The passage from awkward and uncertain adolescence to the independence and certainty of adulthood can be a rocky road, especially for a trio of young waitresses trying to forge a future for themselves at a pizza parlor in Mystic, Connecticut. We all remember Julia Roberts as adorable Daisy in the 1988 MGM movie, written about our state by Amy Holden Jones while she was summering here and frequented the small hometown pizzeria of the same name.The book was written by Sandy Rustin and is now a musical stuffed with all your favorite tunes of the 1980’s and 1990’s, like “Girls Just Want To Have Fun,” “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” “Mad About You,” “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now,” “True Colors,” and “Take My Breath Away,” and a dozen others.
Kudos to the Ivoryton Playhouse for offering up this sizzling and spicy treat until Sunday, July 28 for our summertime fun and musical pleasure as we become acquainted with Alyssa Giannetti’s Jojo who may or may not be ready to commit herself to marrying her boyfriend Will Clark’s Bill Montijo, even when it’s her actual wedding day, Carina Hernandez’s Kat Arujo who is willing and able to work a multitude of jobs so she can earn her way to college but hits a major roadblock when she is intrigued by the married architect Michael Ferraro’s Tim Travers and lastly Ariella Kvashny’s Daisy who falls under the spell of the sophisticated and well-to-do Isaac Kueber ’s Charles Gordon Windsor, Jr. an artist who has already flunked out of law school.
No one promised young love was a bouquet of orange blossoms and each girl discovers the promise and the heartbreak coming her way. The pizzeria’s owner Leenya Rideout’s Leona Silvia has her own set of decisions to make but is the caring mother hen to her tender chicks. The sisters Daisy and Kat and their best friend Jojo all want something more from life and are willing to sacrifice and work hard to achieve it. Brian J. Freehan orchestrates the choreography and direction with a spirited hand of this fine and talented cast.
For tickets ($60, seniors $55, students $25), call the Ivoryton Playhouse, 103 Main Street, Ivoryton at 860-767-7318 or online at www.ivorytonplayhouse.org. Performances are Wednesday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Now is the time to make reservations for Ivoryton’s fundraiser “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere! Party on Saturday, September 14 at 5 p.m. with beach cocktails, a Cancion Tequila tasting, Surfridge Brewing Company’s array of delicious food and beer, auctions, raffles, and live music and dancing…all a Jimmy Buffett style of living. For tickets, visit www.ivorytonplayhouse.org.
Show all your true colors as the power of love takes all your breath away as nothing is gonna stop us now. Come experience a delicious slice of heaven.