Review: Ambitious BRING IT ON's Stars Shine at Wayne Densch PAC

For community theatres, producing a musical can be ambitious for any number of reasons; the difficulty of the music, the complexity of the dramatic content, the number of settings required, the size of the cast needed, but it is difficult to imagine a more ambitious project than the Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center's recent production of BRING IT ON THE MUSICAL. Though the stage adaptation's story, script, and score are completely original, they do draw inspiration from the series of teen films of the same name set in the high-stakes world of competitive high school cheerleading. Against that backdrop, the story is a funny, surprisingly touching tale of female empowerment and friendship.

With a cast featuring actors who are in middle school, who teach middle school, and everyone in between, the musical requires an ensemble that can do just about everything. This exceedingly unique show was written by some of Broadway's most celebrated creators, Lin-Manuel Miranda (HAMILTON), Tom Kitt (NEXT TO NORMAL), Amanda Green (HANDS ON A HARDBODY), and Jeff Whitty (AVENUE Q), and features traditional showtunes, pop, R&B, and rap music, all while demanding that the cast performs literally death-defying routines.

While the choreography of this production was decidedly on the lower end of death-defying, the cast's willingness to attempt the multilevel stunts was impressive nonetheless. The musical's story follows cheer captain Campbell (Alexa Neilen) as she goes from the heights of suburban popularity at Truman High School to the bottom of the inner-city pyramid after being redistricted to Jackson High before her senior year.

Neilen is a winning star for the show, displaying incredibly well-rounded talents; vocals, dancing, acting, and cheering. Undoubtedly the bright spot of the production, this is a role that she seems perfectly suited to play. Other than a few vocal moments that seemed just out of her range, she could not have looked, sounded, or moved more perfect to play the stunning All-American sweetheart at the center of this story.

Also transferred with Campbell is Bridget, the cheerleader wannabe always forced into the stinky mascot suit. Played by Krista Delong, a middle school theatre teacher, the pudgy, socially-awkward Bridget finds her own way to standout and to be herself at her new school. As one of the show's adult company members, Delong is one of the most consistently entertaining parts of the show. While much of the young cast misses many of the book's more humorous beats, Delong finds every one of them, and has a strong voice as well.

Left behind at Truman are Campbell's BFFs, the mean girl Skylar (Kayla Alvarez) and dim-witted Kylar (Jaeda Beverly). Alvarez is a treat in the role, displaying excellent vocals and a comedic nasty streak. Beverly is less sharp, but fun nonetheless.

At Jackson, Campbell and Bridget meet the school's feared dance crew of Danielle, Nautica, and La Cienega, played by Stephanie Nunes, Iris Johnson, and Juan Silva respectively. While the crew's moves are not as impressive as the script would like you to believe, the three have an easy chemistry, especially Danielle's subjects Nautica and La Cienega.

Nunes, a high school counselor, carries her own, but is often showed up by Johnson and Silva, who seem better-cast for the fierce and feisty duo.

Back at Truman, Campbell's former protégé, the sophomore Eva (a winking reference to a certain Anne Baxter character), quickly climbs the team's ranks to take over the top spot. Mary Nerad embodies the role's early innocence well, but never seems to find the killer instinct that the character sings about in the second act.

Isaiah Galarza is very good as Campbell's Jackson love-interest, as is Daniel Padillo as Bridget's unexpected admirer Twig.

The sizable ensemble was game for anything that director Doug Carey asked them to do, but ultimately, their weak collective vocals and underwhelming choreography took a lot of the joy out of the group scenes. Despite a few stellar principal performances, the show lacked the sharpness that an eclectic script like this needs to hit on all cylinders.

Jenny Galarza did save her best choreography for the finale, and despite the show's issues, because of how well-structured and well-written the show is, the end was still emotionally powerful; eliciting a fair share of goosebumps and a tear or two as well.

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Banner Image: The Truman Squad. Photo Credit: Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center

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