‘Showtunes’ Celebrates 25 Years of Shows

By Darcie Flansburg

Performance Riverside has been performing at the Landis Performing Art Center for the past 25 years, and they decided to celebrate their anniversary with “Sensational Showtunes II.”

Performed by a nine-person ensemble, the songs were selected from more than 100 shows that have been produced by Performance Riverside during their 25 seasons at the performing art center on the Riverside Community College campus.

Orlando Alexander, Stephanie Ball, Zane Gerson, Renee Jensen, Michael Lopez, Beth Mendoza, Danny Michaels, Jamie Senesac and Amber Thompson performed songs individually and as an ensemble, adding personal anecdotes along the way.

The show was interactive, with cast members often pulling audience members on to the stage, or going out into the house to rile up the crowd.

Songs were performed from such shows as “42nd Street,”"A Chorus Line,”"A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,”"Annie,”"Anything Goes,”"Kiss Me Kate,”"Phantom,”"The Music Man,”"Cabaret,”"Camelot,”"Grease,”"My Fair Lady” and “Sweet Charity.”

As always at Performance Riverside, the vocal quality of the ensemble is very strong. Most of the performers had been only in “Sensational Showtunes” productions at Performance Riverside; many sang songs as characters they had performed in production elsewhere, while others just sang some of their personal favorites.

There were tables and chairs on the stage for audience members, many of whom were serenaded by the performers.

Directors John Vaughan and Gary Krinke added some simple yet stylish choreography to group numbers, duets and the like, which nicely rounded out the production.

Honestly, I am not a fan of musical revues. I would always rather see a musical than pieces of a many musicals. And I would also rather hear the script than the actor’s personal anecdotes.

Don’t get me wrong. Musical revues aren’t bad; they’re just more of a concert-style show than a theatrical production.

But as a theater critic and an Inland Theatre League judge, I have seen quite a few of these productions. And as far as musical revues go, Performance Riverside put on a pretty powerful show.

The cast was engaging, the numbers were well rehearsed, and the audience was quite responsive to the show.

It was also a clever way to introduce the next season, revealed through songs from the season’s shows.

And the season is:

Broadway series

“South Pacific”

8 p.m. Sept. 19, 20, 26, 27

2 p.m. Sept. 20, 21, 27, 28

“Annie Get Your Gun”

8 p.m. Nov. 7, 8, 14 and 15

2 p.m. Nov. 8, 9, 15 and 16

“Peter Pan”

8 p.m. Jan. 30, 31, Feb. 6, 7

2 p.m. Jan. 31, Feb. 1, 7, 8

“Sensational Showtunes III”

8 p.m. March 27, 28, April 3, 4

2 p.m. March 28, 29, April 4, 5

“Guys and Dolls”

8 p.m. June 5, 6, 12, 13

2 p.m. June 6, 7, 13, 14

Information: (951) 222-8100 or www.performanceriverside.org

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