Review: FULLY COMMITTED at Main Stage Creative Community Center

I love chasing around my favorite actors (Does that sound stalkish?), and when they travel to a town I haven’t visited in a long time, that’s even better! Lakefront Arts is Eureka Springs' newest theatrical company, and they have made their mark opening with FULLY COMMITTED at Main Stage Creative Community Center, which has one more weekend left, Friday and Saturday, Oct. 13 and 14. This one-man show with 40 different characters stars the ultra-talented Dakota (Koty) Mansfield, who will have you laughing through the whole 90 minutes of the play. Get your tickets here before they sell out! 

Based on characters created by Becky Mode and Mark Setlock, and Directed by Christopher Willard, Sam (Dakota Mansfield) is the sole operator taking reservations during the holidays for the most popular Upper East Side restaurant in Manhattan that is based on “molecular gastronomy” and sells dishes like Smoked Cuddlefish Rissotto in a Cloud of Dry Ice Infused with Pipe Tobacco and Nitro Frozen Shaved Fois Gras Enshrouded in a Liquid Chicken-Filled Orb. Before he can even get his coat off, the phone starts ringing off the hook, and because his coworker has not shown up, Sam has to deal with all of the calls. Though each unique caller is told that the restaurant is fully committed or booked for the next three months, they all feel they are VIP and want a table when they want it, and it is hard to turn down overbearing socialite Carolann Rosenstein-Fishburn and the personal assistant to Gwyneth Paltrow who insists on an insane list of vegan options and special lighting.

The chef (Sam’s boss) is absurdly demanding, pretentious, and a bit sadistic. He even makes Sam clean up an “accident” in the bathroom. Then, to add to the drama, he has a friend who competes with him for parts and then let’s him know when he is getting callbacks, and his family is putting a lot of pressure for Sam to come home for Christmas. It’s a lot!  

Mansfield shifts through the different voices effortlessly, allowing the audience to imagine all of the characters as if they were there. Through different accents and mannerisms, Mansfield takes command of the story and leads us through the day in the life of a struggling operator/actor/family member. It is endearing, laugh out loud funny, and we all bonded over many of the characters even though it is just Mansfield through the whole production. This show demanded versatility and depth and Mansfield delivered with ease. He was well worth the drive through the Ozarks! 

Christopher Willard is the force behind Lakefront Arts and hopes to bring more theatrical masterpieces to Eureka Springs. Broadway World was fortunate enough to catch up with Willard to learn how this company came into existence.  

BWW: So, you just moved to Eureka Springs?  

Christopher Willard: No, I've been here since the pandemic. I was freelancing around Colorado and had a whole 2020 schedule, directing and acting, you know. We all know how that worked out.  

BWW: Yeah.  

Willard: And so, I came back here to the area, because my mother lives here. I'm caretaking for my mother, got her through the pandemic, and then just thought I would try doing some theater. It's been a while since I did it, you know. So, I decided to start Lakefront Arts here. I was going to do this show three years ago in this space, and I was gonna act in it. I did this show for many years in Colorado, but I looked in the mirror and thought ‘I'm too old.’ It's so much more fun to be backstage doing that, and then let somebody else do it on stage instead. So yeah, I got Kody involved and cast him.  

BWW: Well, this was a great first show. I loved it. What’s next? 

Willard: I'm gonna be doing little pieces here and there, just whatever interests me. I do a one-man version of IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, so that’s happening here next month. Then we're doing something for women's month in March. We're doing LOVE, LOSS, AND WHAT I WORE. So, I’m just doing shows that interest me and that I think this community will relate to and react to. 

BWW: Right. Good.  So then Main Stage in itself is just a space?  

Willard: It is. Right, but they've done theater here before. This is the first thing they've done here in four years, though. I feel very fortunate that they let me come here and bring my traveling roadshow here and put it on. So, it's been a lot of fun. They've been great, the Main Stage people here are great.  

BWW: So, are you from here?  

Willard: No, I'm actually from Kansas. I’m a Kansas native, but I lived in Colorado for 23 years and ran a theater company there for 13 of those 23 years. But then my family moved to Golden, MO, on Table Rock Lake, which is just about 20 miles away. So, when I decided to do this show, I tried to find somebody locally to do the show, and surprise surprise, there wasn't anybody here. It's a daunting task, this show, obviously. You are on stage for 90 minutes, except for about a minute and 15 seconds break which happens there before the latter half of the play. You have to play 40 characters. They have to be distinct. Your energy, your drive, your beat building, all of that has to be maintained throughout the course of the show. You have to be funny. You have to play with the audience at the same time. That’s a big order for any actor to try to pull off. Fortunately, I found Koty in Little Rock, and he was just perfect for it. 

BWW: Yes, he was! I’m a fan! This is a great play! 

Willard: This was comfortable for me, just because I know the show so well, and I know how audiences react to it. It just seemed timelier, too. I mean, it's about the one percent against the 99%. It's about toxic privilege, which is sort of sweeping across the nation right now. People are getting caught on camera being a Karen or a Ken, you know, and then doing all that stuff that they shouldn't do. Behaviors have been off the chart post pandemic, and so this play speaks to that. But it also has a really sweet story at the heart of it about Sam and his father, and Sam trying to get back to Indiana for Christmas. It’s Sam trying to maintain his humanity amidst all this pressure that he's subjected to, which it all makes it worthwhile and worth producing again.  

BWW: Well, it is such a fun show. 

Willard: Yeah, we've had a good time doing it. And the hope is that we'll be able to take it to Little Rock. You know, you don't memorize 50 pages of dialogue and only do it three weekends. So, we want to see if we can make that happen.  

BWW: Well, I hope you can. It’s a great show, so thank you. It is lovely to meet you.  

Willard: You are well. 

Broadway World would like to give a big THANK YOU to Lakefront Arts and Tavi Ellis/Tavi Photography for the use of these wonderful pictures. Whether it is a wedding or a hiking adventure, Tavi will bring out your personality through whatever event. Check out her website at https://taviphotography.com. 

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