Who says that you need to have flashing lights and tricks to keep an audience’s attention? Not all shows need so much extra distractions to make it an entertaining and thought provoking show. What makes a show successful is the talent of the actors, the writer, and the crew. When all of that talent is put together, you get an amazing show that people will enjoy. This Will All Be Yours a new musical written by Laura Pedersen, directed by Ludovica Villar-Hauser, and featuring music by Charles Bloom encompasses all of that.
In the past I had the pleasure of working on two of Laura Pedersen’s plays — The Brightness of Heaven and Living Arrangement — and I can honestly say that her writing just keeps getting better. This Will All Be Yours is a play that has a very simple plot, but makes you think about so many things; the economy, family, who provides our food, and the future, just to name a few. The writing was superb and being a theater queen myself, I was overly impressed with the music. The actors had chemistry and they hit every single sweet note. Mind you, I attended both performances and by the time I went to the second performance I was just as excited to see the play as I was the first time around.
This Will All Be Yours demonstrates the transformation the Price family has to go through from growing up on a small family farm to having to sell the farm. Adam Price, played by Josh Powell, wants his kids to take over the farm in the future, but his three kids have dreams of their own. One by one they each leave the farm to pursue their own dreams. Glen Price, played by Matt Farcher, leaves to join his girlfriend in Seattle who has just been offered a job as a doctor; Kelly Price, played by Jenny Rose Baker, wants to be an astrophysicist; and Scott Price, played by Daniel Rowan, wants to be a big star, so he heads to New York City to achieve his dreams. Now that they are empty nesters Adam Price, and his wife Paula Price, played by Amy Griffin, sell the farm to a young, pregnant couple that decides to turn the farm into a bed and breakfast. It’s the circle of life—one family grows up in the farm and then another family moves in to create a new generation that will enjoy the farm as much as the previous one.
The play is relatable because it features topics that people can relate to; leaving the family nest, following your dreams, parents becoming empty nesters, and change. The casting of This Will All Be Yours was amazingly well done. Every single actor on that stage did an amazing job in their roles and their singing. The standouts for me were Josh Powell and Matt Farcher because of the range that they have in their singing. As soon as I heard Josh Powell open his mouth I immediately thought of Jesse L. Martin who played Tom Collins in Rent. Matt Farcher’s voice was smooth and soothing to the ear and in the two performances that I saw, neither one of them missed a note. Overall, it was a very entertaining play that I think everyone would enjoy.
This Will All Be Yours is playing now through August 7that The Barrow Group Theatre which is located on at 312 36th Street, 3rd Floor. If you are interested in attending a performance you can check out the performance schedule at http://www.vhtdfoundation.org/tickets.html.
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