Kelly Critic review: Elizabeth Forward's 'Back to the 80s'
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The Kelly Critics is a joint program of the Post-Gazette and Pittsburgh CLO in which students of high schools entered in this year's Gene Kelly Awards review other school's musicals, edited by senior theater critic Christopher Rawson. For more Kelly Critic reviews, go to www.post-gazette.com/theater (scroll down on right) or click directly here.
Standing at the back of the theater of Elizabeth Forward High School, an abyss of darkness loomed before me. Small tea lights seemed to glow in the distance, but they certainly didn't help me decipher any shadowy figures or even just the aisle numbers.
Nearly tempted to get down on my hands and knees, I finally found row M, seat 107, with the help of my cell phone and a few helpful strangers in the dark. Relief chased away my fear of the unknown chasm as I saw a flicker of lights and then a flood of blinding brightness: the show could now go on.
The plot of "Back to the 80's" is fairly complex in the sense that the narrator is discussing his life from the future as it is occurring in the musical. In turn, however, it is also fairly predictable due to the fact that it is a straightforward teen love story.
Looking back at himself in 1989, Corey Palmer, Jr., played by James Benedek, is attending William Ocean Senior High School when the musical begins. Corey Palmer, Sr., voiced by Brandon McDowell, is discussing his life from the viewpoint of 2001. The discrepancy between the two voices didn't seem to faze the audience in the least, and it was truly a unique quality of the musical. The voice of McDowell sounded wiser and more mature, which added to the realism of the situation.
Tiffany Houston, played by Meredith Walter, serves as the typical neighborhood love interest of Corey. Although the role may be standard and predictable, Walter was exceptional; the range of her voice and her stage presence exceeded expectation, and her personality inhabited the character with perfection.
First Published May 28, 2011 6:08 pm
