Theater Review by Adam Cohen…
Mystic Pizza, a jukebox musical, makes a stellar New Jersey debut at Paper Mill Playhouse. Based on the 1988 film, the show finds three working-class girls who navigate the complexities of life, love and family in a small-town pizza joint in Mystic, CT. The infectious score features megahits of the 80s and 90s, “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” “The Power of Love,” “True Colors,” and “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now.”
At the center of the show are three powerhouse performances from Krystina Alabado (Mean Girls), Alaina Anderson (Dear Evan Hansen) and Deanna Giulietti (Jersey Boys). The warmth and heart they radiate for one another grounds the show, allows them to belt reconstituted hits by the likes of Huey Lewis, Cyndi Lauper, Pat Benetar endearingly.
They serve up within a lively, vibrant production a trio of endearingly flawed, highly likable, and very relatable characters that the audience will likely want to hang out with and, more importantly, root for in their respective journeys.
Like its well-received cinematic source material, this relatively new stage musical—adapted with a new book by Sandy Rustin (Clue) and directed with efficiently entertaining momentum by Casey Hushion (Joy) — is a charming, coming-of-age story about three young, tight-knit Portuguese-American women at the precipice of adulthood. As each navigates their respective imperfect presents and their impending futures, the trio work harmoniously together as waitresses at the beloved local pizza joint (where the show gets its title from) located at the center of their small seaside hometown of Mystic, Connecticut.
Book-smart Kat Arujo (the angelic Anderson) works multiple part-time jobs to fund tuition she needs to matriculate at Yale University to study astronomy. Kat’s brassy, more spontaneous sister, Daisy Arujo (the superb Alabado), yearns to also escape Mystic and a fate of menial labor and her man-hungry reputation. While adorably spunky Jojo Barboza (Gielietti) suffers from a debilitating fear of commitment.
Ostensibly a show about three young women finding themselves, of course, fails the Bechdel test – at least two female characters who have a conversation about something other than a man. And, this is largely, because the trios’ performances are so strong, convincing, and winning that their guys are left in the dust largely from the outset. Only, sweet-suffering fiancé of Jojo, Bill Montijo (the lovable F. Michael Haynie of Heart of Rock & Roll) manages to distinguish his character with personality and verve.
In her capacity as the manager at a local rental property, Kat develops a crush on an older, handsome, visiting architect named Tim Travers (Ben Fankhauser (Newsies), who is temporarily staying in town to renovate one of the local mansions. Fankhauser’s role is thankless, underwritten, – stealing the heart and virginity of Kat – while cheating on his wife. The Van Morrison classic “Into the Mystic” is ingeniously shoe-horned into the score as a love ballad for the two – but the scripts obviousness strands the actors. Meanwhile, Daisy, in her ongoing quest to leave Mystic, decides that romancing a rich college yuppie is her quickest exit. The opportunity arrives via pastel-sweatered law school dropout Charlie Windsor Jr. (Vincent Michael, Safety Not Guaranteed), who, to her surprise, genuinely likes her back despite their socio-economic differences. Charlie cheated on a final and reveals himself to be a talented (in Daisy’s eyes) artist – again an under-written role. He and Alabado render fine takes on Benetar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” and Bryan Adam’s “Please Forgive Me”.
Jennifer Fouche’s (Chicken & Biscuits) Leona is the soul of the show. She’s the core trio’s mother figure, employer, source of wisdom and secret sauce. There’s a timeliness to the struggling economy and possibility of Mystic Pizza’s closing. Sure, like in the movie, business picks up with a great review. But the performance – coupled with Alabado, Anderson, and Giulietti enlivens, enriches, and endows the show with real heart. That she’s part of spirited takes on “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” and “All I Need Is A Miracle” and Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” adds to the fun.
The endearing, down-to-earth qualities of the show’s central performances, coupled with fantastic scenic, lighting, and sound design, creates impressive visual prowess, spirited musical numbers, the show finds its center engagingly…tantalizing the audience with a future beyond Paper Mill.
This is one of the finest productions I’ve seen at Paper Mill. Nate Berton’s scenic design is detailed, specific, and superb. Ryan J. O’Gara’s lighting melds balancing moments with warmth and depth with arena rock fun. Matt Kraus’ sound design is the best I’ve heard at Paper Mill – truly balanced and pitch perfect. Carmel Dean’s orchestrations are smart and lend a pertness to most every song.
Charming characters surrounded by impressive production design and an ear worm soundtrack, it’s extremely difficult for one not to love the unapologetically ebullient Mystic Pizza. Paper Mill serves an effervescent, fun, high-energy stage musical that proudly wears its audience-pleasing machinations on its cut-off sleeves. My immediate reaction to Mystic Pizza: The Musical was, like a good pizza, it has just the right elements of cheese (the men, the book), sauce (the four central women), and hits the spot.
Tickets and more information at papermill.org. The show plays through February 23, 2025.
Photo credits: Jeremy Daniel
