Great Local Shows - Theatrical Reviews
| Title | Children's Letters to God |
| Organization | Stand Out Talent |
| Date(s) of show | February 8-17, 2013 |
| Reviewer | Dick Frantzreb |
| Review | On the way to the lobby at intermission, someone behind me said, “This is the cutest show I’ve ever seen.” I’ve seen a lot of cute shows, and ranking them is like choosing which of your children you like best. But this is a cute show. Threaded throughout this latest production from Stand Out Talent are the ingenuous questions children have written to God – no doubt taken from the book of the same title that inspired this show. But this show isn’t about religion: it’s a gentle, sympathetic look at childhood – its challenges, frustrations, confusions, disappointments – and joys. It is essentially a children’s cabaret show with vignettes loosely connected by a plot. What lights it up are the 7 young performers, most of them apparently pre-teens or very young teens. They have children’s voices, but they act convincingly. Most of the music is up-tempo, fun, and engaging, and the show is full of good laughs – and quite a few touching moments. Indeed, the whole thing is heartwarming. And it’s a special kind of heartwarming. You can go to a movie or sit at home watching TV and perhaps be moved by images on a screen. But these are real young people, acting and singing their hearts out in front of you. And when your heart has been warmed that way, it feels a lot more like the real thing. |
