This delightful new comedy/romance brims with delicious stereotypes, and you don’t have to be a Hallmark Channel fan to appreciate it. it’s unpredictably predictable and warm hearted, spiced with wonderful local references, including special recognition of show sponsor, LAFCU. (btw, I didn’t get the Mr. Eared reference until the drive home.)
Alison Dobbins’s local projections beautifully established “small town” Williamston and “big city” Lansing locations, including dramatic drone footage by Eldon McGraw Media. The rest of the set was versatile, movable, furniture that twirled quickly between scenes (Bartley H. Bauer)
The plot was an hour and a half of entertaining twists on the road to happily ever after:
“A professional woman running in the fast lane of the big city corporate world journeys back to her small town on a mission for her boss. When she runs into a handsome acquaintance from high school, she’s forced to evaluate her life and priorities.”
But the feature I loved the most was the subplot of when/how/where the versatile talented Joe Bailey and Emily Sutton-Smith made their quick changes into their seven different characters. This clever hilarious juggling of costumes and actors could only be fully realized and enjoyed in a LIVE show situation.
Joe Bailey got the most extreme workout jumping from Boss to Fiancé, to George’s Dad and also George’s son. Emily Sutton-Smith efficiently flipped from Bestie, to Mom, to that mysterious Old Woman. (I loved the conversation Mom and the Old Woman had offstage.) Will-they/won’t they sweethearts were perfect for their roles. Dani Cochrane was adorable as our stressed and smitten heroine, and Ryan Patrick Welsh nailed the charming, sincere single dad, always with the perfect smoldering look and exit line.
This holiday delight runs through December 23 - with some different-timed shows that final week. (Just tried to fix that on the GLUT calendar, but did one of those “change all” things and screwed it up. Fix that tomorrow… (yawn) in the meantime go to Williamston’s website and snap up your tix today. https://www.williamstontheatre.org
NOTE: on “Giving Tuesday” November 29, Williamston GIVES us FREE play readings: at 11 am “Love and Baseball” by Jerry Montoya; 3pm “The Glue People” by Sarah Bierstock and 7pm: Predictor by Jennifer Blackmer. Check this link for further descriptions of these intriguing scripts— https://www.williamstontheatre.org/giving-tuesday-play-thon (...and in gratitude for the free price tag, maybe you can make a little donation to the Williamston Theatre Pig Bank to help pay the remaining bills for the legendary finally-removed support poles!)