Mystic Pizza - Ivoryton Playhouse

The Connecticut premiere of the musical Mystic Pizza, based on the 1988 film that was the career breakthrough for the actress Julia Roberts, is a conventional, slightly diverting theatrical rendering.  It plays through July 28 at the Ivoryton Playhouse.

 

The show perks up only when the focus falls on the three actresses – Alyssa Giannetti (Daisy), Carina Hernandez (Kat), and Ariella Kvashny (Jo) – who portray the young women at the center of the story.  They each possess an engaging persona, full of charm, exuberance, and spunk.

 

Mystic Pizza is a hybrid jukebox musical.  Originally, the score was to be penned by singer Melissa Ethridge.  Now, the songs shoe-horned into the production are well-known 70’s and 80’s tunes.  They include “All I Need Is a Miracle,” “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” “Manic Monday,” “True Colors,” and “The Power of Love.”  As an aside, this is the third musical that incorporates the hit Huey Lewis and The News Song.  The other two are the recent Broadway musical, The Heart of Rock and Roll, and the current hit show, Back to the Future – the Musical.

 

Sandy Rustin’s book for Mystic Pizza is simple and straightforward with threads following each of the smalltown young ladies as they seek love and fulfillment.  It is a coming-of-age story piloted by three strong, determined women.  Kat, a brainiac heading for her Freshman year at Yale University, has a dalliance with an older man; Jo, infatuated with her long-time fiancée, can’t seem to say yes and marry him; and Daisy, the self-assured townie, who hooks up with a bored rich law school dropout.  We follow their trials and tribulations, separately and together, on the road to love and redemption.  For added drama, there is a plot point of whether the beloved pizza parlor will be sold to developers.

 

The musical, directed and choreographed by Brian J. Feehan, has more of a languid feel and less of the rom-com spirit it should employ.  Cully Long’s Scenic Design, a knotty wood dock and walkway strewn with buoys and netting, forms the back of the stage.  It, along with the costumes designed by Elizabeth Saylor - a 1980’s and nautical look, brings forth the atmosphere of the seaside town.  The musical sequences, while full of classic ballads and rockers, feel underperformed and missing a dash of spiritedness.  Besides the all-out Act I and II closing dance numbers, the choreography is slight and workaday.

 

In addition to the three aforementioned women, Leenya Rideout gives a humorous, worldly performance as Leona Silvia, owner of the pizza joint.  Bill Montijo provides a believable, overly patient portrayal of Will Clark, Jo’s long frustrated beau.  Michael Ferraro is fine as the older suitor, Tim Travers, while Isaac Kueber gives an acceptable, less nuanced performance as Charles Gordon Windsor, Jr., Daisy’s wealthy paramour.

 

Mystic Pizza, playing at the Ivoryton Playhouse through July 28.  Click here for dates, times, and ticket information.