes, tap dancing and a clarinet solo, is a particular knockout.

By the time Dorothy mouths those famous words, “There’s no place like home,” the audience is ready to agree — especially if that home is North Shore Music Theatre.

‘The Wizard of Oz’ — Written by L. Frank Baum. Directed by Robert W. Schneider. Music and Lyrics by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg; Background Music by Herbert Stothart. Presented by North Shore Music Theatre, 54 Dunham Road, Beverly through July 20.

For more information, visit: https://www.nsmt.org/oz.html

Posted by Shelley A. Sackett

Quirky, Funny and Flaky — NSMT’s ‘Waitress’ Is Feel-Good Summer Fare

Christine Dwyer (Jenna) and Brandi Chavonne Massey (Becky) in WAITRESS at North Shore Music Photo©Paul Lyden

‘Waitress.’ Written by Jessie Nelson. Music and Lyrics by Sara Bareilles. Based on the motion picture written by Adrienne Shelly. Directed by Kevin P. Hill. Music Direction by Milton Granger; Choreography by Ashley Chasteen; Scenic and Lighting Design by Jack Mehler; Costume Design by Rebecca Glick; Sound Design by Alex Berg. Presented by North Shore Music Theatre, 54 Dunham Rd, Beverly, MA through June 15.

By Shelley A. Sackett

Who doesn’t love a thick slice of pie, especially in the summer when fresh fillings are ripe and especially sweet? “Sugar, butter, flour” is the mantra chanted like a lullaby throughout Waitress, the wonderfully staged musical now playing at North Shore Music Theatre. Although pie takes center stage throughout the almost two-and-a-half-hour performance (with one intermission), Waitress is no simple, indulgent, or sentimental high. Meaty themes like domestic abuse, infidelity, empowerment, motherhood, and self-fulfillment are the secret ingredients that keep the show rolling and the audience from lapsing into a sugar coma.

Sara Bareilles’ witty, pop-ish lyrics and score marry the narrative requirements of musical theater with a variety of styles ranging from ballads and a country hootenanny to stunning duets and wacky, hysterical solos. The actors are uniformly well cast, from their vocal talents to their abilities to both shine as individuals and meld as an ensemble. Jack Mehler’s scenic and lighting designs are well thought out and effective. Director Kevin P. Hill makes good use of NSMT’s signature theatre-in-the-round stage and center trap door lift and sets a spot-on pacing. Add a live band (Music Director Milton Granger) and excellent sound (Alex Berg), and, production-wise, Waitress is as enjoyable as any production I’ve seen at NSMT.

The plot, which some have described as “half-baked,” is nonetheless a fine table on which to set this entertaining musical.

Jenna (a fabulous Christine Dwyer) is both an expert pie baker and waitress at Joe’s Pie Diner, somewhere in the American South. Baking is her way of continuing her mother’s legacy and flexing her own creative muscle. Stuck in a stereotypical abusive relationship with her high school beau, Earl (Matt DeAngelis, who does the best he can with his cardboard character), she works long hours and considers her co-workers to be her real family.

Jenna is also afraid she might be pregnant (no spoiler; she is) and it is only the coaxing of her fellow waitresses, sassy, brazen Becky (Brandi Chavonne Massey, terrific) and gangly, nerdy Dawn (Maggie Elizabeth May, ditto) that gets her to pee on that proverbial stick.

An unplanned and unwanted pregnancy by a man she doesn’t love only adds to her load. (That she remains with Earl, a one-note bully and narcissist who demands her tip money the second she gets home, is tough to accept plot-wise.) She hides the pregnancy from Earl while she tries to come up with a plan to escape his clutches and start a new life for her and her baby.

Dwyer (Jenna) and Brandon Kalm (Dr. Pomatter)

For the time being, though, what is poor Jenna to do? Why, have an affair with her charismatic (and very married) obstetrician, Dr. Pomatter (a charming Brandon Kalm), of course! (Another plot head-scratcher some might find unrelatable and off-putting).

Meanwhile, back at the diner, Becky and Jenna help Dawn overcome her inertia and self-doubt and create an online dating profile. Almost as quickly as Jenna’s pregnancy test registers positive, Dawn gets a bite from the irrepressible, equally geeky Ogie (played with verve and vivacity by Courter Simmons). Their scenes together are among the most hilarious and weirdly adorable.

Jenna discovers the possibility of a way out of her abysmal home life when Joe (Keith Lee Grant, in a role tailor-made for him), the elderly owner of the eponymous diner, suggests she enter a pie baking contest. The prize is $20,000, her pies are definitely good enough, and she has nothing to lose. After much cajoling, she’s in.

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Eventually, all ends well (enough) for all the characters and Jenna embraces motherhood with a single-mindedness previously reserved for baking and inventing pies. If this were a dramatic play, no amount of clever dialogue could overcome the light-weight plot line, unnuanced character development and too pat ending. Luckily, Waitress is a musical and the talented Bareilles has crafted a funny, heartfelt and musically exciting score of 19 numbers that keep the action moving, the audience laughing, and the NSMT tent rocking.

For it is through the songs that the subplots and characters unfold.

In “The Negative,” for example, the three waitresses focus on the negative as they pray for Jenna’s pregnancy stick to stop at one line. “Club Knocked Up” is the obstetrician’s waiting room where the very pregnant patients pay homage to the era of the Andrews and Lennon sisters. Simmons, as Ogie, brings down the house with his Pee Wee Herman antics in the belly-laughers, “Never Getting Rid of Me,” and “I Love You Like A Table.” Massey, as Becky, then sets that house on fire in “I Didn’t Plan It.”

