My Favorite Year
Book by Joseph Dougherty
Music by Stephen Flaherty
Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens
Directed by Laura Jennings & Eddy Herring
Audience Rating: PG-13 mild language and alcohol consumption
Run Time: 2 hours 30 min, including one 15 min intermission
Accessible Seating: Available
Hearing Devices: Not Available
Sensory Friendly Performance: Not Available
Production Sound Level: Comfortable Volume
Noises or Visuals to Prepare For: None of Note
Reviewed by Jenny Wood
Most days I have coffee and a croissant for breakfast. Croissants are fascinating because they seem so simple - just bread and butter right? - but when I’ve tried to make them myself the process is wildly complex, requiring the kind of precise technique and love of baking that I simply do not possess. “Laminate the dough with butter”? What?? Is that like folding in the cheese? I never make it past reading the recipe.
Allen Contemporary Theatre’s My Favorite Year as directed by Laura Jennings and Eddy Herring is that perfect homemade croissant: carefully seasoned ingredients, simple in presentation, complex in technique, and so so warm and delicious.
Imagine NBC’s 30 Rock set in the year 1954 with The Producers style showstoppers, presented in a 99ish seat black box theatre. Not only has Benjy Stone (Troy Murray) landed a coveted freshman writer gig on King Kaiser (Blake Rice)’s Comedy Cavalcade, working alongside comedy lifers Alice Miller (Laura Carter Alley) and Herb Lee (Shawn Patrello), but when head writer Sy Benson (Blair Mitchell) fails to deliver, Benjy gets to meet and write for his childhood hero - silver screen legend Alan Swan (Alex Bigus)!!
Friends… never meet your heroes. Unless of course you have a plucky coworker like K.C. Downing (Evelynn Wright) and a lovingly eccentric mother - Belle Mae Steinberg Carroca (Catherine Hess) to help you drag him up and over the classic redemption arc to great comedic and heartwarming effect.
Co-Sound Designers Geof Dail and Bill Sizemore lay a solid foundation by expertly mic-ing and mixing the live musicians and 18 person cast in the small space. The result is a rich and nuanced listening experience throughout.
Eddy Herring has designed a versatile modular set that establishes time and place while leaving plenty of room for Becca Tischer’s grand ensemble choreography. Kenneth Hall’s lighting design turns immersive at exactly the right beats to amplify the audience feels. Shanna Threlkeld layers on to these illusions of effortlessness by curating over 100 unique and beautifully constructed costumes. The suits!! If you see this show for no other reason, go to see Benjy’s Act 2 suit.
So to recap, yes: 18 actors, 100+ costumes, a live band in a 99ish seat theatre and somehow there are no weak links or stale donuts. The perfect croissant baked with love and care.
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