Kay Hight (left) and Ben Herrera played Esther Smith and her brother Lon.The casting for the lead parts was very good. Tyler Robinson had the perfect look, voice, and manner for John Truitt.
Kay was perfect for this role, of course, and I loved the way Darryl Strohl not only played Head of the House Alonso Smith, but put Ben Herrera and the ensemble to work in the 'Banjo' number in Act 2, as well as the 'Trolley' number.
The costumes were beautiful (Kay said she loves wearing such excellent clothing).
I was very impressed with the set as well. The set was functional, pretty and versatile: a tribute to Clocky's and MikeMac's skills! (I understand the portraits visible above the proscenium are not of Abe Lincoln and Stephen Douglas, as I first thought, but of Clocky and MikeMac.) And there is some kind of theatrical reference with regards to the trolley label? I'm too ignorant to get it....
Amy Jacques-Jones (left) played Rose Smith.There was something extraordinarily familiar about the milieu of the 1903 midwestern family scene - richer than average at the times, since there plenty of collegiate men in it. Was it because I had seen the movie before? Dunno. I decided probably what it was was that my mother's mother came from the same sort of midwestern milieu. I never met the woman - she passed away long before I was born - but this sort of musical is in my blood and I probably have an ancestral memory of it hard-coded in my DNA!
I was real surprised to see Ana Hansen on stage. She in the middle of intense preparation for 'Chinese' in Sacramento Ballet's 'Nutcracker', but there must also be time to knock out a musical too!
Anne-Marie Pringle convincingly wields the accent and manner to play Katie, the Irish housekeeper!Opening night was blessedly free of the sporadic sound and lighting problems that sometimes bedevil shows.
There were a few problems, having mostly to do with the way the show is written, particularly in Act I. The motivations to sing ballads seem contrived at first (but in perfect clunky Midwestern manner). That awkwardness eases as the show proceeds. Lighting was good (except momentarily in a portion of the 'Trolley' number, when Kay seems to retreat too far under the bright trolley roof and is simultaneously shaded and lost in the roof's glare as a result). The littlest girls need to slow down and project their voices better - it was sometimes hard to hear them.
An excellent show, with fine acting, singing, and dancing! Go see it!
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