Theater Review: "Pocket Broadway!" at Phoenix Stage Company

By Nancy Sasso Janis

The bright young performers that make up The Bright Young Things troupe presented two performances of “Pocket Broadway!” at the Phoenix Stage Company. The evening of music and dancing included 33 songs from 11 favorite Broadway shows squeezed into two acts.

The performers chose to highlight mostly contemporary musicals in the two acts, offering three numbers from each of the well-known shows. All of the musical numbers were directed by the members of the company and choreographed by Katherine Griffin with assistant choreographer Matthew Benson.

As in previous Bright Things productions, each of the talented performers had a chance to shine in a number or two in between impressive production numbers with the entire company. They all had obviously put in a lot of work pulling together another night of music for their fans.

The twenty-somethings in the cast included Chad Celini, Destiny Whitten, Syd Sebastian, Katherine Griffin, Emily Paris, Matthew Benson, Killian Meehan, Katerina Levasseur, Casey Hallok, Ben Dressel, Christian Winter, Daniela Perez, Cameron Monroe, and Emma Parker.

Act One opened strong with the quirky “Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812,” a show that I got to experience on Broadway. Katherine soloed on “No One Else” and Christian got to play the comic “Balaga.” From “Waitress,” another show I caught on Broadway, included “Opening Up” and “I Love You Like a Table” with Chad, Katherine and the company.

“& Juliet” was represented by Matthew with “It’s My Life,” “Love Me Like You Do” and “One More Try.” The show “Wonderland” included the number “Home” with Emily.

I have seen “Mean Girls” so many times that I knew many of the lyrics to “Apex Predator,” “Revenge Party,” and “I’d Rather Be Me.” Matthew covered Damian, the “She doesn’t even go here” role, and Destiny was Janis.

The first act closed with “Hadestown,” the show that just launched a new tour at the Palace in Waterbury. The company performed “Livin’ it Up on Top” and the “Wait for Me (Reprise.)”

Act Two opened with the less contemporary “Scarlet Pimpernel.” Killian led “Into the Fire” and Ben took on the lead of “Madame Guillotine.”

“Into the Woods” featured Chad as Jack for “Giants in the Sky,” and Chad, Killian, Katherine and Emily for “Your Fault” and “No One is Alone.”

Next up was the Green Day Musical “American Idiot,” with “Boulevard of Broken Dream,” “21 Guns,” and “Letterbomb.” The classic “Les Miserables” included “Do You Hear the People Sing?,” “One Day More” and Killian on “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables.”

The show ended with three numbers from “Young Frankenstein,” with Casey on “Join the Family Business,” “Together Again (with Chad and Killian,) and “Transylvania Mania.”

The impressive choreography was put together by Katherine Griffin, assisted by Matthew Benson. An ever-changing collection of costumes and props were provided by the resident Phoenix Stage Company, Kaso Dezine LLC, Paula Murphy and the cast members.

The company manager for this troupe is photographer Paula Murphy, assisted by her talented son Killian Meehan. Ms. Murphy worked with Phoenix Stage Company as the show’s producers. Lighting was designed by Al Hathway and Cameron Munroe was the lighting assistant.

Next up at the Phoenix Stage Company is Connecticut’s premiere Billy Joel Tribute Band Stiletto on Nov. 8 at 8 p.m. Get Stuffed BINGO, a Thanksgiving-themed Drag Queen Bingo with Summer Orlando and Barbara Joan Streetsand, will happen on Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. “Neverland Christmas,” an original Christmas musical for the whole family, will be performed Nov. 30, Dec. 7 and Dec. 14 at 2 p.m. Nov. 30 - Dec. 14 will see “Deck the Halls,” an original Christmas collection by Phoenix Stage’s Tim Phillips.

Photos by Paula Murphy