• REVIEW: To Kill A Mockingbird – Broadway Across America Cincinnati
  • BROADWAY REVIEW: “Take Me Out”
  • Doubly Great – I Shall Not Be Moved & Your Negro Tour Guide
  • REVIEW: Clybourne Park
  • REVIEW: Fortune
  • REVIEW: Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind
  • REVIEW: Lady Windermere’s Fan
  • FRINGE REVIEW: seXmas Cards
  • REVIEW: The Wolves
  • FRINGE REVIEW – ZOINKS! – NOT TO BE MISSED
  • REVIEW: Association of Controlled Dreamers
  • REVIEW: Skeleton Crew
  • Full Circle: A Story of Mentorship and Collaboration
  • REVIEW: The Thanksgiving Play
  • CCM’s Transmigration an Energetic Festival of New Works!
  • REVIEW: A Doll’s House, Part 2
  • REVIEW: Our Country’s Good
  • REVIEW: Ripcord
  • REVIEW: St. Nicholas
  • REVIEW: Eurydice
  • REVIEW: Mr. Burns – a post electric play
  • REVIEW: Misery
  • THE DROWNING GIRLS playing through Monday in Northside!
  • REVIEW: Jalz
  • REVIEW: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)
  • FRINGE REVIEW: One More Bad Thing
  • FRINGE REVIEW: The Mountains Did Quake, The Hillsides Did Tremble
  • FRINGE REVIEW: of Monster Descent
  • REVIEW: Noises Off
  • Monday Matinee 5.7.18 – This Week in Cincinnati Theatre
  • REVIEW: A Great Wilderness
  • REVIEW: Ken Ludwig’s Treasure Island
  • Monday Matinee 4.23.18 – This Week in Cincinnati Theatre
  • REVIEW: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
  • REVIEW: Sooner/Later
  • REVIEW: Red Velvet
  • REVIEW: Transmigration 2018
  • REVIEW: Buried Child
  • REVIEW: The Pillowman
  • REVIEW: The Humans
  • REVIEW: Poor Behavior
  • REVIEW: The Color of the Leaves
  • REVIEW: The House
  • REVIEW: The Earth is Flat
  • REVIEW: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
  • REVIEW: Dracula
  • REVIEW: This Random World
  • REVIEW: Frankenstein
  • REVIEW: Hamlet
  • REVIEW: Typhoid Mary
  • REVIEW: Guest Artist
  • REVIEW – Cannibal Galaxy: A Love Story
  • REVIEW: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
  • THEATER OF WAR Opens a Dialogue about the Impact of Battle on Soldiers and Their Families
  • REVIEW: This Is Our Youth
  • FRINGE REVIEW: Invisible Girl
  • FRINGE REVIEW: Home
  • FRINGE REVIEW: Gen & Mabel
  • FRINGE REVIEW: God of Obsidian
  • FRINGE REVIEW: Balls of Yarns
  • FRINGE REVIEW: Busted Bumpers and Other Metaphors
  • FRINGE REFLECTION: Is That All There Is?
  • FRINGE REVIEW: The Disappearance of Nicole Jacobs, Part 1 – The Sister
  • FRINGE REVIEW: Pet Fish Are Made For . . .
  • I’m Feeling Fringe-y
  • REVIEW: Erma Bombeck – At Wit’s End
  • REVIEW: Master Harold and the Boys
  • REVIEW: On Golden Pond
  • REVIEW: Bloomsday
  • REVIEW: A Raisin in the Sun
  • REVIEW: All the Roads Home
  • REVIEW: Rabbit Hole
  • REVIEW: Jane Eyre
  • REVIEW: When We Were Young and Unafraid
  • REVIEW: This Wide Night
  • REVIEW: Her Naked Skin
  • REVIEW: Summerland
  • REVIEW: 26 Pebbles
  • REVIEW: Dragon Play
  • REVIEW: A Christmas Carol
  • REVIEW: The Second City’s Holidazed and Confused Revue
  • REVIEW: The Diviners
  • REVIEW: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
  • REVIEW: Jitney
  • REVIEW: The Elephant Man
  • REVIEW: Brownsville Song (B Side for Tray)
  • REVIEW: Romeo and Juliet
  • REVIEW: Disgraced
  • REVIEW: The Road Through Damascus
