Review of Fancy Nancy at Emerald City Theatre

Once upon a time I went to a show and it was called Fancy Nancy The Musical. It was directed by Ernie Nolan and written by Susan DiLallo based on the book by Jane O'Connor and illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser. The music was composed by Danny Abosch and the music director was Marta Johnson. It was about a girl named Nancy (Katrina Kiss) and her best friend Bree (Angela Alise) who both wanted to be mermaids in their dance show. But then Fancy Nancy got the role of a tree and Bree got the role of an oyster. But then Bree gets the role of a mermaid after the girl who was going to play the mermaid hurts herself. The show is about being kind and feeling good for your friends when they get something that you wanted. I think this was a really fun show. It is very fun to be at because it has a character that teaches you about vocabulary but also has things to learn. You learn from her, but you also learn with her. Even though the musical is aimed at younger kids, Nancy teaches you important lessons for all ages.

I think the relationship between Nancy and her mom (Claire Kaiser) was a really sweet one. It sort of reminded me a little bit of the relationship with me and my mom. I liked the tea party song because it sort of showed that the mom wanted to cheer her up and she knew what would make her feel better. And that is like in my life if I am feeling sad, mom will say "Let's go watch a mystery program, like Miss Fisher." You won't feel better about it quicker if you just dwell on how bad it is. You can just think about something else that's good. I also really like the song that the mom sang to Nancy about how you will always be a star for me even if you don't get the biggest part. I liked that because sometimes me and my mom have conversations like that about how even if I don't get the main part, the show will still be about whatever part I get to my mom.

I really liked all of Nancy's friends. I think that they all were great characters because they each had their own personality--except for the twins, Wanda (Samantha Mitchell) and Rhonda (Hayley Reynolds); they were sort of the same. That wasn't bad--that was one of the things that made the twins interesting. I liked the twins' costumes (by Alarie Hammock) because they really showed their personality because they were so sporty. They each had an initial on them so you could remember which one was which. And I found that kind of funny. Lionel (Micah Kronlokken) was very funny because he acted silly and he made jokes and puns no matter what he was doing. I liked how they said boys could be fancy too and didn't just cut out the character of Lionel completely. Bree was an amazing character because she was very very likable. I was seeing it with one of my friends so Fancy Nancy and Bree reminded me of me and Lana. When Bree came in during the tea party song, she started singing "Oysters don't dance; they just sit there" like it is the most depressing thing on earth. I thought that was super funny!

At the very end they show this big dance number where Nancy and all her friends are doing their big show about sea creatures. I really liked every single part of it, but I really liked the jellyfish umbrellas, and the slightly silly seahorse, and the maypole thing at the end where Nancy got to be front and center as a tree. And the shark! Lionel played the shark and the shark did this really cool rap which was just about being a shark and the whole audience would chomp their hands together like a shark mouth and go "Chomp chomp. Chomp chomp." It was just like being at a rap concert for a shark and that is probably one of the funniest and most ridiculous things ever. And he was actually really good at rapping too! "Cause I'm a shark! Yeah!"

People who would like this show are people who like tea parties, oysters, and rapping sharks. I think people should definitely go see this show, especially with a little one because then you get to witness them seeing the magic of theater. I saw it with my friend's little sister, and it was so fun to see her being so happy to see this.

Photos: Johnny Knight