Chad Patterson (formerly of Lansing Theatre) has once again come up with a high-energy, interactive, family show on his Acting Up summer Michigan library tour. We had a lot of fun in the audience at the downtown Library June 27 and this year’s show, Oh Brother Builders, merits a “review” since it is coming BACK to the area August 2.
Chad is adorable as the all-for-fun, video-game-addicted Billy Builder, and Chad's son, Seth (displaying those hereditary Patterson dimples as well as acting chops) is the workaholic, Buddy Builder. Seth is the multiple-character actor in this script, and also appears (transformed, from behind the backdrop) as the bad-guy Jack Hammer, and the tricky customer, Mr. Finicky.
Chad has been writing/performing these two-man (sometimes woman) shows for 17 years, so he has this genre down to a wacky, wonderful science. I first met Chad as “the cow” in the Stan Gill version of Jack and the Beanstalk, 1991, which planted the seed in his "bovine brain" for the funny/fast-paced/jokes-for-grownups, too, “stangillian” style that keeps kids engaged. His scripts are slapsticky, contemporary romps with a few volunteer kids getting up on stage to “help,” resulting in unpredictable and always kid-friendly ad-libs. The shows have a “message” — always pro-reading (libraries, right?) and they also offer good advice that’s never preachy — this year, it's learning to balance work and play and the value of cooperation.
This is a gem of a FREE show for kids of all ages - and their chauffeurs — and I would also recommend it for actors interested auditioning for comedy and/or kids’ shows, as a lesson on energy, pace and stylized characterization.
Chad and Seth will be in Saginaw, Roscommon, Mecosta, Harrison, Clare, Kinglsey, Dexter and more… all around the state, as you can check at the website calendar http://www.actingup.biz/calendar.html
Notable for LANSING area folks (the “L in GLUT does stand for Lansing, as you know) is:
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2 with two shows, at two different Lansing-area libraries.
10 am at the South Lansing Branch, 3500 S Cedar St, Lansing, MI 48910
1 pm at the Haslett Library, 1590 Franklin Street, Haslett, Michigan 48840