Freaking hilarious! Two several years following it was supposed to open, the Colonial Players eventually commenced a operate of Disney’s stage model of Freaky Friday — on a Friday night time, of course — and it is freaking hilarious. This gem of a musical, published by Bridget Carpenter with audio and lyrics by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, managed to engage, entertain, and crack up the total multigenerational audience, from 9 to 99, in the theater-in-the-round. The demonstrate, directed by Ron Giddings, promptly immerses us in the environment of Katherine (a stressed-out single mom about to get remarried) and Ellie (her disgruntled, angsty teenage daughter). The phase magic involved in generating the ensemble solid of 15 sense like 50 is really remarkable. There is so a great deal to glimpse at, many thanks in aspect to choreography (Ron Giddings) and established design and style and decoration (Lindsay Zetter), and the “Prologue/Just Just one Day” quickly drops you into the middle of their busy modern-day-day globe.
It is almost unbelievable all that takes place in the two hrs that the musical unfolds, a madcap experience that commences appropriate in the second selection, “The Change.” Those common with the story will know what’s coming: mother and daughter magically swap bodies and are aghast, and disbelieving, at the end result. The acting feat needed right here is demanding, and both equally actresses pull it off seamlessly and believably, with impeccable comedian timing and supply that only grows as the display proceeds. In “I Acquired This,” Abbie Smith as Ellie shines. Her musical means and stage existence is an complete delight to observe. Her voice is powerful and stunning, and she emotes via her continually switching facial expressions. An additional toughness of the display is the supporting solid. Reva Thompson as Torrey, Katherine’s assistant in her catering enterprise, is pitch-best, and Kylie Airin Sjolie convincingly pivots from a marriage journal reporter to a militant PE teacher to a law enforcement officer with soaring vocals in each and every position.
Comedian relief is just about consistent as the two shell out a working day in each other’s footwear, trying not to mess issues up way too considerably and find a missing magical hourglass so they can switch back. A crowd beloved in the course of the musical was Andrew Limansky as heartthrob Adam, Ellie’s crush and mastermind of a wild scavenger hunt (“The Hunt”) that is the talk of the faculty.
There are many scenes that consider area at Ellie’s college, the fictional Grover Cleveland Large College, and these are a take care of to observe, as Katherine-in-Ellie’s human body contends with queen bee Savannah, portrayed with ideal signify-female power by Alexandra Kuebler, and her hapless crush Adam. She dissects an actual frog and her feelings for him in biology course throughout “Oh, Biology.” These acquainted high college tropes are handled with sincerity and humor.
Jamie Erin Miller as Katherine nails the humor of a teenager inhabiting a mom’s physique and world. She captures the exasperation of her daughter with accurate overall body language — just one can’t assist but marvel if her day position as a school principal educated some of her acting choices. Whatever the scenario, she succeeds. Freaky Friday has discovered a fantastic equilibrium between solos, duets, and properly-executed ensemble quantities, like in “Busted,” a particularly memorable corporation amount, exactly where the viewers is reminded of the simple fact that mother and father often maintain as many tricks as their offspring.
The musical is riveting as stress builds for each Katherine and Ellie to come across the hourglass, and Ellie, in Katherine’s system, drives her brother Fletcher (Miles Shulman) home, telling him “like it is” (“Parents Lie”), which elicits laughs and cringes, and will cause him, a different scene-stealer in this cast total of scene-stealers, to run away from property.
It’s in Act Two the place the mother and daughter get started to comprehend just about every other and get the job done as a staff. A stand-out, incredibly psychological, and touching selection is “Bring My Child (Brother) Residence,” performed by Ellie, Katherine, Mike (an affable Brian Mellen), and the two law enforcement officers tasked with operating the missing-kid circumstance.
One more touching scene is Ellie’s crush Adam singing “Go,” which in addition to Andrew Limansky’s robust vocals, features staging, choreography, and effects by Ron Giddings (path, music route, and choreography) and Kyle Sullivan (specific consequences) to make us really experience we’re looking at a large-ranging scavenger hunt even however it is a small stage.
The show’s final moments incorporate enjoyment and pressure as we understand who wins the hunt and how, or no matter whether, Kathrine and Mike will truly get married. We are handled to these two ladies coming to a better knowledge of every other by their effective duets, and they, and the whole forged, triumph. Like the Twinkies Katherine indulges in secretly, this exhibit is a pleasure to behold and get swept up in for an evening of boisterous fun.
Working Time: Two hours 10 minutes, with a 15-minute intermission.
Freaky Friday plays by means of May 15, 2023, at Colonial Players of Annapolis – 108 East Road, Annapolis, MD. For tickets ($23 typical $18 university student, senior, and army), connect with the box business office at 410-268-7373 or purchase them online.
COVID Security: Facial area masks must be worn correctly by absolutely everyone in all Colonial Players amenities at all times, irrespective of vaccination position.
Produced by Jennifer Cooper Lights Structure by Wes Bedsworth Sound Design by Kaelynn Bedsworth. Homes Structure by Lois Banscher and Kyle Sullivan Costume Design by Jennifer Cooper and Kathy Parrott.
