Review: new VWCT musical a fun show

By DAVE MOSIER/for the VW independent

A music-hating nebbish who gets trapped in musical hell is “the guy” in The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals — the AYA (Adolescent-Young Adult) Theatre production that opened Thursday at Van Wert Civic Theatre.

In this horror-comedy-musical written by Nick and Matt Lang, with music and lyrics by Jeff Blim, Paul Matthews (Sean Carpenter in his fifth show at VWCT) is a white-collar drone quietly living out a boring existence in his hometown of Hatchetfield. His only personality quirk is his intense dislike of music — especially musicals. That’s why he declines an offer by co-worker Bill Woodward (Charles Bennett) to see a production of Mama Mia! at a local theater. Instead, he trots off to make moon eyes at Emma Perkins (Abbie Mengerink), a barista at Beanies coffee shop that he has a crush on. In addition to Bill, Paul shares his humdrum office life with co-workers Charlotte Sweetly (Kim Salisbury) and Ted Spankoffski (Andy Walpole). Unbeknownst to Paul, though, Charlotte, although married to Sam, a police officer, isn’t averse to a little on the side with Ted as well.

Things start spiraling out of control the next day when Bill tells Paul about a meteor hitting the theater the night before and people — including their boss, Mr. Davidson (Evan Joseph) — start singing and dancing like they’re in a musical (because that’s how the mind-controlling aliens communicate).
Paul runs over to Beanies to tell Emma about his suspicion that aliens are turning Hatchetfield residents into one big musical cast and finds the barista, who is also not a big music fan, forced to sing and dance by her boss, Nora (Ella Lamb), as a customer tip-appreciation ploy. In fact, one of the funniest bits in the show is Mengerink’s deadpan face and movements as she, a co-worker, Zoey (Chloe Parker), and her boss do a tip-appreciation song for customers. After finding customers in the shop, as well as her boss and co-worker, already infected by aliens through poisoned coffee, Paul, Emma, Bill, Ted, and Charlotte look for a way to survive the tuneful invasion, but, one by one, fall prey to the insidious musicality of the aliens.

The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals is a fun show with catchy tunes and funny comedy bits. Carpenter is getting good at playing the nerdy, but clueless guy caught up in something he doesn’t quite understand, and he again shows he is good at the everyman role. Bennett has the nerd loser Bill down pat, while Walpole is fun as the unrepentant sleazeball Ted. Joseph is also good as Mr. Davidson, as well as playing Charlotte’s husband, Sam, while Carson Caprella shines as a dotty professor who at first helps Paul, but later joins the aliens willingly.

Several other actors also excel. Emily Gehle does well as a Greenpeace canvasser who has Paul’s number, while Payton Frese gets a slinky number near the end as Bill’s wayward daughter, Alice. My personal favorite actor in this production is Salisbury, whose personality shines through in every scene, making Charlotte a uniquely interesting character — especially when singing and vamping with Joseph on the slinky love duet, “You Tied Up My Heart.”

The sets are clever, lighting and sound perfect for the production, while the gore was goofy, not lose-your-lunch nasty. Director Alyssa Taylor and Music Director Perri Webb do a good job of guiding what could have been an out-of-control production with a steady hand on the tiller. The show gets at least a PG rating because of some naughty bits and spicy language, but is good fun nonetheless.

The show, sponsored by Biggby Coffee, runs through this weekend and the weekend of July 30-August 2. Evening performances start at 7:30 p.m., with Sunday afternoon matinees beginning at 2. Tickets are $18 apiece, with a $2 senior discount on presale tickets only. Tickets may be purchased online at vwct.org or by calling 419.238.9689.