Members of the Ride the Cyclone cast perform. PHOTO: LESLY HALL
Ride the Cyclone is an entertaining and engrossing musical that will be performed this weekend at Pierson Playhouse by the newly formed Theatre Palisades Teen (TPTeen) group.
“Okay, this is insane, how are we going to do this?” said Scarlett Shelton, a cast member and a rising junior at Santa Monica Preparatory. “But then I fell in love with the show, because it’s not like anything you’ve seen before.”
First, Shelton has one of the most amazing voices I’ve heard on the stage at Pierson Playhouse. And second, she’s right. This show is like nothing you’ve seen before.
If you grew up in a small town in the Midwest, carnivals routinely came through during the summer. More than once as you climbed on the Tilt-a-Whirl or the Ferris Wheel or the Scrambler, you wondered how often were these rides safety checked.
This musical starts when six teenagers, members of a Canadian chamber choir, are in a roller coaster accident and died. They wake in purgatory and meet The Amazing Karnak, a mechanical fortune-teller who offers the chance for one lucky teen to return to life.
But wait – this musical is not depressing, its uplifting. The teens sing and dance their way through the reasons they should be chosen to live, reflecting on their lives – and then there’s that one weird girl, who no one knows and doesn’t seem to have a name.
When the play opened Off Broadway in 2016, The New York Times reviewer Charles Isherwood, praised the show “this delightfully weird and just plain delightful show… will provide the kind of thrills we look for in all musical comedies, however outlandish their subject matter: an engaging and varied score, knocked out of the park by a superlative cast, and a supremely witty book.”
Director Lara Ganz said last summer she was on a road trip when her daughter Mireille insisted that they listen to the soundtrack. “I was like, ugh. . .okay,” Ganz said, but “the songs were so funny and the lyrics so clever.”
Ganz said the message of the show is to “take a look around and be present for the simple moments, accepting the good in your life – being grateful for all of it. Even the dark parts.”
The 13 teens in this show only had two weeks to learn their roles and songs, which have complicated harmonies. The performance I saw was amazing – the actors handled the songs beautifully. There are some superb voices. This reviewer kept wondering how can there be that much talent?
Choreographer Aaron Jung said, “Actors had to learn 12-plus dances of different styles, including contemporary, hip hop, tango, and even influences of Ukrainian folk dance.” They performed the numbers with finesse.
Ganz said that Ride the Cyclone characters reflect the program’s youth and teen actors. “You bring the kids together and, through the creative process, they feel safe just being themselves,” the director said.
This show’s actors are in seventh through 10th grade, and with the exception of Quinn Calof and Shelton attend either Paul Revere Middle School or Palisades High School. The roles have all been double cast, so that all actors have a chance for the spotlight. The cast includes Zoe Baserga-Rudd, Quinn Calof, Mary Kate Culbertson, Callum and Mireille Ganz, Madenn Garcia, Sabrina Hall, Sophia Harelik, Liam Irving, Emma McCarthy, Shayden Satuloff, Sydney Schwartz and Scarlett Shelton.
The teen program was founded, “out of need,” Ganz said. “As they aged out of Theatre Palisades Youth, they still wanted to be part of a program.”
Ride the Cyclone is one week only, Thursday, July 25 through Sunday, July 28 at Pierson Playhouse. Adults and teens will enjoy the music, the dancing, the sets and the staging. Go laugh, sway with the music and then wonder who will be chosen to come back to life. This is a thought-provoking, but highly entertaining show.
Showtimes are Thursday 7 p.m., Friday at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m., Saturday 4 and 7 p.m. and Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. General admission is $22, and Senior/Student is $17. 941 Temescal Canyon Road (310) 454-1970. Theatrepalisades.org/youth