LOGAN – The Lyric Repertory Company belted another one out of the park on Friday evening.
Their production of the Disney musical Freaky Friday was fresh and fun, with upbeat music and great performances from a fairly large cast.
One of the reasons that Freaky Friday was such a pleasure to watch is that it doesn’t look or feel like a Disney musical. Based on a 1970’s novel by Mary Rogers and three (count ‘em!) straight-comedy live action movies, this is the only Disney musical that didn’t have a cartoon soundtrack to build on.
Instead, the Disney folks called on the veteran Broadway composing partners Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, who were fresh from winning the Pulitzer Prize for their musical drama Next to Normal, about mental illness in suburban America.
That only sounds like a recipe for a disaster. But Kitt and Yorkey’s vision for Freaky Friday worked like a charm in this staging directed by Jason Spelbring
The score of Freaky Friday is written for two female leads who can really belt out its tunes. Grace Garner and Lacy J. Dunn are all that and more.
As Ellie, Ms. Garner is the typical teenage know-it-all brat rebelling against Ms. Dunn in the role of the picture-perfect obsessive-compulsive single-parent.
But the fun really starts when they magically switch souls.
It’s easy for Ms. Garner to convincingly act mature. But Ms. Dunn is over-the-top amazing when she goes all loosely-goosey as a teenager trapped in an adult’s body. It’s a side-splittingly hilarious performance.
I’ve seen Ms. Dunn perform in comedies before, but not do physical comedy. But she rocks it. All the weird teenage mannerisms and ticks are there and Ms. Dunn plays them to the hilt.
The rest of the cast is just along for the ride, but nobody “phones it in” in Freaky Friday.
Christopher Klinger is Ms. Dunn’s long-suffering husband-to-be, if he survives a roller-coaster ride of ups and downs prior to the wedding. He croons wedding vows in a rusty baritone, all the while wondering what’s going on.
Torrey, who is Ms. Dunn’s partner in a wedding planning business, is equally mystified by the changes in her previously by-the-book boss. Torrey is played to harried perfection by McKenna Walwyn.
Lyric veteran Kelly McGaw is back and all over the stage in a multitude of roles. I’d forgotten how much I like this tall drink of water and her megawatt smile that lights up the place. She plays Danielle, a magazine writer; Ms. Meyers, a hard-as-nails gym teacher; and a dubious cop.
Mia Gatherum and Keaolani Hosino are Hannah and Gretchen, the youthful members of Ellie’s posse at school. They are appropriately bubbly and enthusiastic.
Newcomer Kat Lee is Savannah, the mandatory apex predator at Ellie’s school, a typically teen-aged nightmare on wheels.
Rounding out the main characters are Preston Rowland as the hunky high-school heart-throb Adam; and pint-sized Soren Pedersen as Ellie’s brother Fletcher, who lets hand puppets do most of his talking.
Although these guys are definitely in the backseat to Ms. Garner and Ms. Dunn in this show, their performances were nevertheless endearing.
Other cast members are Blake Brundy, Kaito Davis, Mitzi Mecham, Caroline Flores Parada, Timo Rasmussen and Daniel Webb.
Kudos to Joshua Legate for the imaginative projection designs of Freaky Friday.
Performances of Freaky Friday are slated for July 1, 6, 15, 21 and 30 in the Morgan Theatre in the Chase Fine Arts Center on the Utah State University campus.