  • REVIEW: The Diary of Anne Frank
  • REVIEW: A Prayer for Owen Meany
  • REVIEW: The Legend of Georgia McBride
  • REVIEW: Slut Shaming
  • REVIEW: Thom Pain
  • REVIEW: Horizons of Gold
  • It’s Opening Night . . .
  • Cincinnati LAB Theatre’s 2016 Festival of New Works Coming in August
  • REVIEW: The Fisherman’s Wife
  • REVIEW: The Star Spangled Girl
  • FRINGE REVIEW: The 4th Graders Present an Unnamed Love-Suicide
  • FRINGE REVIEW: My Left Teeth
  • FRINGE REVIEW: The Gospel of Fat Kathy
  • FRINGE REVIEW: FURLESQUE
  • FRINGE REVIEW: We Did It, Girl!
  • FRINGE REVIEW: Cessna
  • FRINGE REVIEW: Naked Strangers
  • FRINGE REVIEW: The Midnight Express
  • WRECKED: A Play Reading That Did Me In
  • REVIEW: Bad Dates
  • REVIEW: Satchel Paige and the Kansas City Swing
  • REVIEW: The Shape of Things
  • REVIEW: Mothers and Sons
  • REVIEW: Annapurna
  • Still Time to See EQUUS
  • Transmigration 2016: Another Successful Festival
  • REVIEW: To Kill a Mockingbird
  • Local Director to Stage EQUUS at Miami-Hamilton
  • REVIEW: Emma
  • REVIEW: Begotten
  • REVIEW: Miss Julie
  • REVIEW: Betrayal
  • REVIEW: Ah, Wilderness!
  • REVIEW: The Revolutionists
  • REVIEW: The Glass Menagerie
  • REVIEW: Prelude to a Kiss
  • REVIEW: Native Gardens
  • REVIEW: Grounded
  • REVIEW: The Realistic Joneses
  • REVIEW: Mockingbird
  • REVIEW: This Is Our Youth
  • REVIEW: A Christmas Carol
  • REVIEW: The Aliens
  • CCM Drama Hosts Play Reading Series
  • REVIEW: Relatively Speaking
  • REVIEW: Steel Magnolias
  • REVIEW: The Mystery Plays
  • REVIEW: Mad River Rising
  • REVIEW: The Norwegians
  • REVIEW: Buyer and Cellar
  • REVIEW: Sex With Strangers
  • Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
  • REVIEW: Luna Gale
  • Monthly Matinee: September 2015
  • Cincinnati LAB Theatre Promotes Collaboration and New Works
  • REVIEW: Lysistrata
  • REVIEW: ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS
  • FRINGE REVIEW: Love and Information
  • FRINGE REVIEW: Fixate
  • FRINGE REVIEW: Occupational Pleasures
  • FRINGE REVIEW: Shirtzencockle
  • FRINGE REVIEW: Shelter
  • FRINGE REVIEW: Mouthy Bitch
  • REVIEW: Circle Mirror Transformation
  • REVIEW: Three Days of Rain
  • REVIEW: Outside Mullingar
  • Five Reasons to See VANYA, SONIA, MASHA, & SPIKE
  • REVIEW: You’re Welcome: A Cycle of Bad Plays
  • REVIEW: Taking Shakespeare
  • REVIEW: Xavier’s Spring Awakening
  • REVIEW: Death and the Maiden
  • REVIEW: Race
  • Know Theatre’s SERIALS Adds More Intrigue to the Concept
  • BIRD BRAIN is a Charming Must-See
  • Five Thoughts About THE TAMING OF THE SHREW
  • HEARTS LIKE FISTS Now Playing at Know Theatre
  • REVIEW: Buzzer
  • REVIEW: Detroit ’67
  • REVIEW: Peter and the Star Catcher
  • Transmigration 2015 – Adventurous Theatre
  • REVIEW: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
  • Five Things I Learned From CSC’s “Hamlet”
  • Still Seats Left for Tonight’s Opening of “Every Christmas Story Ever Told (and Then Some)
  • A Klingon Christmas Carol – Special Pricing Tonight!
  • One More Chance to See “The Crucible” on Sunday
  • Looking Forward . . .
  • Klingons love theatre, and so do you!
  • Local Schools Producing Classic Theater This Fall
  • See “Light Sensitive” This Weekend
  • Good Will Hunting
The Sappy Critic

