Still More Theater Saturday - Centenary Stage Company's Young Performers Workshop Spring Festival of Shows

We were given complimentary tickets to Centenary Stage Company's Young Performers Workshop Spring Festival of Shows for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.

What: Centenary Stage Company's Young Performers Workshop Spring Festival of Shows

Where: Centenary Stage Company's Little Theatre

            400 Jefferson St. 

            Hackettstown, NJ

When: This event concluded on June 5, 2022

Centenary Stage Company's Young Performers Workshop recently concluded its Spring Festival of Shows. This year's productions were Do Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? and The Robber Bridegroom. The former based on a 1975 book is a show about the Catholic school education of several children in the 1950s and takes them from elementary school through adulthood. The show was a hit in Chicago in the late 1970s but only lasted five performances on Broadway in 1982. It has since become popular with regional and community theaters. 

Despite some questionable casting including a character described as chubby being played by arguably the skinniest girl in the cast and the lack of memorable songs (although the latter is obviously not the fault of the production), the show was quite enjoyable. The cast's enthusiasm and energy were infectious. Although the acting and singing skills varied the dance skills on display were, on the whole,  quite impressive particularly in a tap dance number at the end of the first act which was definitely the highlight of the show (although it doesn't necessarily make sense why there was a tap number at that particular point in the show).

The Robber Bridegroom is also based on book. This one by Eudora Walty. It is a combination of a Robin Hood and a mistaken identity story that was presented on Broadway twice. Neither production was very successful although the revival did run for 12 previews and 145 performances. There was also a highly successful Off-Broadway run of the show by Roundabout Theater in 2016 which was nominated for several awards. This show is also often staged by regional theaters.

This show, unlike the previous show, was very well cast. Standout performers included Jack Scarsi as the lead character, goodhearted scoundrel, Jaime Lockheart (he also did a nice job as a priest in the first musical) and Isabella Pepe definitely a force in her role as the villainous, Salome. The cast's energy level was even higher than in the first show, and their enjoyment of the material was clear which only served to add to the audience's enjoyment of the performance. The story and songs were also more interesting than in the latter show making this show the pick of the festival.

And that's our view. For more about Centenary Stage Company's Young Perfomers Workshop which is currently enrolling students for their summer program, go to www.centenarystageco.org/young-performers-workshop

Tune in tomorrow for this week's Sunday Scoop.