THEATER: Ain't Misbehavin'

Solomon Kee
Photo courtesy of Erika Courtney

The joint is certainly jumpin’ at Millbrook Playhouse in Mill Hall. An energetic cast of five, plus piano player is on the Cabaret Stage in AIN'T MISBEHAVIN' and I defy anyone to sit without tapping a toe through the evening.

The secret to a successful show, especially a musical, is for the audience to feel that the people on stage are having fun. On opening night it was hard to tell who was having more fun, the cast or the people out front.

The piano set the mood at the very beginning of the show. Eric Walton is listed as the music director and I presume that he was the man at the piano; if so, I could have listened to him all night.

Ah, but then the singers started to come on stage and the action and the music never stopped.

Kathryn Allison has a voice to raise the rafters. Her range and control is what I want when I grow up. Her “Mean To Me” was the blues the way they should be sung.

Brand Hanks is smooth and sophisticated with a baritone voice that could charm any man, woman, or child-- at least I can speak for the women. He also proved that he could work the audience in his solo “Your Feets Too Big”

The picture with this review shows one side of Solomon Kee. Not to take away from the fact that the man has a great voice, the man can move. One of the hardest numbers in the show is “Viper” and he nailed it.

Housso Semon is also very talented and very nice to look at, what my grandson would call “eye candy”.  She dances, sings, and looks good. What more does she need?

Amelia Lang Wallace has almost grown up on the Millbrook stage. This is her 6th season and she has grown very nicely. I hope we see more of her. She sang and danced with the best of them.

Costumes are a personal love of mine and so I have to mention the fantastic period costumes in the show. Beautiful. Since the show is all music credit goes to Randy Davis the director/ choreographer for making use of not only all of the stage but parts of the audience as well.

AIN'T MISBEHAVIN' is the last show of the regular season and I would like to take some of my space for some personal thank-you’s. Mary Catherine Burke, Artistic Director, thank you not only for being a help to me and the paper, but thank you for an outstanding season. Corey Wilson, Business Manager, you made my job so easy. I want to give a special thank you to Erika Courtney; she is listed as the Lighting Designer for the season, but Erika provided the fabulous pictures for these reviews.

The Millbrook Playhouse is being kind enough to do a return engagement of Love, Sex, and the I.R.S. It will run from Wednesday, August the 4th until Sunday the 28th at 7:30 with a matinee at 2:00 on the 28th.