Marines march into Anaheim in new musical
by Jackie Moe, Orange County Register
When a group of U.S. marines celebrate their last night before they are deployed to Vietnam in 1963, they experience a series of life lessons in the new musical “Dogfight,” which opens in previews at Chance Theater in Anaheim this weekend.
Written by Peter Duchan and created by the same creative team that produced Broadway’s “A Christmas Story” and the NBC television show “Smash,” the adaptation of the award-winning musical will run on the Cripe Stage of Chance Theater’s Bette Aitken Theater Arts Center. Previews will run through Feb. 12, with regular performances beginning Feb. 13 for a three-week run.
“Dogfight” takes place in San Francisco during the early 1960s, following Eddie Birdlace (Chance Theater veteran Andrew Puente) and his fellow marine comrades who are off to a pre-deployment party. Before the party, the men decide to play “dogfight,” a cruel game in which the guys go out and find the ugliest date they can.
Birdlace encounters shy waitress Rose, played by Chance Theater returner Ashley Arlene Nelson, whom he invites to the party – and the musical unravels their journey through song and dance.
The original musical premiered off-Broadway at the Second Stage Theatre in 2012. Director Matthew McCray said he was fascinated that this storyline could be a musical.
“You’d expect a storyline of this nature would be a play, and putting it in a musical theater context brings out an almost incongruent situation,” said McCray. “It’s actually quite beautiful though.”
McCray describes the play as a traditional contemporary musical that is “not a stylized farce, but also not a heavy drama – just perfectly in the middle.”
The story takes place in several locations, including bars, diners, bus stations, arcade rooms and bedrooms. The set is a single unit with walls and props that manipulated by the ensemble throughout to show the different sceneries.
“Because there’s so many timelines and locations, there’s almost a theatrical language you have to be open to and interpret, and I think this musical requires the audience to embrace that kind of theatrical storytelling,” said McCray.
The songs performed include “Some Kinda Time,” “We Three Bees,” “Nothing Short of Wonderful,” and “Come to a Party.”
“The music is deceptively difficult. There are sometimes five or six-part harmonies for the men, much like barber shop singing as Marines, which makes for a unique sound,” said McCray, “Marines usually sound rough and rugged but this cast sounds rough with beautiful harmonies. The music keeps you tapping your toe and keeps you on edge. It never stops, it never settles down.”
On Jan. 19, Vietnam Army veteran Tom Sandoval, who performed in the Chance Theater’s Veterans Initiative production in November, visited the rehearsal and offered his experience to make the Marine drills and procedures more authentic.
“The story is about a particular night that made each of the characters become who they are,” McCray said. “This is their crossroads moment, The audience will be reminded of the importance of growth and being open to others, because they can really surprise you.”
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