KINGS ISLAND: The 70s! On Demand

0

I have a soft spot for theme park shows, especially those overseen by the genius Kevin Brunck at Kings Island. Somehow, he and his team (often Jeff Smith and Adam Blount, but others, too) can put together a medley so catchy and smooth that you don’t even think about the transitions. He’s done it again with this brand new show in the Festhaus of Kings Island that celebrates the decade when the park first opened.

One of my favorite experiences is discovering new talent, and this show is full of new performers to the Kings Island stage. I don’t know all of their names, but each cast member of the first two shows on opening day sparkled in moments, adding personality, vocal prowess, and fancy footwork. (See the update below for individual thoughts on each performer.)

With choreography from Wright State University Professor Greg Hellems and vocal direction from Jeff Smith (whose credits include heading up River City Band, composing work for The Rose Bowl Parade, and so much more), the show highlights his from the 1970s. Starting with radio chart-toppers, then spotlighting the amazing TV theme songs from the era, and following up with some of the best disco tracks ever produced, this half-hour show goes non-stop. Some short video packages remind us of the park’s 50th Anniversary, but the focus here is on the live performance. A nine-piece band with a horn section really blows (in the best way possible!) There are multiple costume changes, too.

In the two performances I watched before writing this review, the stars on stage never ran out of steam. It’s not an easy task, running the same production four times in one day, but this cast’s youthful exuberance and professionalism will keep this show fresh throughout its summer-long run. And with the company manager, Anna, at the helm, I expect nothing less.

Check out “The 70s! On Demand” in the Festhaus at Kings Island this summer at 1, 2, 3:30, and 4:30 everyday but Monday.

I better go – it’s almost showtime, and I wanna see it again!


July 10 – UPDATE: I’ve seen the show several more times and have cast info so I wanted to drop in a short update praising the talented folks who are singing, dancing – and sweating – four times a day, six days a week, for our entertainment.

Sometimes in these theme park show reviews, I only use first names. There are two reasons for that; one, I don’t always know the last name of the performer, but more importantly, there are unfortunately overly eager and enthusiastic audience members who have invaded the privacy of these young adults and I don’t like being an accessory to their difficulty with respecting boundaries.

Jack is an amazing dancer, who has a tremendous presence on stage. He looks and carries himself like a star.

Jeremiah is an all-around engaging performer, whose vocals are reliable each time I’ve heard him perform.

Hayden has a rich baritone and more energy than anyone else in the company. And his Archie Bunker impression is spot on.

Jaylen is joyful and shows great versatility in hard-to-sing songs like Kung Fu Fighting to Boogie Wonderland.

Adam (swing) anchors the company and brings the kind of professionalism you learn from performing on cruise ships.

Marcus (swing) has expressive eyes that draw you into his every word and movement.

Mallory is a superstar, and when she proclaims “I am woman, hear me roar,” I believe her.

Sydney seems like she’d be super fun at a party and her effortless performance of “Waterloo” is a show highlight for me.

Alexis has really settled into her track and looks so comfortable now. I am a sucker for belting, and she and the remarkable Claire (who is sensational in every way) face off on “Enough is Enough,” and I smile from ear to ear every time.

Molly (swing) is so connected to the material and locked in every time I’ve seen her that I assume she’s been on stage her whole life.

And I’ve yet to see the company manager, Anna, who also swings into the show, but I know where she was trained and saw enough of her at WinterFest to imagine that she is awesome here, too.

I know how hard it is to maintain a show like this all summer; after all, people are literally scarfing down mouthfuls of Panda Express and LaRosa’s pizza while they sing and dance their hearts out – but this show seems to be getting better and better each time I see it. Go check it out for yourself!

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)

Related

Leave A Reply Cancel Reply