by Diane Speer
The Alpena News

Who knew that singing about the parts of speech, multiplication tables and the planets could be so fun? Thunder Bay Theatre currently is proving that point with its newest show of the summer season, “Schoolhouse Rock Live.”

Based on the award-winning educational cartoon that aired on Saturday mornings from the 1970s through the 1990s, it comes chock-full of kid-appeal. A few of the youngsters attending Wednesday’s opening night production could hardly contain their excitement over this fast-paced, high-energy musical revue of catchy tunes with a lesson.

Director Jeffrey Mindock didn’t try to recreate the television version many will remember from their childhood. Instead, he chose to pay homage to the show and maintain the essence of its original songs while also envisioning classics like “Interplanet Janet” and “I Am Not Just a Bill” through a new set of spectacles.

The ingenious set by scenic designer Brandon M. Newton, constructed as a tree house, is stocked with familiar game pieces or toys like a Rubik’s cube, giant pair of dice, Crayola crayon box and stacked Scrabble tile pieces. Set pieces serve multiple functions not only as cool visuals for the audience, but also as nooks and crannies for the cast to quickly stash prop pieces into or use as multi-level steps while engaged in song and dance.

The costumes by Guy Lee Bailey come with some loopy, mismatched separates that kids are so adept at putting together, and the lighting design by Colin Marshall, colorful like everything else about the show, add additional fun elements.

The show stars nine of TBT’s current core company members who bring plenty of personality to their roles as fourth grade versions of themselves, all except for actor Nate Adams, who plays a teacher nervous about his first day on the job. The other eight are there to remind him that learning should be fun, and fun it definitely turns out to be. The silliness ranges from a line dance country-western number about nouns to a song about a camper unpacking her adjectives to ones that cover subjects like the preamble to the U.S. Constitution, the effects of gravity and America’s early inventors.

Choreography by Lucas Moquin and music direction by Nicole Pietrangelo are tight and topnotch. No doubt about it, this current core company is a talented bunch first seen in TBT’s highly successful summer season opener, “The Drowsy Chaperone.” While “Schoolhouse Rock Live” is long on material geared towards kids, adults should enjoy just sitting back and being entertained.

Adams, Moquin and Pietrangelo, along with Aidan Cleary, Emma Griffith, Bradley Hamilton, Megan Hoxie, Courtney Marshall and Rebecca Monk, all bring a lot pizzazz and humor to the show. Though most of the 22 numbers are done collectively, each actor gets a chance to take the spotlight on one or two of the songs.

A perfect treat for the 5 to 10-year-old set, the peppy show also should provide a walk down memory lane for many adults who watched the cartoon as a kid.

In conjunction with “Schoolhouse Rock Live,” TBT is hosting a Late Night Cabaret featuring the show’s performers on July 24 at the John A. Lau Saloon following the production. This special event gives attendees a chance to interact with the actors and enjoy more of their singing.

Also planned is Talk Back Thursday, where audiences who attend the July 23 performance are invited to stay at the theater afterward and hear insights about the show firsthand from the performers.