Review: ZACH'S POP! at ZACH Feeds the Body and Soul!

I’m sitting in Austin traffic, bearing the half an hour it takes to get from Mopac and Cesar Chavez to ZACH theatre on South Lamar, and I’m in a mood. I fear I’m going to be late to ZACH’s newest and latest Christmas fare: POP! Great, just great. Across the parking lot from the Kleburg theatre, at ZACH’s Topher Theatre, Scrooge is going onstage in an hour and he’s likely less cranky than me. Nevertheless, onward we go.

This reviewer finds being tardy to a show the height of impropriety, and indeed I felt a touch ashamed traipsing in a tad after curtain time, but it helped me learn something about ZACH’s concept for this new offering. I’m NOT encouraging you to roll into this show at your leisure. On the other hand, POP! is a much more relaxed show than we theatre folks are used to. In and out is acceptable, and the bar is open throughout the performance. You’ll even need that drink for a toast in the second act.

POP! is the most recent iteration of holiday fare offered up by ZACH’s outstanding Artistic Director Dave Steakley and talented and charismatic music director Allen Robertson. It’s light, it’s entertaining, and it’s for everyone. Turn that frown upside down! This reviewer’s grinchy attitude was gone within minutes of settling into the show.

Director Steakley tells us in his director’s notes that, after spending time experiencing the singalong concerts at London’s Royal Albert Hall, he wanted to create an intimate version of that concert experience for Austin. This, and the singing pub culture in the UK, he tells us, was the inspiration for this communal experience called POP!  “It was impossible to leave there without feeling joyously in the holiday spirit,” he tells us of those concerts. And it’s difficult to leave the Kleburg without feeling joyously in the holiday spirit as well! Steakley has accomplished what he set forth to do. 

Even the most introverted among us in the house were compelled to sing along to the over 40 contemporary and classic pop hits, carols, and even commercial jingles (Jingles for the holidays!) included in ZACH’s POP! The saltiest among us might even jump up and do the Electric Slide when invited to do so during the second act of the show. Speaking of the Electric Slide, it’s the kind of mood (minus the newlyweds) you might experience at a Christmas wedding reception. A cover band for all ages, singing carols and pop tunes from the past and present, a few games to play together, cocktails flowing, and most everyone participating in joyous celebration. How could you not love that?

Allen Robertson, two-time Emmy Award®-winning music director, composer, writer, actor, and director is not just the musical director of POP!, He is also the keyboardist and one of the vocalists in the show. His energy is infectious. Frontliners Alison Bradbury and Roots Fender keep things moving along, encouraging us to come out of our shells. In POP!, this “cast” of a band is tasked with singing, dancing, entertaining , and charming us enough to want to sing and play along. And they do it very well.

POP! isn’t a play and there isn’t a plot, as you might have guessed by now. It’s fair to point this out to those who attend expecting to watch something happen rather than be a part of what is happening. This “guided sing along experience,” as director Steakley calls it, taps right into what science says about singing together. Singing together reduces stress hormones, reduces cytokines that help prevent illness, fosters cooperation and trust, improves social cohesion, and more. Who wouldn’t want all that? So get a dose of singalong medicine this holiday season at ZACH. It’ll feed your body and soul.

POP!

Created by Dave Steakley and Allen Robertson

Directed by Dave Steakley  

Musical Direction by Allen Robertson 

ZACH360 in The Kleberg at ZACH Theatre

202 S Lamar Blvd

December 8 - 31, 2023

Note: Curtain for this show is at 6:30 and 9:00 pm most nights

Holiday attire and ugly sweaters are encouraged.

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