Reviews
of Currently Running Shows
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“State Fair” ACTA Theatre Sunday August 1, 2010 by Ed Potts Having just finished our own
production, I was in the mood for some good entertainment and a way to escape
the July heat. ACTA Theatre was doing “State Fair”, so I asked a
pretty lady friend to go and off we went. I am well familiar with ACTA as
this is the theatre that gave me a chance to return to the stage. This dear
old building will always hold a special place in my heart as I have spent
many, many, many nights and weekends there since that day. I do my best to
see whatever is playing there, regardless of which side of the curtain I
happen to be on. After greeting several friends
and catching up on what each of us were doing, my lady friend and I settled
in to watch the show. As the lights went down, we were welcomed to the Iowa
State Fair by a barker over the intercom with the usual announcements, (turn
off cell phones, no flash photo, etc.) This was a unique and entertaining way
to get that necessity accomplished. Cynthia Short began playing the score
beautifully on the in-house piano and I enjoyed her music throughout the show.
I have done a couple of shows
with Geoff White (Able Friske), and have known Paige Turner (Melissa Friske),
since my involvement with ACTA. They played their parts so well that I almost
forgot who the actors were. Geoff was hilarious, as always, in his role with
just enough gruff country sound and concern for his pig. My date and I
laughed readily when the quartet sang their ode to their pigs. Paige was
convincing in her role and we fretted with her when the judging for pickles
and mincemeat came about. Bravo to both of you! Kerry Burrell, (Dave
Miller/Judge Happenstahl) left us rolling in the floor with his judging of
the mincemeat! Well played my friend! Anna Bedsole, (Margie Friske) is an
actress that I have seen before and have liked her work. She sang beautifully
this day and her portrayal here was one that we really enjoyed. I hope to see
more of her shows in the future. Ally Forehand, (Emily Arden) did a great job
playing the singer/dancer/heartbreaker. Her dance with ’The Fairtones’ was an
unexpected nice touch. But perhaps, to me, I was most surprised by Anthony
Aldrich’s, (Pat Gilbert), performance. This was not the same Anthony I did a
show with last year! He acted his part well, sang great and was confident in
his dance moves. And…, he got to kiss the girl! Great job Anthony! Special
shout-outs go to Stephen Turner, (Wayne Friske), and Amanda Easdon, (Violet)
for their parts as well. Since I build sets, I must
comment on this one. Large casts at ACTA are a challenge so I was curious how
Bradford Forehand, (Director), was going to pull this off. My hat’s off to
you Brad! Your use of the floating triangles made scene changes with a static
background quick, relatively quiet and changed the look of the set with
minimal need to close the curtain. The back wall was beautifully painted and
highly detailed. Someone put a lot of work into that. The use of tiers
accommodated the various vignettes and the size of the cast. My only negative
of the entire show is that the height of the tiers caused those cast members
with shorter legs to move awkwardly when moving from area to area. This was a
distraction from time to time. My date and I set out to enjoy
an afternoon at the theatre and we were not disappointed! We laughed,
listened and even got teary eyed a time or two. “State Fair” is a show
that I would urge any and all to go see. The dancing was great, the ensemble
numbers were harmonized beautifully, the parts were well cast, the set was
well suited for a large cast and the audience was fully drawn into the lives
of the Friske family for the afternoon. Thank you and a standing ovation go
out to ACTA, Bradford Forehand, Cynthia Burke, cast and crew of this
wonderfully done show! |
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Here is a link to a neat site that has reviews of the film versions of musicals: http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Studio/8849/moviemusicals.htm |
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