CEDAR CITY – Seven Brides for Seven Brothers directed by Ellen Wheeler is currently playing at the Forge Theater at the Cedar Fun Center Location. The original book was by Lawrence Kasha and David Landay, with lyrics by Johnny Mercer and music by Gene De Paul. It starts by following backwoodsman Adam Pontipee as he goes into town for supplies and to look for a new wife. He finds one in Milly, a pretty young cook at a town bar. They quickly marry and hilarity ensues when she is taken back to the family cabin and realizes Adam has six other brothers living with them. Milly helps the brothers learn the rules of courting and it all meshes into one wonderful musical.
Editor’s Note: Production Photos have not yet been received by UTAJ. When they are, they will be added to this review. Photos can be provided through this form.
When first entering the Forge Theater, the stage held two wood buildings that didn’t seem like much. However, as the play starts the two wood buildings transform into a set piece for the town as the cast members add eye catching details like business signs and use crates and boards of wood to cleverly enhance the used prop and set pieces. The set then transforms further when one of the wood buildings is turned around and the doors open to reveal the Pontipee family cabin inside. It is even complete with a stairway and side roof that the actors can use and stand on. Additional charming props are brought in by actors at different times to enhance the scenes. The other building on the stage is turned around and opened to reveal the inside of the Pontipee’s barn. Huge credit needs to go to the set construction team: Shannon Comp, Ollie LeFever, and Justin Jayson for making some serious theater magic happen! The shoutout of course would not be complete without mentioning scenic painter Ky Habel, who, as always adds the perfect details to any of the Forge Theater’s set pieces.
Husband and wife team Andrew and Kristin Briggs played the two main leads of Adam and Milly Pontipee. Their chemistry was awesome, of course, and both had some strong vocal chops. My favorite song sung by Andrew Briggs as Adam was “Stand Beside Your Man.” This was a special treat because it is not in the 1954 musical film. A note needs to be made about Adam’s mic volume as it was a little low and could have used a slight boost. The performance I saw was the third one for the play and naturally when it is a musical the strain on actors’ voices is expected, so a gradual increase in mic volume for each night the show is running is much appreciated to maintain performance integrity. This, however, is just a minor wish and Andrew Briggs’ voice was still heard. Kristin Brigg’s singing voice was my favorite of the whole show. I loved her beautifully clear crisp voice as she sang each of Milly’s songs. Favorites included songs like “Going Courting” and her sweet lullaby to her newborn baby.
With this play being a musical there is a whole lot of dancing! With all of the fabulous dancing choreographer Remington Comp absolutely nailed it! The dancing in the 1954 musical film is legendary and Remington Comp lived up to this momentous task! I loved, loved the choreography for the town social scene. Each bride and brother pair were also expertly matched in various dancing ability levels seamlessly. My favorite bride and brother team to watch during the dancing scenes were Travis Parisi who played Ephraim Pontipee and Abby Rose who played Martha. Their movements were eye-catchingly smooth. I also really enjoyed the other five bride and brother teams throughout the play. Much credit needs to go to Arza Marsh (Benjamin), Kayson Wood (Caleb), Colin Taylor (Daniel), Travis Parisi (Ephraim), Daniel Hailstone (Frank) and Beau Barrett ( Gideon) for having superb comedic and dramatic Pontipee Brother chemistry throughout the whole show. It would not be complete without mentioning all of the beautiful and talented brides who were the other half to the Pontipee Brother teams. Brides included Bobbi Bledsoe (Dorcus), Genessa Hager (Ruth), Kate Weaver (Liza), Abby Rose (Martha), Nicole Smith (Sarah) and Elza Rose (Alice).
To wrap up the praises I need to mention the colorful and beautiful work done by costume master Jenny Rosengren. The variety of colors and twirling ability in all of Milly’s and the Brides’ dresses were absolute perfection. My OCD was a little bothered by the fact that Weaver’s (Liza) and Roses’s (Martha) dresses switched the colors of each other’s hair ribbons so they did not match the colors of their dresses. I so badly wanted it fixed. However, when Jenny Rosengren was consulted about it she said it was an artistic decision to show that the characters Liza and Martha were super close friends. The only other complaint I had about the show was in the playbill itself. It did not list anywhere the acts, scenes and when intermission was happening. Knowing when intermission is coming is especially helpful to families who have younger ones, or older ones, who badly need to use the restroom facilities, but do not want to miss or accidentally cause disruption during the show.
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is a show you will want to see! It is especially family and date night friendly with its catchy songs, high energy dancing, and many fun laugh aloud moments!
MORE INFO: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is currently playing at the Forge Theater located at the Cedar Fun Center (170 E. Fiddlers Canyon Rd, Cedar City, UT). Performances are held October 15-24, matinee performances at 2:00 pm and evening performances at 7:00 pm are available on various days. Tickets can be purchased online at theforgearts.com.
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