Bareilles really lets loose in Jenna and Dr. Pomatter’s duets, both musically and lyrically. “Bad Idea,” on which act one ends, is a slinky, sexy, tribute to the power of attraction. “It’s a bad idea, me and you; Let’s just keep kissing ‘til we come to…” Dwyer and Kalm croon as they throw themselves at each other and onto the gynecology examination table, limbs and voices silkily entwined. The ballad, “You Matter to Me,” gives the audience another opportunity to savor their harmonization.

At the end of the day, though, it is Jenna’s story, and it’s only fitting that she has the show’s two most introspective numbers. In the climactic “She Used to Be Mine,” Jenna unflinchingly assesses who she has become and who she wants to be in a song that is a rollercoaster of emotion and range, giving Dwyer the chance to really strut her vocal stuff. “Everything Changes” is her tribute to the power of motherhood.

The show’s finale, “Opening Up,” circles back to the moral of Waitress — it really does take a village for an individual to survive and thrive. The diner community is that village, holding them up and helping them keep it together. “Take a breath when you need to be reminded that with days like these, we can only do the best we can,” the company sings. Amen to that.

For more information, go to nsmt.org

North Shore Music Theatre’s ‘Oklahoma’ Is A Rollicking Kick Off to its 64th Season

Posted by Shelley A. Sackett

By Shelley A. Sackett

Just when the cold, wet slog of spring 2019 was about to wear down all hope that summer would ever arrive, NSMT comes to the rescue with a first-rate production of the 1943 classic, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II’s ‘Oklahoma!’ Perfect for theatre-in-the-round staging, this Broadway masterpiece has everything: a snappy, foot-stomping score, impressive choreography and a captivating story that is more complex and bleak than many may remember.

Under the direction of Mark Hartman, the orchestra is spot on. The opening overture is an immediate reminder of all the hits that came out of this show (‘Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin,” ‘The Surrey with the Fringe on Top,’ ‘I Cain’t Say No,’ ‘People Will Say We’re in Love,’ and, of course,‘Oklahoma!’) and last Wednesday night, the near capacity audience lip synched to almost every song. But when cowboy Curly McLaine (played with a perfect mixture of cockiness and aw-shucks-ma’am by the talented Blake Price) entered the stage astride an actual horse, the crowd predictably went wild with appreciation.

Born into a prosperous German Jewish family in Queens, New York City, composer Rodgers was the son of Mamie and Dr. William Rodgers, a prominent physician who had changed the family name from Rogazinsky. Librettist/lyricist Hammerstein II was also born in New York City. His father was from a Jewish family, and his mother was the daughter of Scottish and English parents.

“Oklahoma” was their first collaboration and the first of a new genre, the musical play, which they created by melding Rodgers’ sophisticated style of musical comedy with Hammerstein’s innovations in operetta.

The narrative is simple on its face. Set in the Oklahoma territory in the 1900s, the musical lays out the story of two sets of lovers. Curley and the feisty, independent farmer Laurey Williams (played by the gifted Madison Claire Parks, whose dazzling singing is a delicious treat) are as in love as they are stubborn about not admitting their feelings to each other. They are early settlers building new lives on the wild frontier, and their pioneering spirits unsurprisingly clash.

Laurey’s Aunt Eller (played with zest by the buoyant Susan Cella) has some of the script’s best lines as she tries to knock some sense into Laurey and Curley, using every trick she knows short of actually knocking their heads together. The chemistry between the actors feels real, and their voices blend beautifully during their one duet, “People Will Say We’re in Love.”

Madison Claire Parks (Laurey) and Blake Price (Curly).

Ado Annie Carnes (the Olive Oyl-like and spectacularly hilarious Melissa Carlile-Price), one of Laurey’s friends, and her boyfriend, cowboy Will Parker (Sean Bell, a terrific tap dancer) are the other couple. Or, at least they were. While Will was away on a trip to Kansas City, Ado Annie has fallen for the peddler Ali Hakim (the fine Cooper Grodin), who is a ladies’ man with zero intention of marrying her. Carlile-Price is a side-splitting enchantress, stealing every scene she is in.

But all is not innocence and trivial entertainment. Meatier topics like patriotism, impending statehood, and a spirited rivalry between the local farmers and cowboys provide a backdrop of danger and excitement. Add to the mix Jud Fry, the creepy farm hand that harbors nefarious designs on Laurey (darkly played by Alex Levin, whose baritone is operatic), and the plot truly thickens.

Mara Newbery Greer’s choreography elevates the show to greater artistic heights. In particular, the tap dancing in “Kansas City” and the dream sequence, “Ballet” (Bella Calafiura is a standout as Dream Laurey), are superb.

If there is any criticism of the production, it is that there is too much of it. At 3 hours, it is uncomfortably long, especially Act I (105 minutes).

Nonetheless, if you’re looking for an evening of thoroughly entertaining, (mostly) light summer fare, “Oklahoma!” fits the bill.

‘Oklahoma!’ is presented by North Shore Music Theatre, 62 Dunham Rd., Beverly, through June 16. Visit nsmt.org/ or call 978-232-7200.

InSights

A Blog by Shelley A. Sackett

North SHore Music Theatre

Fast-paced, Colorful, and Highly Entertaining NSMT’s ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ Is A Crowd Pleaser

NSMT’s ‘Rent’ Is Well Produced And Timely Entertainment

‘Grease’ Is The Word at NSMT’s Knock-Out Production

NSMT’s ‘The Wizard of Oz’ Couldn’t Be More Enjoyable

Quirky, Funny and Flaky — NSMT’s ‘Waitress’ Is Feel-Good Summer Fare

North Shore Music Theatre’s ‘Oklahoma’ Is A Rollicking Kick Off to its 64th Season