‘Are
We There Yet?’ is the new, must-see contemporary musical
about family life, appropriate for teenagers as well as grandparents.
It runs through July 3 at the Stage Door Theatre. 8036 W. Sample
Road, Margate.
Cleverly written by James Hindman, Ray Roderick
and Cheryl Stern, with music by John Glaudini, all of whom
have Broadway credits, the play is not about the interminable
car ride during the family vacation. The title is but a figurative
hook into the theme that life’s all about the journey.
‘Are There Yet?’ is a collection
of sketches that portray a plethora of family predicaments
via a mind-boggling range of characters played by four actors.
Their chameleon performances jived with the play's fresh and
vibrant texture, lending credibility to the mission of presenting
family life from different perspectives.
The majority of the sketches are musical comedy
with a vast majority of songs composed in the style of Broadway,
but there are also representations of other genres such as
rap, and rhythm and blues.
In “Baby Rap,” Shawn Kilgore,
clad in nothing but a baby hat and bib, tell us what life is
really like as a colicky infant from the depths of his bassinette,
after his tired and distraught parents slip away for some quiet.
“Cause I’m a Mommy,” recounts
the countless responsibilities and chores of a supermom, and
is a take-off on the song,
“Cause I’m a Woman.” The song was seductively
sung by Lori Nuti who demonstrated her versatility as an actress
in other skits. In one sketch, she plays a convincing parent
who catches the bug of the competitive sports mom, and in another
she is an eccentric grandmother resembling a Ruth Buzzi-Gilda
Radnor morph who realizes her dog’s devotion is stronger
than her family’s.
“Dad’s First Prom” features
the over-protective father (Kilgore, who masterfully plays
so many different characters) in a conversation with his daughter’s
date, explaining how a microchip will track his every move.
(The chip, supposedly formerly used by NASA to take pictures
of Pluto, will travel through the spine to the retina where
it will take pictures every time the young man blinks.)
In “Ching, Ching, Ching,” the
comic persona of Dan Kelley revved me up into uncontrollable
laughter as he described, with increasing frenzy, all the high-tech
accessories he was told to purchase after winning a digital
camera.
“I Deserve It” was a musical spoof,
tango-style, on insincere family members doting over dying
and rich relatives, hoping to inherit the family fortune.
“Bernie’s Buffet!” about
a sex-crazed widower (Kelley) chasing all the old ladies, was
an example of how lyrics, music and acting work together as
a unit to create classic musical comedy.
Finally, “I Know She’s Out There” was
a sentimental skit about an adopted daughter searching for
her birth mother through the Internet. The duet between Nuti
and Krista Benson, whose vocal performance throughout the play
was arresting, climaxed into a nightingale sonata.
I recommend the play. The Stage Door Theater,
whose 140-seat seating is cozy. The show featured 3 musicians
in full view, above and set back from the stage. The experience
will help you bridge the generation gap.
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