Perhaps my all-time favorite Broadway actress is Heidi Blickenstaff.  I saw her perform at EPCOT for the Festival of the Arts a few years ago, and immediately declared her to be the best singer I had ever heard.  So you can imagine how excited I was to hear that Williamsburg Players was bringing the musical (and Disney Channel Original Movie) “Freaky Friday” to their stage, a show (and movie) originally fronted by Blickenstaff.  And then, to add to my excitement, hearing that two-time HRACT Award nominee Kelly Flick had been cast in the role of Katherine (Flick’s second Blickenstaff role, after her turn in “Something Rotten!” a couple of years ago), had me positively giddy.

And Flick brings her masterful physical comedy and facial expressions to the forefront yet again, mock-kicking the reporters doing a story on her wedding into the backyard, eating donuts and licking her fingers with gusto, and slipping out of her fiancé Mike’s grip time and again.  (Oh yeah… I jumped right in and forgot to mention that she was slipping out of her betrothed’s grip because Katherine and her daughter Ellie have switched bodies due to the magic of a hilariously huge hourglass.)  What I didn’t know to expect from Flick’s performance (likely because we have only seen her in mostly comedic roles in the past) was an ability to bring incredible heart and emotion to the role, and increasingly impressive singing, both of which were most clearly demonstrated in the tear-jerking “After All of This and Everything”.

Not to be outdone is the talented Chanah Rosenberg, playing daughter Ellie (but due to the aforementioned magic, spending most of the show as mother Katherine in the body of Ellie).  Rosenberg is immediately engaging, drawing the audience into the plot, coming at the role with the energy of a teenager, where every moment feels so dire.  Rosenberg’s considerable singing skill is on display throughout, and her version of “No More Fear” was excellent.  Rosenberg and Flick together do a wonderful job of embodying each other’s spirits as they flip flop from teenage angst to the adult in the room and back again, and both do a fabulous job of modulating their voices for perfect comedic effect (see: the moment Rosenberg brings up Ellie’s tattoo to Flick, and Flick responds regarding Katherine’s cigarette stash).

Supporting these two stars is a strong ensemble of mostly new faces to Williamsburg Players, with a few veterans sprinkled in.  Katherine’s fiancé Mike is played with incredible kindness by Peter Kane (and he also gets quite the calf workout with Taylor Yandell and Ryan McGill as the back-up dancers for “Bring My Baby (Brother) Home” – you’ll know when you see it).  Young Blake Berquist’s Fletcher (the baby brother who must be brought home) impresses with his puppet-antics and his ability to end a song with the splits.  The hair-flipping Adam (played by Lucas Miedema) oozes teenage male star, with his own theme music and spotlight every time he enters (and a very entertaining rendition of “Women and Sandwiches” performed in his crisp and clear tenor voice).  Katherine’s assistant Torrey, a caricature brought to life by Katie Griffith with the right amount of just-a-little-crazy-and-a-little-too-fast-twitch-energy, is fantastic when she lets loose and dances with the freedom as if nobody is watching.  Jaleesa Smith’s spot-on dance moves and mean-girl attitude shine as Ellie’s school nemesis Savannah.  And a quick shout-out to Micah Miller is in order, as his very funny slow-motion antics during “No More Fear” were eye-catching and additive to the moment.

That “additive to the moment” idea seems to be something that director Lyra Hale has instilled in this cast, giving them the opportunity to put their personalities on display while not overwhelming the scene (see also – the increasingly confused and watch-checking wedding guests at the end of the show).  Hale, in conjunction with Williamsburg Players veteran (and HRACT Award nominee) Bill Velardi, also designed a simple but effective set of rolling pieces for quick and easy scene changes, allowing the show to maintain its momentum (and get us Nor-folks across the HRBT and home by 11:15… leaving me time, like Mike, to “go iron my shirt”… a throwaway line that somehow hits every time). 

(New this season, our wonderful cat Pepper wanted her voice heard as well, if you all will oblige her…)

Pepper’s Purr-fect Picks: Loved the adorably tiny suitcase for those puppets – I could pack my favorite toys in there as well as a few cat-treats.  And I do appreciate a very zippy blessing of the wedding couple.  No kittens mentioned though.  Two paws up!

(Pepper also canonically sells concessions at the various community theaters.  She always comes up with a themed drink special, which is for entertainment purposes only and notably IS NOT in fact available for purchase)

Pepper’s Drink Special: “The Switcharoo” – a layered drink with milk on the bottom and chocolate milk on the top.  (We asked her how she keeps the layers separate, and she mentioned something about a magical hourglass?)