Musical Theatre review
Class of '63 Rockin' Reunion
Mayfield Dinner Theatre
November 5, 2019 to January 26, 2020
Review by GRAHAM HICKS, HicksBiz.com
Tickets: MayfieldTheatre.ca
Don’t expect a plot line, or anything the least bit serious for that matter.
Just sit back at the Mayfield Dinner Theatre and drink in all the great (and silly) pop songs of the pre-Beatles ‘60s, laugh at the silliest of costumes from the Fabian/Elvis Presley/Nah Nah Nah days. Those outfits must have been worn by our grandparents when they were high school hipsters of their day! Okay ... our older sister and brothers!
As always with these classic Mayfield pop medleys, the eight musical actors – Mike Zimmerman, Brad Wiebe, Stephanie Pitsiladis, Melanie Piatocha, Kieran Martin Murphy, Pamela Gordon, Simone Denny and particularly possible-rising star Jahlen Barnes – are without peers when it comes to musical fun and interpretation.
Likewise, the under-appreciated Mayfield house band, composed of Steve Hoy, Paul Lamoureux, Erik Mortimer, Derek Stremel and Harley Symington, make the performance of an average pop-song-a-minute sound so effortless.
The plot of Class of ’63, such as it is, is kinda cute.
It’s 1988 at Rockway High and the graduating class of ’63 are holding their 25th reunion, to the amusement of a few of the current graduates – hence a little Michael Jackson is sprinkled in with Elvis Presley, Frankie Valli and all those silly made-up pop titles, like Be Bop A Lu Ba.
The reunion has its flashbacks to puppy love, go-go tassels and boots and non-stop frantic pony dancing, white sox, floater trousers, school insignia cardigans and beehive, teased hairdos.
And of course the silly pop songs of the era just keep on coming: Here’s just a few – Dream Dream Dream, Gotta Hold on Me, The Ventures’ Tequila and Wipe Out (with its great drum intro), Twist Again, Do You Wanna Dance, Let’s Rock, Johnny B. Goode. Quite a few tunes bring back memories of the very early Beatles’ albums, when the Fab Four were happy to record their versions of American R&B like Roll Over Beethoven and Ya Really Gotta Hold on Me.
There’s much cornball humour – one of my favourites being one of the few semi-serious songs from West Side Story morphing into The Sound of Music’s So Long Farewell, with cast members clowning about as the Von Trapp children.
Jahlen Barnes deserves special mention. Probably the youngest member of the cast, he has a clarion tenor with range and sweetness, and a beguiling charisma as well. Kid might have a big future!
It’s a pleasant evening out. God bless soundman Dan Cherwoniak for understanding the Mayfield Dinner Theatre audience and avoiding the aural thuggery that so often spoils such shows in other venues.
And three cheers for the Mayfield haunch of fine beef, custom carved at the always tasty buffet, with Yorkshire puddings that manage to be as light and puffy as could possibly be hoped in a buffet situation.