Bows: Andrea St. Clair (Milli) acknowledges the applause. Left; Scott Reese (Adam).
Bows: An excellent orchestra (led by Chris Congdon).
After the show, Anne Marie Trout greets Andrea St. Clair.
After the show, Melody Davi (right) talks with Chris Salmon (left), Cooper and Christian Salmon, and cousin Danny. Cooper and Christian played Jake and Billy in the show.
Saturday was one of the hottest days in Sacramento history - it hasn't been this hot since 1996. At 4 p.m., it was 109 degrees Fahrenheit downtown, and 110 degrees at the Sacramento Executive Airport: typical for Phoenix, but quite atypical here. In-between, in Curtis Park, it was 109-and-a-half degrees, and I was feeling vaguely ill. In my first effort to turn on the air conditioner this year, the thermostat simply failed, and so I hoped to cure my incipient heat stroke by attending RSP's "Seven Brides For Seven Brothers", in the cooler confines of the 24th Street Theater (and watch dozens of actors suffer that vaguely-ill feeling instead, as they labored under the lights).
An excellent show! This is the first time I've seen Andrea St. Clair play a character (Milly) with some range, rambunctious as well as feeling, and it was a delight to see how well she did it. I was also pleased at her dancing: the waltz steps, and chaines, came naturally to her. Scott Reese played the forest clan's elder brother Adam, and sang wonderfully. Both Scott and Andrea were well-matched leads for the show.
One choreographic problem was handled well: Reese, for all his skills, isn't a dancer. Ron Cisneros employed several strategems in dances like "Goin' Courtin", such as introducing Reese late into the dancing, and using him principally as support for a very-active Andrea (the way the old ballroom dancers were always told they should do always for their female partners). The accomodations worked well, because they served to enhance Adam's position as the head of the clan, and Milly's help-mate.
Apart from a few friends and acquaintances, most of the cast were new to me, and fresh. It was fortunate that they were so energetic, and their dancing so good. I also worried about the numerous fight scenes: no matter how much you practice them, they are never identical from night-to-night, and it's easy for them to go awry. Nevertheless, they all seemed to go fine, and no one appeared inadvertently injured.
The best dancer on stage was Kacey Kamrin (Sarah). What wonderful energy! Her male partner (one of the brothers, whose name I now fail to remember) was also excellent. Kamrin was sometimes matched with another dancer, whom I believe played Ruth (Jordan Gomez), who was also excellent.
The first challenge of Saturday's show came almost immediately when Scott Reese's beard began peeling away in the heat (and with Ray Fisher taping the show too). Reese gamely kept on, tufts awry, and removed the beard at his first off-stage opportunity (about the time he would have lost it anyway). I thought Reese should have casually peeled it off immediately, as the problem was obvious, as well as its solution, but others noted that the problem served to draw in the audience, to enhance their sympathy and support. In their view, Reese did exactly what he should have done. In any event, it was just a minor problem. Other problems that occasionally bedevil shows, like microphone glitches, were also rare (maybe some 'clipping': that's all).
At intermission, I overheard two audience comments. One was 'that lead actress is great.' The other was 'concentrations in Carmichael's water are 90 times EPA's acceptable limit.' (Never know what the audience voyeur will overhear!)
It is excellent that Andrea will soon leave for New York (October?) with such a recent triumph under her belt. Also in the audience was Melody Davi, and her mother Kathy. After touring nationwide with "42nd Street" for much of the last year, Melody is in town to tie up some loose ends, and work on a fab tan, with which to strike people green with envy on the Great White Way.
Melody told me she recently moved to exciting New York City. It occurred to me Kathy had also told me this recently. I think Melody's father, Tony, also told me this too, but I'm fairly dense, and so it takes a full family press for me to fully absorb news. Nevertheless, even though both Melody and Andrea have been active in Sacramento community theater in recent years, their paths apparently never crossed onstage here. I hope they'll cross in New York, though: make it that much more fun to make that New York trip!
After the show, I tried to plant sloppy kisses on the cheeks of various female cast members, but they all said exactly the same thing: "Eeewww, get away from me, I'm sweating!" (They're so cute!) Could have fooled me, though. Everyone looked fresh, despite the heat.....
Afterwards, I walked home, to commisserate with Cloudy the Rabbit, the only one of my friends and acquaintances who has a legitimate beef with this hot weather....
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