By Jennifer Mustoe
The last show at the Neil Simon Fest was a world premiere of Under Construction: A Blue Collar Musical, by Peter Sham. This was the fourth preview I saw in Cedar City in as many days. Sham wrote the acclaimed Lend Me a Tenor, and is premiering his most recent work, casting people from Cedar City’s repertory company, and directed by himself and Douglas Hill.
The set (Randy Lawrence Seely) is very simple with a raised stage covered with plastic, that soon reveals, voila, musical instruments (keyboard: Norm, (Brandon Scott Grayson), percussion: Fred (Lydia Feild), keyboard ll: Gus (Jacob Lee), and bass: Chet (Sean Militscher) that a band can play. There’s a hole on stage left that has caution tape around it and the show starts when smoke and confetti (fire) comes billowing out.
Because Betsy (Olivia Sham) was distracted with feeling her passed on mother’s scent of lilacs, Betsy wasn’t paying attention and accidentally sold tickets online to a non-existent show and a bunch of people have shown up, expecting a performance. So the blue collar workers who are fixing the problems (the explosion in the basement of the theater that caused the fire and smoke) and a few other folks at the theater gather together and start a musical to appease the audience.
The beginning of the story is a little unclear, but there are a lot of laughs as the people onstage realize there is an audience watching everything they do. As in every musical, the band plays well as if by magic and the singers sing like beautiful birds as if by magic but because we like musicals and are willing to suspend our disbelief, we’re okay with this. The live band, by the way, is amazing. LOVE live music for musicals!
The company of singer/actors is Don (Christopher Whiteside), Janine (Jordyn Aspyn), Steve (Henry Ballesteros), Terry (Nate Marble) and Betsy. All performers are fine actors and have good to very good singing voices.
The strongest part of this show is its songs. Many are very snappy, and I looked at the audience after each number and many were smiling and laughing as they applauded. The funniest song is “The 9 Commandments for Success,” which has some fun aspects to it and actually has some good advice, too. Many of the numbers have two or more actors harmonizing, and in these songs, the harmonies are just lovely. I wish there had been more of these. There are a variety of song types–some ballads, one Country Western type song, “It’s Only a Moment,” sung very well by Sham. I especially liked this number because Sham’s mic box came off and she handled it like a true professional. I was worried because she is young, she’d panic, but she did great. (Crisis averted!) The rap doesn’t work as well.
To help the frustrated man to overcome his best viagra india erection issues. The causes of this type are not clear for the children concerning cialis for sale important source. Principally, BPH is the boost in buy cialis without prescription volume of gray matter. You can cialis 10mg use this herbal supplement without any fear of side effects.
The storyline isn’t as smooth as a well-established play, but that is to be expected. All new work has wrinkles to smooth out and Under Construction does, too. Costumes by Aimee Starr Pearson are cute, and the fancy second act costumes are pretty sparkly and fun. Lighting by Rebekah Bugg is great–this stage has a lot of lighting aspects to it and it is fun and vibrant. Sound by Frank Stearns is good, though the band is a little too loud for a few numbers and there were moments when I had a hard time hearing the singers.
The best singers in the group are the ladies. Both women sing with clear, strong, lovely voices. Because there are still some bugs in the show, it would have helped if there had been more movement onstage. Choreographer Kirsten Sham has her actors moving around reasonably well in the dances, but many times, the actors just stand or stroll as they sing. If there was more movement, especially in solos and duets (looking at one another, arm movements, etc), the show would have more energy. I also wanted to see more of a tie between construction as in blue collar work, but also the delicate construction of how relationships work, break, and get repaired. I think that is coming. Sham is a great writer, but this kind of project is big–very big, and developing a story takes time. I look forward to future productions as the show continues to progress.
I have been in independent, up and coming shows and they are a lot of work, from writing, to rehearsal, to performance and the ever-evolving rewrites after the show closes (for the first time, and…?) I would encourage everyone to go see Under Construction: The Blue Collar Musical because it is in its infancy and Sham and the troupe need to know what is working and what isn’t. This is one of the best ways we can support theater–go to new shows! There is very much to be enjoyed in Construction, especially in the second act. Please go enjoy this show and give this hard-working bunch the support they deserve.
Neil Simon Festival presents Under Construction: The Blue Collar Musical, by Peter Sham
The Heritage Center Theater, 105 North 100 East, Cedar City, UT 84720
$25 or $80 for all four shows.
Contact: info@simonfest.org, 435-267-0194
Facebook Page
0 Comments