I bought the cast recording to the musical soon after it opened, and I love the score. Emily and Alice's performances of the songs are wonderful. I have always wanted to see the musical, but since it didn't run very long, I thought the chances of anyone producing it in Utah were quite slim. I'm so glad that I was wrong. I was excited to see the production, especially after I learned that two actors from the production of The Drowsy Chaperone I was in two years ago, Angela Jeffries and Taylor Eliason had leading roles in the musical. It's a small musical theatre world.
Side Show is the premiere production for the new Utah Repertory Theater Company. This musical will either soar or flop depending on the actors portraying Daisy and Violet. Fortunately for us, Adrien Swenson and Angela Jeffries, who play the leading roles, are excellent. It's easy to overlook some of the weaker elements in the production when you're listening to these two women sing. They both have powerhouse voices, and together they sound even stronger. Not only did they sing the roles well, but their acting matched their vocals. Angela played Violet with an innocent sweetness, and Adrien played Daisy with a quiet inner strength.
Other stand-out performances included Taylor Eliason as Buddy and Cooper Howell as Jake. Some of the stand-out numbers were "The Devil You Know" (although I think the tempo could have been slowed down a bit - I felt it was too rushed), "When I'm By Your Side," "Who Will Love Me As I Am," " One Plus One Equals Three," and "I Will Never Leave You."
One of the biggest disappointments I had with the production was the very end of the show. The musical starts in a Freak show on a midway where Daisy and Violet have been one of the side show's biggest audience draws. The other freaks sing to the audience "Come look at the freaks." At the end the song is reprised, and as they sing the words, "come look at the freaks," the ensemble comes onstage as modern-day people whom some might consider as "freaks" today. These include an old woman, a homeless man, a "cutter," a blind girl, a deaf girl, two gay couples (male and female), a goth, a girl with lots of piercings on her face, etc. I was terribly disappointed that the director decided to call call them "freaks." I'm sure he was trying to make the point that many people do look on these groups as "freaks," but I thought it was in bad taste. I would have rather he had them all come out looking like themselves, in everyday clothes, and bring out the point that all of us are "freaks" in our own way, or that there really aren't any "freaks," just people.
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