My Friend, the Dictionary from Blue Moon Theatre

by: Josh Buffington

Before seeing this show, I was familiar with majority of the music and was hoping to hear beautiful harmonies and see hilarious acting. As I walked into the theatre, I was immediately greeted with smiling faces and numerous kind people at the box office, as well as the ushers.  A fun touch that was added was the opportunity to have audience members onstage. The ushers asked if audience members were interested and had them fill out a form with your name and some random facts about yourself. After finding our seats, I admired the “Moonbill” made by Angela Robb as well as the set of the stage in Putnam. The set filled up the stage beautifully built by Greg Hammell, having the posters designed by Nikoleta Barboni, and even up front was the massive trophy for the winner.  My favorite part of the set was the bee themed table cover over the judges table.  

The show started with amazing choreography by Jamie Sheffer and beautiful harmonies music directed by Dana Mae Gayner.  The standout vocalist that I saw was Jordan Debes who played Rona Lisa Peretti.  Every song she was in she was a soprano powerhouse hitting every note with precision and perfection. Another person I must mention in the beginning is Lewie Homan who played Mitch Mahoney.  I loved every single character choice he made, as well as all of his little ad libs, every one of them making me laugh each time without fail. Colby Crawford played William Barfee to a T. From his body posture to his accent when singing, and his vocals in the “I Love You Song” as Olive’s father, all of it was perfect.  Another character that was played perfectly is Logainne Schwartzandgrubennire played by Jamie Sheffer. She was serving with every single face she made.

The character that was trying to hide in the background was Olive Ostrovsky played by Anabella Cox. She played the character so shy and timid that when she was talking and singing it made me smile because it felt like she was breaking out of her shell. Through her acting it was clear Olive was trying to overcome her nerves and meekness. The character who played opposite of Olive was Leaf Coneybear portrayed by Isabell Schrenker. They played their character with chaos on the brain. They were always running everywhere, except when they were attempting to spell. 

Another chaotic character was Chip Tolentino played by Finn Hutchinson. His elimination from the bee was so funny combined with him raging, portrayed all over the stage and perfectly executed what everyone was thinking (if you happened upon the same situation).  I also must mention his song “My Unfortunate Erection.” He put all of his emotions into it, releasing an outstanding performance. Marcy Park is played by Paige Pendleton. She was the definition of  “Locked In” and did not get distracted by anything.  She was there for business and nothing else. Her song “I Speak Six Languages” was a cardio nightmare and still managed to sing it flawlessly. The last character and in my opinion the funniest character is Douglas Panch played by Harrison Rothbaum. From his introduction to the stage, to the final song, if I needed a great laugh I would look to him.  Every single sentence and delivery was so funny that he left everyone laughing at each line.  All together each actor played their characters amazingly and all together it made an amazing show.

Obviously the show could not have been done without the Creative and Production team.  The lighting designer, board operator, and sound designer all was Donna Halpin. Each transition she made was perfect especially from when each character would go into their own little monologues in their heads to the audience.  The show would not have been as lively without the costumes each actor was wearing designed by Cheryl Stark. My favorite costume was definitely Mitch Mahoney who was a gay emo with his own personal fan. And of course the person that makes everyone come together and runs the show;  Donna Halpin the stage manager powerhouse that kept everything together.

Lastly, this show could not have been made without the directors.  Jamie Sheffer as the assistant director and Luke Wallis as the director.  Wallis' direction with this show was perfect for the stage, the audience, and easily being capable of working with such talented young actors.  Thank you to The Blue Moon Theatre for welcoming me with open arms and creating such a lovely show.  If you have the chance to go see it I highly recommend it.  Shows run through January 16th, 17th, at 8pm and January 18th at 2pm. You can get your tickets here: https://thebluemoontheatre.com/events/