Family Theatre brings puns and enjoyable to the stage with ‘Law and Order: C-Rhyme and Pun-ishment’

Audiences will as soon as once more be cracking up throughout this 12 months’s Family Theatre efficiency of “Law and Order C-Rhyme and Pun-ishment.”

“I have great memories of doing it the first time, the music is really catchy, the humor is ridiculous and hysterical and I just knew it would be a super fun show to bring back,” Director Penelope Haskew responded when requested why she had chosen the musical. “When I floated the idea to people who had been involved in or seen the 2014 version, the response was unanimous and enthusiastic that I should bring it back.”

In this “Law and Order” spoof, the plot revolves round Inspector and the Punnish Sir, performed by Seqoia Bair, who has been referred to as in to research against the law scene the place a Mister Humpty Dumpty has been discovered shattered. Foul play is suspected, and Punnish Sir is scrambling to search out the suspect.

In this nursery rhyme justice system, people are represented by two separate but equally necessary teams — the detectives investigating the crime, and the magistrates prosecuting the defenders.

Without gifting away among the puns, Haskew says, “Honestly, some of my favorites are more about seeing the kids figure out what the pun is about than the pun itself. Some are just subtle enough that the penny doesn’t drop immediately and there is delayed reaction laughter.”

For all of the “eggs-elent” puns, the music is equally filled with yolks.

“I really love something about every number but I think the ones I was most eager to see again were ‘Mountain of Love’ and ‘Group Therapy’ which each feature kids that regular theatre goers will recognize from past shows going all the way back to ‘I Never Saw Another Butterfly,’” Haskew mentioned, including “I love watching the kids and parents watching each other’s scenes. We’ve only just started rehearsing all together, so there have been some fun discoveries for both groups.”

The younger theater troupe seems to be having fun with the “Law and Order” spoof as effectively. “We have had a lot of laughs in rehearsals and they are doing a great job of delivering all the jokes. They may be surprised once they start getting audience reactions, but I know they’ll love that,” Haskew mentioned.

The solid consists of 61 youth, grades one by way of six, in addition to 16 dad and mom. There are additionally dad and mom serving to construct and transfer the set, design costumes, present meals for the communal dinners, usually feeding 84 individuals engaged on the present, in accordance with Haskew, making the manufacturing an island affair.

“With all those others, we’d be looking at over 100 community members contributing to this production,” she mentioned.

In household theater, dad and mom usually carry out a particular scene. This 12 months isn’t any completely different; the truth is, they’ve a wide range of moments within the highlight, together with a tune and dance quantity choreographed by Lisa Duke.

When requested if there was something the viewers ought to preserve a watch out for, Haskew responded, “There are a lot of moving parts in the show, and a lot of references to both nursery rhymes and crime dramas so audiences will get a kick out of those.”

She additionally gave a shout-out to her longtime collaborators, together with Callie McKay on costumes, Mary Hurley on props and Lisa Duke on choreography, and “all of whom worked with me on the 2014 version of the show. We’ve all been thrilled that this year, our tech kids have been doing a lot of the heavy lifting. Lilleigh Hasty has been absolutely priceless, helping out with costumes as well as working with Liam DeYoung to choreograph ‘Mountain of Love.’ Avaline Anderson has choreographed ‘Pun Master,’ Lucian Axling has been producing all sorts of set pieces and props and Lumin Bouwman has been elevating design elements,” Haskew continued. “Liam and Lucian are also sharing the job of Stage Manager so that they can each get experience working with our Production Manager, Adam Parrott, and learning to call the show.”

Seeing as this manufacturing falls beneath the umbrella of the Education Department right here at San Juan Community Theatre has been an unimaginable step, Haskew says. “I’m very proud of these students. I’m also very excited to have Kelly Harrison joining us this year as music director! She was most recently seen here as Tori in ‘Freaky Friday’ and she’s been just as essential an assistant to me on this show as her character was to mine in that! It’s fun too to have some original cast members back on board doing tech; Sidney Herda, the original Dr. Foster [2014 edition](from Gloucester), is now SJCT’s Production Assistant and Alison Power, the original Mary of the Shoe [2014 edition], will be running the lightboard.”

“Law and Order: C-Rhyme and Pun-ishment” runs Nov. 20 by way of Nov. 23. Thursday by way of Saturday, the present begins at 7 p.m., whereas Sunday’s matinee begins at 2 p.m. Tickets are $20 for adults, $12 for college students. Thursday is pay-what-you-can. To purchase tickets or study extra, go to https://www.sjctheatre.org/.

Contributed photo.
Left to right: Rhetta Primus, Assata Suhl, Matisse Bryant, Seqoia Bair.