‘Freaky Friday’ the musical now playing at Terrace Plaza Playhouse, a review
Images courtesy of Terrace Plaza Playhouse
REVIEW
Disney’s “Freaky Friday” the Musical
Book by Bridget Carpenter, Music by Tom Kitt and Lyrics by Brian Yorkey. Directed by Whitney Cahoon
June 26- August 1
Terrace Plaza Playhouse
99 East 4700 South, Washington Terrace
801-393-0070
terraceplazaplayhouse.com
I’m so glad you still have time to see this play, if you haven’t done so already. I saw the cast with an actual mother and daughter as the two leads Ellie/Isabelle Page as the teenage handful and Katherine/Linda Combe, a wedding planner with big ideas and an assistant that makes them all happen. Kudos to that assistant, Torrey/Kimberly Heaton. Her comic timing distracts you from noticing how fabulous she looks on stage. Credits also to the wonderboy Fletcher/Holden Cahoon, for stealing the stage without being annoying, and also to heart-throb Adam/Trey Montgomery Cornell for underplaying his roll endearingly.
The show is conveniently divided into bite-sized chucks about being human:
“For Just One Day” we’d like to live our lives like we want instead of having it interferred with/ruined by other people.
“I Got This,” the pep talk we give ourselves to handle what is coming at us faster than we want. “Busted” when parents and children find our each other’s hidden secrets. Everyone is busted! “Somebody Has Got to Take the Blame,” since we can’t be held responsible for our own behavior, right? “Parents Lie.” OMG! Really?!
“Women and Sandwiches” in which a teenage man/boy explains life to a nine-year old boy.
“Bring My Baby Brother Home,” when the teenager realies just how much she really loves the punk. “Today and Ev’ry Day,” is the epiphany we need to experience every day. Happy to be here. With YOU!
The mother-daughter relationship really worked, I’m assuming because they know each other so well. The teenager was especially authoritative when taken over by her overbearing mother, and the daughter was funny when she realized she had a mess to clean up and boom! She’s about to get married!
A bit of choreography I want to praise. I’m calling it the “Parade of the Service Workers” when all of the wedding planner’s staff coming out like a conveyor belt, each with their specially: tablecloth, napkins, wine glasses, food platters, etc. They were perfectly timed and mechanical. I laughed right out loud. There are two artists listed as possibilities; the Choreographer Madison Benedict, or the Fight Choreographer Justin Lee. Both?
I recommend this production highly to anyone who has ever been a parent — or a child. You will feel thoroughly self-examined by the time you get to the final curtain call. I was unexpectedly moved when the teenager realized how much she really loves her family, as infuriating as they are!
There is something I’d like to note about the play. It is based on a 1972 novel of the same name by Mary Rodgers, daughter of Richard (Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein).
Rodger’s breakthrough was the 1959 “Once Upon a Mattress,” also making Carol Burnett famous, and a rendition of Stud Terkell’s “Working” in 1978.
Her son, Adam Guettel, wrote “Floyd Collins” 1994, “Light in the Piazza” 2003, and “Days of Wine and Roses” 2023.