Former Utah State University thespian Blake Brundy, pictured here as the Emcee in the 2019 production of “Shockheaded Peter,” will be among familiar faces in upcoming shows at the Pickleville Playhouse this summer.
GARDEN CITY – When the curtain rises on the 2021 season at the Pickleville Playhouse on May 28, there will be faces very familiar to Cache Valley audiences in the cast.
As usual, the summer season at the lakeside playhouse will include one of the talented Davis clan’s trademark original musical comedy melodramas and the stage classic “Peter Pan.”
The Pickleville season will kick off in less than month with the original melodrama
“Becoming a Bona Fide Bad Guy.” Penned by director Derek Davis, the all-new comedy will also feature original music by TJ Davis.
The melodrama will feature Pickleville veteran Jordan Todd Brown stepping into the solo spotlight for the first time.
In several past summers, Brown teamed up with Slater Ashenhurst to produce hilarious improv comedy during Pickleville melodramas in their crowd-pleasing roles as the pint-sized Big Guns Bo Garrett and the inept arch villain Jacques Javert. Most recently, the pair appeared in a holiday video serial that was part of the “12 Days of Pickleville Christmas” program.
Now, playwright Derek Davis has tailored a show to Brown’s individual zany talents.
In “Becoming a Bona Fide Bad Guy,” Brown will portray Carl, a middle-aged grocery clerk who becomes obsessed with the idea of transforming his luckless life by becoming the baddest bad guy ever.
Joining Brown in the melodrama’s cast will be another popular local performer, Blake Brundy.
Brundy is a veteran of numerous Theatre Arts productions at Utah State University. His specialties have been comedic, gender bending roles in recent productions like “Civics & Humanities for Non-Majors,” “Pericles, Prince of Tyre” and “She Kills Monsters.”
In addition to his role in the melodrama, Brundy has been dual-cast as Mr. Darling and Capt. Hook in “Peter Pan,” which will debut later in the Pickleville season. The role of the pirate chief is sure to provide ample opportunity for Brundy to deliver one of his trademark over-the-top performances.
As usual, members of the Davis clan will also be featured in the Pickleville cast this summer.
At the top of that list is the lovely Kenzie Davis, who will appear in both “Becoming a Bona Fide Bad Guy” and “Peter Pan.”
Despite performing in numerous Pickleville shows, Kenzie Davis is best known for her humorously homicidal portrayal of Wednesday in the playhouse’s Halloween productions of “The Addams Family” in 2019 and 2020.
Also from the cast of “The Addams Family,” young Hayden Davis will portray Michael Darling in “Peter Pan.”
“Becoming a Bona Fide Bad Guy” will be performed in repertory at the Pickleville Playhouse from May 28 through Sept. 6, alternating with presentations of “Peter Pan.”
Based on J.M. Barrie’s fantasy about a boy who won’t grow up, that classic Jule Styne/Carolyn Leigh 1954 musical features lost boys, fickle fairies, singing pirates, sword fights and the siren call of make-believe.
“Peter Pan” is slated to run at the Pickleville Playhouse from June 22 until Aug. 28.
Online ticket sales for the summer 2021 season at the Pickleville Playhouse are already in progress and Derek Davis says “seats are selling like hotcakes.”
In response to that demand, the playhouse has recently added eight additional performances to its summer schedule.