Cute, funny, and with heartwarming characters to fall in love with.
Twelfth Night Productions presents their second performance of the season, First Date, a romantic comedy musical directed by Richard Buckley. Held at the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center with a live band, this cute but long play will have you cheering for the lead couple by the end of the night.
When blind-date “virgin” Aaron (Alex Gallo) is set up with serial dater Casey (Taylor McKinnon), both know they’ve met their complete opposite. But as the night goes on and friends and family barge in on the couple’s awkward first date, pointing out flaws and tragic backstories in typical dramatic musical fashion, Aaron and Casey start to realize they might be good together after all.
Supporting characters include Casey’s best friend Reggie (Danny Cords) who calls her throughout the date to check up on her. The flamboyant and very gay voice messages that he leaves on her cellphone elicit tears of laughter from the audience, especially because he rouses the entire remaining cast to dance and sing with him during the call.
And while both McKinnon and Gallo also dish out amazing performances as a cool-chick, bad boy loving gal and nerdy, very Jewish guy, their performance would have been much better if only the mics were a little louder. In fact, most of the time, the audience had to strain their ears to figure out what all the actors were saying and singing as they struggled to be louder than the live band. The music was fantastic, and the lyrics, when heard, were hilarious and thoughtful, but much too quiet. You have to hear a show to love it. The timing of the dances was also subpar and almost reminiscent of a high school musical production. Actors failed to stand on chairs or get in line on cue and the messy choreography took away from the overall play.
However, if you’re looking for a nice play for a casual night out with friends, accompanied by singing and dancing of course, then this is the musical for you. Just prepare to sit through a two-hour (no intermission) show!
First Date, book by Austin Winsberg, music and lyrics by Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner. Twelfth Night Productions, Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, 4408 Delridge Way SW, Seattle 98106. Apr. 29, May 5-6 7:30 p.m., Apr. 30, May 7 3:00 p.m. Tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2906086 Info: http://www.twelfthnightproductions.org/