Freaky Friday is the story of a mother and a teen daughter who can't seem to get along--until they literally walk in each other's shoes. When they magically switch bodies, they each learn firsthand about how hard the other's life can be. It's a story that's been popular enough to generate two successful films (in 1976 and 2003) and finally a stage musical. While the musical wasn't a runaway hit, it is a show that pleasantly surprised me. It would be a good show for families to see together, because it delivers its message about cutting your family some slack in a way that is more mature than other stories--perfect for tweens and up.
In the stage version, performed this July at Woodbury Community Theatre, mother Katherine and daughter Ellie trade places after fighting and breaking a magical oversized hourglass that Katherine's late husband had given to his daughter (he had given an identical one to his wife). I implore you not to think too hard about why such an object exists or why a man would give these as special gifts to two of the three most important people in his life (son Fletcher got left out, I guess). I have tried to make sense of this and I cannot. I had other questions, too, like "what kind of business does Katherine have that she caters a wedding (her own) and cooks everything herself in her home kitchen?" and "when they switch bodies, why don't they call the school and say Ellie has pink eye?" and so forth. This is a bad show for a chronic overthinker, because in order for these two characters to learn their lesson, they have to be put in difficult situations by absurd logic. While watching the show this wasn't distracting, but dwelling on the plot (for example, to describe it on a blog) is not helpful.
Catalina Osorio played teen Ellie Blake, the narrator of the show (and of the most-aggressive pre-show announcements I’ve ever heard). She’s unhappy, quarrelsome, and doing poorly in school. The one thing she really wants is to participate in that night’s daring all-night scavenger hunt, an unofficial school tradition. But her mother’s getting married the following day and won’t let her go. Colee Ludtke played Katherine Blake, a stressed-out entrepreneur preparing for her rehearsal dinner and wedding ceremony, and also a magazine interview that could be the big break for her career. It’s with all these on the line that the two switch bodies and, after arguing about how hard their own lives are, decide that living as the other will be a breeze.
Freaky Friday musically has a very modern sound, which means a lot of belting for the singers. Osorio and Ludtke were both very strong in this area and sounded great throughout. Ludtke playing teenager-in-an-adult-body had a lot of fun with the physicality of the role, slouching and dragging her feet and so forth, while Osorio as adult-in-a-teenager-body was generally more restrained. But both let loose in songs like “Busted,” one of my favorite moments, in which each discovers secrets the other’s been hiding. By the end, the emotional connection between Osorio and Ludtke felt justified, even if the machinations of the plot did not completely.
Instead of an orchestra, WCT used “canned” music, which normally I’m wary of, but it worked just fine here. The whole cast seemed very well prepared under music director Caitlin Brown. A handful of actors played the other teenagers, including Ellie’s best friends (played by Hann Paulsen and Cassie Klinga) and her rival Savannah (Kate Regan, who had some nice dance moves). The young ensemble was engaging and fun to watch in numbers like “Oh, Biology,” helped by some clever staging with lab tables.
Braden Joseph played Adam, Ellie’s crush and planner of the epic scavenger hunt. He’s a funny character, and Joseph nailed that special essence that let his character be super popular and also kind of ridiculous. When he rolled up on a hoverboard I laughed out loud. Adam sings the second act’s big motivational number, “Go,” which is a fun scene where Ellie and Katherine both break out of their shells, but it’s kind of weird to have the motivation come from a guy that has mostly talked about sandwiches so far (the song “Women and Sandwiches,” on the other hand, made total sense). As the other members of the Blake family, Christian Krohn played kind fiance Mike and Isaiah McKnight played son/little brother Fletcher. McKnight was very sympathetic as the innocent and loving Fletcher, and he did nice work with the two puppets he sometimes spoke through.
The adult ensemble kept busy as teachers, parents, hard-boiled cops, and others. Rachael Bernstein was very good as Katherine’s upbeat and hardworking assistant Torrey. Mike Brown surprised with a high belt at the end of “Somebody Has Got to Take the Blame.” Anna Dale, also the choreographer, was fun as the stern gym teacher. While Freaky Friday is not a dance-heavy show, Dale made good choices with choreography and the dancing was entertaining.
I was impressed immediately by the set design by Michaela Lochen. The show’s look was clean, modern, and colorful--and the set pieces turned around (something I always enjoy). The large stage was broken up by geometric pieces that created some nice spaces for the cast to work with. Director Kristin N. Fox was smart about staging and using the space as well, and brought out good performances from the whole cast. The costumes (by Abbey Nielsen) were overall well-chosen, with some nice pieces in the wedding scene in particular. I do wish that the grandmother character had a decent wig to wear, because her hair stood out against the other natural looks.
I am not a parent or a t(w)een, but I appreciated the way that Freaky Friday helped the audience relate to and sympathize with both. It was a fun show to watch, and it looked like the performers were also having fun. Even though I had some concerns with the plot, this is a show I’m definitely glad I went to see.
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