Review: SHOWSTOPPERS Sings the Hits at Saint Vincent Summer Theatre

If any company in the area can be said to have a formula for its seasons, that is a fair assessment of Saint Vincent Summer Theatre's usual years: a farce, a revue of pre-rock songs from stage and screen, and then a Roger Bean style nostalgic jukebox musical. Much as last year's Unnecessary Farce moved the company's flux capacitor towards the present day with an up-to-the-minute farce about digital surveillance, Showstoppers updates the company's musical identity with Broadway songs from the early 1970s to shows from within the last ten years. 

Those of you who have never been on a cruise ship may never have seen a slick and professional musical revue; it's a form that has fallen somewhat out of fashion, often associated exclusively with schools or glee clubs, but I am no such naysayer. The musical revue decontextualizes and recontextualizes songs we know and love alongside songs we have never heard. It's a bridge between the traditional theatrical setting and the nightclub concert setting, and a fitting embodiment of today's playlist era in music consumption. There is no plot, no throughline or theme; the set is a stage, some steps and four wooden blocks spelling BROADWAY. All you need are some singers, dancers, a jazz trio (led by Ben Brosche on piano), a little light comic banter, and two hours of amazing songs.

The revue, conceived by director Greggory Brandt and choreographed by Nicole Rae Jones, keeps moving at a pleasantly fast pace. Right from the start, an eight-piece ensemble of young performers and recent college graduates set the mood with a rapid-fire medley of songs about Broadway itself. Soon, our lead performers make their entrances, establishing their vocal personas for the night. David Toole, recently seen as the lead in Front Porch's Bandstand, takes on passionate ballads of all kinds; his tenor opt-up on "If I Can't Love Her" is genuienly astounding. Lori Eve Marinacci tends towards diva standards; most of these are Andrew Lloyd Webber ballads, but she knocks "Let It Go" out of the park in the second half. JD Daw's magical, floating falsetto is a powerful and effervescent sound when mixed with his chest voice, and this tone enables him to sing everything from Jean Valjean to King George III. Madeline Grace Smith balances the legit and pop tone in the "Disney Princess" zone effortlessly, and from the very first lines of her "Part of Your World," there were murmurs of satisfaction from an audience hearing the song exactly the way they wanted it. Finally, Leah Prestogeorge's mezzo-soprano and comic timing make "Popular," from a certain beloved movie franchise that was also a stage musical twenty years ago, a standout.

The audience response on opening night could not have been more positive, and I was pleased to see a house fuller than Saint Vincent usually gets on a Tuesday evening show. The audience breakdown was more diverse than I was used to seeing as well, especially in terms of age demographic. Is it a fluke, or a case of "if you build it, they will come?" This season of summer stock can truly be said to be something old (a vintage farce), something new (this revue), something borrowed (a restaging of perennial SVST regular Forever Plaid) and something blue (Christmas). Will next season bring us Showstoppers II: Electric Boogaloo? Who can say?