Review: "Just Too Big" at Mason Street Warehouse

Musical revues are a popular fare with both theater organizations and their audiences, especially in a year where putting on a great big musical with a huge cast just doesn’t fit in with COVID precautions and Equity regulations.

Too often, though, musical revues start in the far distant past and plod forward song by song with one or two modern numbers as a final flourish. Not so at the Mason Street Warehouse in Saugatuck, Michigan. Artistic Director Kurt Stamm has a thoroughly modern sensibility and appeals to audiences that are fully in tune with the latest and greatest on the Great White Way while still acknowledging historic favorites.

From the moment Musical Director Tom Vendafreddo, with Associate Musical direction by Brent Decker, strikes up the orchestra and Lighting Designer Jen Kules casts her perfectly timed and beautifully shaded spots on the five singers, the audience knows they are in for an energetic ride.

Stamm opens the revue with “Moulin Rouge,” and progresses through numbers from “Come From Away,” “Waitress,” and “Dear Evan Hansen.” He chooses songs that showcase his performers and builds on the excitement of the new Broadway—one that has attracted a new generation and, before the pandemic, experienced record sales.

Not that Stamm ignores the classical roots of theater. But rather than play every moldy oldie, he creates a medley of nine Golden Age songs, and mixes the best-known songs with lesser-played ones from the same musicals. He includes a medley of eight Sondheim numbers, paying tribute to his influence on the theater. Likewise, toward the end, Disney gets a medley starting with the instantly recognizable “Be Our Guest” and weaving through such musicals as Hercules, Little Mermaid, Frozen, Newsies, Mary Poppins and The Lion King.

Nor does Stamm leave out such favorites as numbers from The Book of Mormon, Wicked, or On Your Feet.

Granted, the revue was only 90 minutes, so there had to be omissions, either reluctant or enthusiastic. Andrew Lloyd Weber was conspicuously absent, as were such new hits as Hamilton and Hadestown. Indeed, of my top five favorite musicals, none were represented, but Stamm made a strong case for creating a new top five.

In addition to tickling the delight of an audience that has been too long away from live theater with reminders of all the reasons they love musicals, the numbers were all showcase pieces for the actors Stamm cast.

The ensemble, who shared that this was their first time back on stage since the pandemic, was made up of Gina Milo, Nina Negron, Juliette Redden, David Socolar and Lamont Walker II. They must have truly missed the stage because they sang and danced their hearts out, making the rafters rattle when they belted and finding the emotional arc to each song that often left the audience more breathless than they were.

Milo, who has performed at Mason Street several times including as Sibella in Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, excelled at the comic numbers, starting with the diva role in “Find Your Grail” from Spamalot and continuing with such numbers as “I Cain’t Say No” from Oklahoma and “What’s Gonna Happen” from Tootsie. But don’t be fooled into thinking she is just a character singer. She dispels any thoughts of that when she shatters the stage with “Back to Before” from Ragtime. It doesn’t matter how muggy it might be outdoors, her performance induces chills.

Negron, who put in a fantastic performance in “In The Heights” a few years back, breaks hearts with her performance of “She Used to Be Mine” from Waitress and again with “Children Will Listen” from Into the Woods and “Anything For You” from On Your Feet. She has a powerful voice and interprets each song with intensity.

Redden wins the belting award (which is impressive given how much there was throughout the evening) early on when she performs the role of the first American female pilot singing “Me and the Sky” from Come From Away. She flips the usual form of a song building to the highest point in a manner that is moving and compelling, and the perfect fit with the song. And while she didn’t have green skin, she was a wholly convincing Elphaba singing “The Wizard and I” (and Kules gave her an assist with emerald lighting). By the time she began singing “Let It Go” from Frozen, there was no doubt that she would fill the theater with her voice and transport everyone to a world where her strength and power ruled.

Walker, who was also featured in “In the Heights” at Mason Street as Benny, brought Ragtime to life with his breathtaking rendition of “Wheels of a Dream.” He then put in a surprising show-stopping number from Gypsy—singing Mamma Rose’s famous “Everything’s Coming up Roses. He quickly dispelled any doubts that one of his female cast members should be singing it as his fresh interpretation was memorable. Later, he and Socolar’s duet from “The Greatest Showman” showed off his story-telling skill as the persuasive Barnum tempting an investor to go to “The Other Side.”

Socolar made his debut on the Saugatuck stage, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see him return after the performances he gave in “Just Too Big.”  He first displayed emotional vulnerability as Evan Hansen in “Waving Through a Window” and then mixed that vulnerability with an energy that possessed the entire stage as Tony from West Side Story singing “Something’s Coming.” Further picking up some of the younger roles—if not quite the romantic lead—he mastered “I Believe” from The Book of Mormon. And “Santa Fe” from Newsies.

While each of the singers had their moment in the spotlight with commanding solos, equally enjoyable were their ensemble pieces and the numerous duets and trios throughout the night. Stamm, who often skews the traditional and does so with this revue, took great delight in mixing up the usual gender roles, giving male parts to women and female parts to men. “If I Loved You” from Carousel features a beautiful duet between Walker and Socolar while the three women got to sing the delightfully fun “Fugue for a Tin Horn” from Guys and Dolls.

Between the numbers, the actors shared bits of Broadway history and explained why they were going to sing the numbers they did. It allowed them to catch their breaths, especially between numbers that were heavy in choreography or musically demanding, and it allowed them to share a bit of themselves, repeatedly expressing how happy they were to once again be performing before a live (masked) audience.

While the premise of the revue were shows that were “too big” to fit on the Saugatuck stage, there was nothing small about any of the performances or the production values that went into the show. It was clear the production staff shared a vision with the director, whether it was Darlene Veenstra’s modern costuming that changed up through the show to tell different stories or Jeremy Barnett’s spare but beautiful set with a sweeping curtain to capture the light or the deep red window frames that allowed for simple but strong storytelling.

Stamm is closing out Mason Street Warehouse’s season with a thoroughly enjoyable revue that not only delights—it makes one hungry for the return of musical theater.