Review: DISNEY'S FREAKY FRIDAY has first performance in Central Arkansas at Cabot High School

Do you have a mom who you think wants to control your every move? Do you think she does not want you to live your best life? Or, do you have a daughter who you feel may not be living up to her teenage potential? Does she not want to participate in family activities? If you can relate to any of these questions, then Disney's FREAKY FRIDAY is for you, and you are in luck. Cabot High School has two more public performances of FREAKY FRIDAY at the Cabot High School auditorium, 602 North Lincoln Street, in Cabot, Saturday, Nov. 6, at 7pm, and Sunday, Nov. 7, at 2:30pm.

Under the direction of Melani Morgan Blansett, the students of Cabot High....correction, Pinewood Falls High School, sing a tale of "Just One Day," where the mother Katherine Blake (Kylie Ross) and daughter Ellie Blake (Grayson Lee) switch bodies by breaking a magical hourglass while fighting. This day, however, is a pretty big day for both ladies. Katherine is getting ready for her wedding that she is also catering, and Ellie is wanting to participate in a yearly ritual call "The Hunt." As her teenager, Katherine is reemerged in high school, learning how to blend in with her classmates, including friends Karl (Deacon Bernal) and Monica (Linda McLeod), and figuring out how to deal with the raging teenage "Oh, Biology" hormones, which are directed at potential love interest Adam (Brandon Waller). Ellie, on the other hand, has to avoid her mother's fiancé Mike's (Logan Wright) advances, try to get on the cover of a magazine with her catering skills and help from her assistant Torrey (Madison Agent) and Torrey's intern Tarra (Jessie Freeman), and messes up her relationship with her brother Fletcher (Lucas Bettencourt) by giving him the advice that "Parents Lie." Drama ensues, realizations are made, and in true Disney form, everything ends up the way it was meant to be.

I was told by a high school director once that talent can be rotational since students come and go. Sometimes you may get a lot of really good dancers but singing talent is lacking or vice versa. So, basically, you never know what you are going to get each year with each show. Evidently, Cabot High got lucky, because the singing and dancing were fabulous. With direction from Music Director Ben Brockinton and Vocal Coach Maggie Ashburn, leads Ross and Lee "(I) Got This" making the mother-daughter duo sympathetic and enjoyable to watch. Other notable performances came from mean-girls trio Savannah (Rachel Simpson), Kitty (Jersey Petross), and Ferrell (Carter Kirby), who all had fierce attitudes and had the women sitting behind me (pretty sure it was their mothers) cracking up through their time on stage.

Extra points are given for having a real rabbit, played by Lola Bunny, and the ensemble dancing, under the guidance of Choreographer Olivia McAlister, was impressive. I LOVED the flips and personalized moves thrown into the mix. And the Johnny Award (my 11-year-old son) goes to Bernal, "because he was funny."

For tickets, visit https://www.vancoevents.com/us/events/landing?eid=14298&fbclid=IwAR19WUxS1aSUfqz0Y8sFneW-kvQttNDjVEq7oYYpwW6s-qUiNKPcoBgi8Bk. There is assigned seating, so get your tickets as early as possible.

Disney's FREAKY FRIDAY is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre international (MTI)

Book By: Bridget Carpenter

Music by: Tom Kitt

Lyrics by: Brian Yorkey

Based on the novel Freaky Friday by: Mary Rodgers

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