The “Mini Musical Fest” was a series of six short musicals, each between 10 to 15 minutes, mostly with distinct casts, directors, composers, lyricists, tech crews, etc. I think there was one actress overlap and one lyricist overlap. It was an interesting way to do a program, and I was suprised at the depth in some of the productions. In general, there were minimal sets and costumes, and there was a shared standard set of lighting. In many ways, it was like one of those sampling buffets: you got to see whose work you liked and whose you didn’t, and weren’t stuck in a 3 hour production that was interminable. Luckily, most of these mini-musicals were quite good, and the weakest of the bunch only dropped to the good level. All productions were produced by Mike Rademaekers.
Musical The First: The Red Bouquet. This musical told the story of what appeared to be a former couple (Daniel and Alice) in a restaurant. After some casual discussion where the Claude the waiter (Kelly J. Roberts) keeps interrupting (and Daniel (Trevor Lissauer) assumes he is gay), they have a fight and he leaves, leaving Alice (Julia Gregory) to realize she only has one reliable thing: nothing. This was reasonably interesting and showed some emotional depth. Only Lissauer and Gregory sang, and they had quite nice voices. The story has music, book, and lyrics by Joshua Fardon, and was directed by Wynn Marlow.
Musical The Second: Change of Plans. This very enjoyable musical told the story of Jimmy (Jordan T. Maxwell), a former enterpreneur, who is about to move in with his girlfriend, Katherine (Kristin Chiles) and go to work for her father. While packing his old place, he discovers his old college journal, and through a series of scenes with his friend, Ethan (Ross Merrick), rediscovers what he wants out of life. I really enjoyed this mini-musical — the acting and the singing was great, and the story was touching and funny. This musical featured music, book, and lyrics by Michael Gordon Shapiro. The costumes and scenery were designed by Elicia Woerle. It was directed by Derrel Maury, and was co-produced by Kevin Elliot.
Musical The Third: More Precious Than Diamonds. This musical told the story of a Julie (Fay Gauthier), who by her 40th birthday had given up on ever finding a man who would put a ring on her finger. So she goes with her friend, Michelle (Deborah Ping) to Tiffany’s to buy herself a ring. Of course, the salesman (Marco Antonio Aguilar) who shows her an $88,900 ring falls for her, while the security guard (Steve Walby) watches on. This was a cute and funny musical, and the two leads were very engaging and sang quite well. This musical was written by Stephanie Hutchinson, and directed by Jonathan Levit. Steve Walby also served as stage manager.
Musical The Fourth: The Queen and the Dragon. This was less a musical and more a mini-opera. It takes place in ancient greek times, and tells the story of Queen Cassandra (Christina Linton), who has just reached her age of majority and has been annointed by Hera (Deborah Dey). She can now choose her suitor, and she wants Adon (DeReau K. Farrar). But Adon loves another… Jason (Miguel Vargas), Hera’s son. The law prohibits such unions, unless Cassandra changes the law. Cassandra, not knowing that, directs Zeno (Paul Wong) to create a love potion, which requires obtaining the blood of the Red Dragon, which usually ends up fatal for the person sent. This was a quite well sung and acted mini-opera, and most of the singers were quite strong (Linton, while beautiful, could have been a bit stronger). Of course, its story was timely and went in the direction one would predict, but that wasn’t a problem. The mini-opera featued a libretto by Jan Michael Alejandro and Jonathan Price, with music by Jonathan Price. Musical direction was by Gordon Glor. The production was directed by Kirk Smith.
Musical The Fifth: Something Not Real. This tells the story of two couples (Bill (Dan Wingard) and Mary (Julia Gregory), and Frank (Dan Wiley) and Annie (Rebecca Larsen) [or it could have been Bill & Annie and Frank & Mary]). The men, who were brothers, seem to be going through problematic times. One is out of work. When a former co-worker, Dickey (Derek Houck) arrives, trouble ensues. I found this the weakest of the stories: not due to the acting or the music, which was fine, but due to the muddled story that left me confused as to what was going on. This musical also had music, book and lyrics by Joshua Fardon and was directed by Wynn Marlow — the same as the first musical.
Musical the Sixth: Myjovi El Musical. This musical tells the story of Carlos Carlos (Christopher Showerman), inventor of the MyJovi energy drink. While celebrating his birthday with his girlfriend Jovina (Christina Jones) and the employees of MyJovi (Patrizia Medrano, Aisha Renee or Abby Bollenbacher (the program wasn’t clear which one we had at this performance), and Lisa Vachon, who had multiple chorus roles) and while receiving an award from the Mayor of East LA (Carla Marie), he receives a cease and desist order. This order comes from the shyster Kir Du Soleil (Ian Federgreen) on behalf of the singer Ben Jovi (Jeff van Hoy). In two mini-acts, we see how Carlos recovers the right to produce his drink. In some ways, they saved the best for last: this had an enjoyable and strong chorus, innovative sets, audience interaction, and strong and charismatic leads… and some silliness. I enjoyed it quite a bit. This musical featured music, book, and lyrics by Jan Michael Alejandro, with choreography by Jebbel Arce. It was directed by Rachel Myles.
The “Mini Musical Fest” continues at the Secret Rose Theatre through July 5. Tickets are available online through Brown Paper Tickets or through Goldstar Events.
Upcoming Theatre: We have no theatre over July 4th weekend, although we may go see “Up”. Sunday, July 12 @ 1pm we’re off to Finland the Ahmanson to see “Spamalot”. Saturday July 18 @ 8pm is “Fat Pig” at Repertory East Playhouse. July 25/26 is currently open, although I’m considering “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” at the Neighborhood Playhouse, in its last weekend. August 1st brings “Cats” at Cabrillo Music Theatre (our last Saturday matinee before our tickets move to Saturday evening), and then we rush to Chatsworth to catch the bus to the Hollywood Bowl to see the 8:30pm performance of the “Guys and Dolls” concert. August 8 brings us back to the Pasadena Playhouse for the musical “Crowns”. We have some vacation after that, but Saturday 8/29 finds us again at the Hollywood Bowl to see Liza Minnelli. As a reminder, I’m also always looking for interesting productions on Goldstar and LA Stage Tix, so if you have a production to recommend, please do so.
Lastly, remember that a recent study showed that it isn’t possessions that are important — it is shared experiences. So go have one of the best shared experiences there is: go support your local live theatre, and help keep all the people who work at the theatre (from the cast to the technical staff) employed.
