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Prize-winning writers turn ‘Freaky Friday’ into musical

Special to the Tribune Chronicle / Jim Carmody The cast of Cleveland Play House’s “Freaky Friday” includes, from, left, David Jennings, Heidi Blickenstaff, Jake Heston Miller and Emma Hunton.

CLEVELAND — “Freaky Friday” crams a lot into a musical with a running time of less than two hours, not including intermission.

The many incarnations of Mary Rodgers’ novel have had a “walk-a-mile-in-my-shoes” message as a mother and daughter switch bodies and realize just how difficult the other’s life can be.

The new musical with song by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, the Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning duo responsible for “Next to Normal,” and a book by Bridget Carpenter (the television shows “Parenthood” and “Friday Night Lights”) certainly hits that message. But it also addresses ideas of positive body image, the difficulties of women in the workplace and other contemporary issues with a far more racially diverse cast than any other incarnation.

Cleveland Play House is one of four theaters where Disney Theatricals is trying out the production, which should have a long life, if not on Broadway then on the road where the familiarity of the story and the caliber of the music should make it a popular family attraction.

This version hews closest to the 2003 movie starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan with significant differences. The mother, Katherine, is a caterer / wedding planner who is coordinating her own nuptials following the death of her first husband. Daughter Ellie doesn’t like the new fiance, struggles in school and constantly clashes with mom.

Ellie feels she isn’t as thin, organized and seemingly perfect as mom, but mom is riddled with doubts about her parenting skills, her business is struggling and she really needs a planned cover story in a wedding magazine to keep things afloat.

When Ellie and Katherine break an hourglass given to Ellie by her father, they find themselves inside each other’s bodies. While they search for the other hourglass (which Katherine sold to an antique store to pay overdue bills), Elllie must pretend to be her mom and do last-minute wedding prep under the watchful eye of a magazine writer, while Katherine must navigate the mine field of high school.

Considering the involvement of Kitt and Yorkey, it’s not surprising that the songs are among the show’s greatest assets. Yorkey’s lyrics are filled with clever wordplay, whether it’s big Broadway crowd pleasers like “I Got This” or goofy ditties like “Women and Sandwiches,” featuring Ellie’s crush Adam comparing the two.

If there’s a gripe, it’s that too many songs rely on the device of the same words having different meanings when sung by different characters, but the body-switching plot lends itself to that.

The set design by Tony winner Beowulf Boritt feels both simple and overly complex. Four changing columns are used to convey the scene — they feature appliances to convey Katherine’s kitchen, lockers for Ellie’s high school, a beautiful floral design for the outdoor wedding.

The stage itself uses a dual turntable (picture an LP where the label can spin independently from the record itself). Sometimes they spin in unison and other times counter to each other. They allow director Christopher Ashley to create the illusion of movie-sized action sequences (sometimes in slow motion), but it’s easy to imagine the show being staged by regional, even community, theaters without the turntables with little lost in the overall production quality.

The turntables are used effectively by choreographer Sergio Trujillo, who also incorporates a hoverboard into one dance sequence And I liked how most of the numbers involving Ellie’s classmates has them dancing with a cellphone ever-present in one hand.

The cast is as talented as the production team. Heidi Blickenstaff and Emma Hunton are in sync as the mother and daughter, respectively, copying some gestures and other characteristics to accentuate the switch. Blickenstaff verges on over-exaggerating her mannerisms when Ellie inhabits the mother, but it works here. Vocally Blickenstaff and Hunton mesh beautifully.

David Jennings as Katherine’s fiance shines on “Vows,” and Chris Ramirez is appealing as Ellie’s crush Adam, particularly in his scenes with Jake Heston Miller as Ellie’s younger brother Fletcher.

“Freaky Friday” isn’t as adventurous as some Disney movie-to-stage adaptations, but the talent of the creators, the production team and the cast shows Disney Theatricals is not relying solely on the built-in audience from the movie’s popularity to sell tickets. And the Play House production gives local audiences a chance to see a show first that may be destined for bigger things.

“Freaky Friday” runs through May 20 at the Allen Theatre, 1407 Euclid Ave., Cleveland. Tickets range from $25 to $110 and are available online at www.playhousesquare.org and by calling 216-241-6000.

agray@tribtoday.com

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