Reviewer: Kristine Gotham
Venue: Historic Masonic Temple of Bay City
Hatchetfield, a small town in middle America. Nothing spectacular or newsworthy happens here, until…the meteor strike. A meteor falls to Earth striking right in the heart of Hatchetfield. Suddenly the residents begin singing and dancing, each one infecting the next. Can the madness be stopped or will everyone in town be waving their jazz hands?
Paul Matthews (Matt Kehoe) is just an ordinary guy living an ordinary life in Hatchetfield. He works a mundane office job. The day before the meteor strike, Paul admits to one of his co-workers, Bill (Nathan Bonus) that he doesn’t like musicals. Paul has a crush on the barista, Emma (Stephanie Bale), who works at the coffee shop down the street from his office. He visits the coffee shop daily just to have a chance to speak with Emma. Emma’s boss, Nora (Missy Hobart), has implemented a new policy at the shop, each tip from a customer will prompt the barista to sing a song. But soon, everyone is singing all the time after being infected by poisoned coffee from the alien invaders.
Emma knows someone who may be able to help. He is professor from the local community college. Paul and Emma along with Paul’s co-workers Bill, Charlotte (Jo Brown), and Ted (Brady Katshor), and Charlotte’s unconscious and infected husband Sam (Sam Comeau) travel to the fortified home of Professor Hidgens (Justin Russell), hoping to find a way to defeat the aliens. While there, Charlotte and Sam are alone in the den when Sam regains consciousness. He convinces Charlotte that he is not a threat, but as she gets close to him, he infects her.
Meanwhile, Bill learns that his daughter, Alice (Janessa McIntosh), is hiding at in a room at the local high school with her girlfriend, Deb (Grace Pratt). Paul and Bill decide to return to town to rescue Alice and Deb. But Alice has been infected, and Bill, being unwilling to leave his daughter behind, becomes infected himself.
Paul returns to Hidgens’ compound to rescue Emma but Hidgens has revealed that he believes the aliens are of a hive mentality and can be used to bring about world peace. As time goes on, Hidgens is shown to be a secret musical lover who has written his own musical based on his friendships in his younger days. Hidgens turns off his home’s defenses and welcomes the aliens to come. Emma tells Paul that the only way to kill the aliens is to destroy the meteor that brought them to Earth. The two set out together on a helicopter provided by General MacNamara (Chase Montalvo) of PIEP, a secret branch of the army. The helicopter crashes leaving Emma severely injured. Surrounded by aliens, Emma encourages Paul to continue on to destroy the meteor.
Will Paul be successful in destroying the meteor? What happens to Emma? Will the town be saved or will everyone spend the rest of their lives waving their jazz hands? You will just have to see the show to learn the answers.
The Man Who Didn’t Like Musicals is a spoof of all the sci-fi, alien invasion stories. The actors present the material with high energy and lots of singing and dancing. Director, Erica Tatum, brought together a cast of performers who feed of each other’s energy and skill in an entertaining way. The orchestra, comprised of Dave Ryan, Brightoyn Henika, Patrick Fairfield, Ryan Krease and Preacherman Drums, provides excellent accompaniment to the cast as they move the story along with song. Choregrapher, Gina Kearly, has the actors moving their bodies and feet with such speed and grace that I could only watch amazed as my own two left feet tapped along. The set design was minimal and costumes were suitable for the setting.
Overall, this is a fun show full of relatable characters, great music and dance. You don’t want to miss this one. The Man Who Didn’t Like Musicals is presented by Vanishing Elephant Players at The Historic Masonic Temple of Bay City. The show continues this weekend, Saturday, July 25 at 730 pm , Sunday, July 26 at 330 PM, and next Friday, Saturday July 31 and August 1 at 730 pm and Sunday, August 2 at 330 pm.