By Mary Brassard
The Desert Star Playhouse is a stalwart Utah favorite. It’s been in Murray for as long as I can remember. It has a super fun atmosphere with a Western theme, and it’s fun from the moment you walk in. I love the outhouse toilet photo op station. The waiters are dressed in old timey Western attire, and the piano is already going when you are seated at your table. Come early enough to look at the menu. They serve yummy food at Desert Star.
This time around, I saw The 3 Amigos, Showdown at the Del Taco Ranch, a Western spoof of the 80s Steve Martin movie. I am not very familiar with the movie at all, but I had no trouble understanding the jokes and plot, so don’t feel like you need to know the movie to see the show one bit.
The plot is about three cowboy TV stars who no longer have their Spaghetti Western TV show—they are slipping into “has been” status. Some ranchers in need of heroes confuse these three actors for real cowboys ask them to come fight and save the ranch. Unfortunately, a language barrier leads to a misunderstanding, and they think they have been asked to come perform their act for the big villain. Hilarity ensues.
I wouldn’t say the script is close to perfect, or Shakespeare by any means, but where the shows at Desert Star really shine is the comedic talent on stage, and the fun had onstage that flows right back into the audience.
At Desert Star, you are really encouraged to have fun, and immerse yourself in the antics. You are instructed when to boo the villain, and when to cheer the hero, and the actors occasionally react right back to the audience. If you attend a show at the Desert Star, I’d say, get into it. Play along. It will enhance your enjoyment.
The cast was very skilled in their craft. Jake Omer as Deseret Jim, Valerie Packer as Catastrophe Jane, and Todd Michael Thompson as Rusty Spur, are the three amigos. All three were great. I loved Thompson’s soft-hearted portrayal, Packer spoke very clearly, and I could always understand her through her Western accent, and she was very fun. Omer as the closest thing in this show to the romantic lead—funny and charming. I loved his scenes romancing the girl. The three of them worked very well together, and shined when they were riffing together. Jamie Haderlie gave us our villain, Goldilocks Capone. A mix of a Chicago gangster, and a curly-haired sweet child starlet. She even had different voices for each side of her personality. I loved her nasally endearing little girl voice, it was funny, and again, easy to understand. She was tap dancing nearly every time she was on stage, and was the producer of many of the laughs throughout the night. Goldilocks’ sidekicks were Camee Faulk and Miles Broadhead as Pepe Colada and Pacho Chico. Both were over the top and goofy and fun, in just the perfect way. Faulk seemed to have the audience eating out of her hand much of the time. She was very clever with her physical comedy. Rounding out the cast is Matt Mullaney as Rio Del Taco and Melissa Cecala as his daughter, Chalupa Del Taco. Both were great additions to the ensemble. They are the victims of Goldilocks Capone’s plot, and they both hilariously played their parts. They played off of each other very well, and I loved Cecala’s damsel in distress moments. The cast were all well-suited for their parts, and they were all very confident in their portrayals. It is important in this type of performing to be confident, be able to let go of your inhibitions, and just be able to sort of goof off. Any ounce of apprehension can totally throw off the humor, and make the audience uncomfortable on behalf of the actors. Thankfully, none of these actors had that flaw. They all played to their hearts’ content, and it made it a fun mash up of jokes and gags that kept the energy high.
Director Scott Holman did an excellent job of leading this team in a successful melodrama. I especially loved his use of prop humor and sight gags. There are too many to mention them all, but one stand out for me were some toy horse heads on sticks that the amigos were supposed to hilariously ride to their heroic destiny on, but let’s just say it doesn’t exactly go according to plan.
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Their tech team seemed to be on point. I could always hear everyone, the volume seemed to be balanced, and there were never any mishaps that distracted me out of the fun.
The piano player was spectacular. Ben Mayfield was absolutely a character in the show. He played along through all of the action. Not only was it funny, but it gave the whole evening a warm nostalgic feel. He especially shined when he dueled himself on two pianos.
Following the play, there is a fun Desert Star tradition called the olio. This is where the actors give us a musical variety style mini-show, totally separate and independent of the play. This part was great. The men were not spectacular vocalists, but they were so fun in their “selling” of the songs that it didn’t really detract for me. The women all seemed to have great voices. Jamie Haderlie was the vocal stand out for me. A commanding voice that really captivates. I wish we’d had more solos from her. There were also fun audience interactive portions during this section, and plenty of jokes. It sure ended the night on a high note.
Overall, I would definitely recommend The Three Amigos, Showdown at the Del Taco Ranch. There are a lot of Utah specific jokes, a lot of Pop culture references, and it never takes itself very seriously. There are no lessons to be learned, and it won’t make you ponder the meaning of life. But if you like a fun, raucous night of laughs and goofball type entertainment, if you just want to tune out the real world for a night, and cleanse your soul with innocent laughs, well, this is the place to be. We need entertainment like this in a world of hard-to-hear news and social media fights. The Desert Star is doing us a service and reminding us what life can be—fun and carefree at times. A room full of people that probably all come from different backgrounds, different beliefs, different political leanings all sitting together in harmony, laughing together about a slew of Ken dolls raining from the sky.
The Desert Star Playhouse presents The 3 Amigos, Showdown at the Del Taco Ranch
The Desert Star Playhouse is located at 4861 South State Street, Murray, UT
Through August 19, check website for times and dates
Tickets: $15-25
Contact: 801-266-2600
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