At “Times Like This”… “It’s Good to be Alive!” A Review of Echo Theatre’s Production of Lucky Stiff

The Whole Cast at Curtain Call

By Megan Graves

I had the pleasure of attending the opening night of Lucky Stiff at the Echo Theatre. The musical comedy starts with a shoe salesman (played exceptionally well by Travis Wright) leaving his lackluster workaday world to fulfill the dying wishes of his eccentric uncle. During his fumbling attempts to answer the requirements of the will, he experiences hilarious mishaps and some near-death escapes from eccentric ‘villains’ that leave the audience roaring with laughter. We were constantly reminded in both funny and poignant ways throughout the play that it is “good to be alive.”

At the beginning of the play, I was impressed by the variety of costumes, but then was even more impressed by the diversity in the cast’s character depictions and accents. A broad range of unique actors lit up the stage with colorful costumes and varied, well-performed dialects throughout the play. One costume choice was particularly clever and doubled as a prop—a skirt that was decorated like a roulette table and spun with the actress when the cast was gambling in Monte Carlo.

With its dramatic caricatures, zany plot, expressive acting, fun and silly dance moves, people in disguise, unusual connections between characters, and a surprise plot twist at the end, the entire play was enjoyable and reminded me of a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta. To give just one example of a similarity Lucky Stiff has to the historical comic duo’s infamous satirical comedies, the audience was cracking up at the solo by Annabel Glick (Randilee Warner). In the song, she starts out wishing for someone to be excited to see her when she comes home, and then sings, “At times like this, a girl could use…a dog.”

Even though it is a comedy, Lucky Stiff does have some underlying poignant themes as well, such as these: live life to the fullest, take risks, don’t be embarrassed about wearing glasses because they could prevent you from shooting someone accidentally, and make sure not to lose a corpse that you take with you on vacation—important life lessons.

Sarah Bingham, one of the audience members at opening night, said, “The music was fun and catchy, and got stuck in my head easily. I also liked how the storyline had different twists and turns – it kept it interesting!” She also said, “The ensemble put it over the top – they really made it enjoyable. Luigi Gaudi (Lucas Proctor) was very outgoing and into the character he played, doing jazz hands, etc. Even though it was cheesy and corny at times, it worked!”

When asked what he enjoyed most about helping to direct the play, Archie Crisanto, the assistant director, said he loved working with the ensemble on character development. “It takes a really good actor to really own a character – make it more than what it is. I told [the ensemble actors] we wanted the audience to fight over which character was their favorite.”*

However, choosing a favorite ensemble character was almost impossible. They did an excellent job in all of their incredibly different roles, even with multiple quick costume and character changes. One minute an actor was an arrogant bellhop hinting persuasively for a generous tip, and the next minute was a hunchback in a nightmare; one minute an actress was a light-hearted dancing French girl, and the next minute a greedy nun. Yes, you read that right, a greedy nun.

Even the “lucky stiff” (Wayne Bohman – who played dead spectacularly well the whole show) got to reveal a bit of his character and danced ballet in the nightmare scene, leaving the audience in side-splitting laughter as a result. A lot of mid-20th century musicals have a dream scene that is meant to visually represent a quandary a main character is in. I usually skip over dream scenes in old recorded musicals, but this scene in Lucky Stiff was quite possibly one of the wackiest and most interesting scenes in the play. Crisanto said his favorite part was that nightmare scene, because he thought that number came together the best, and also because “[every person has] anxiety about something or other.”

My favorite on stage duo was the New Jerseyian brother–sister team played by Briana Shipley and Jordan Kramer. Their accents were spot on and they were hilarious! Briana’s voice was equal parts strong and zany, just like her character. The leads had great chemistry as well when they were singing, and Randilee Warner’s voice was amazing. In my opinion, this was a stellar cast, including the ensemble. My only suggestion is that some actors needed to feel a bit more comfortable in their characters’ shoes and then exude that confidence on stage. Granted, it was their first official night, so the opening night jitters could have contributed to a little character shakiness during dialogue and singing voices that were sometimes too soft to hear. When the actors sang loudly, however, their confidence and characterization lit up the stage.
Jijina also adds, the firm can offer customized repayment schedules and flexible interest servicing. 72% of the total transactions in the last year were financed by structured debt having the residential piece accounting for viagra online overnight the bulk of money. With Sildenafil now on the online market, one wonders why every man doesn’t choose it. levitra india Men do face issues like stress or depression or anxiety are http://mouthsofthesouth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/MOTS-03-25-Tew.pdf generic cialis online not men’s thing as such. (Sorry if I sound bites paranoid). (3) Consult doctor for sure, don’t shy about it, you are not alone; millions of men face the same problem. Thus, tadalafil generic see now it is extremely important that the partners feel sexually satisfied with his performance as he can let her reach ecstatic orgasms.

The accompanist, John Taylor Sargeant, was another highlight of the show. It was obvious he was thoroughly enjoying himself. Amazingly he played with sunglasses on the entire time, imitating the lucky stiff on stage. He also played Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue during intermission, which not only fit with the near chaos and delicate balance of the plot, but was also a difficult piece he played extremely well!

All in all it was a very fun, enjoyable experience and an energetic show. I highly recommend you go see it and support this up and coming new local theatre.

Just so you are aware, the play does contain some PG-13 moments, such as one or two swear words, alcoholic drinks, gambling, and cross-dressing (reminiscent of Shakespearean plays… except for the fact that this disguise is unnecessary to the plot and just intended to make us laugh, which it did), and at one point – spoiler alert – the two leads wake up together. Though their romance would have been much cuter and appealing without this part of the plot, the actors are so incredibly and hilariously awkward and shocked after they wake up and realize what happened, with her insisting “I’m not the type of person that goes out and has ‘fun!’”— that in a way it fits with the zany situations and awkward circumstances that characterize the plot.

The Echo Theatre is located at 15 North 100 East in Provo, Utah, in the quaint old Carnegie/Provo Library building, 2^nd floor. Parking in downtown Provo can be tricky to find, but we were able to find free parking in the Wells Fargo parking structure a little North of the theatre and in the same city block.

Lucky Stiff runs through May 8 – May 30, M,Th,F,& S, 7:30pm, with a matinee May 23 at 2:30pm. Prices range from $8-12, including special discounts available for Seniors, Students, and even Teachers on certain nights. See this website for more details and to buy tickets: http://www.theechotheatre.com/luckystifftix.html

*quotes paraphased