The evening of Wednesday, April 24 marked the opening night of The University Playhouse’s production of “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do.” Upon being seated between 7:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., the audience was treated to a delightful romantic-comedic romp featuring the songs of Neil Sedaka.
Recently suffering from rejection, Marge -played by Amanda R. Gish- goes out on a weekend getaway with her best friend Lois -Gabrielle Dickson- to the Catskills. Hoping to escape the heartbreak suffered from her fiancé, who abandoned her at the alter, Marge and her best friend find Esther’s Paradise; a popular club and host to local heartthrob aiming to make it big as a singer, Del Delmonaco, played by Keegan Stalcup.
Over the course of the weekend, Marge pursues Del, oblivious to the affection his cousin shows toward her, who is preparing for a show that may help him make it big time and elevate the prestige of Esther’s Paradise, alleviating the monetary problems of managers, Esther and Harvey, played by Christy R. Griser and Jeffery Stirl, respectively
Marge may be the protagonist of the show but the spotlight is stolen by Stalcup’s genuine charisma as Del Delmonaco. His musical entrance opens the show up with a bang and allows the rest of the cast to carry the momentum forward with their own solid performances.
The use Neil Sedaka’s music is well timed and choreographed accordingly. Although there are a few awkward implementations within the production as a whole, such as the song “Betty Grable,” the arrangement of songs used is generally effective in conveying the emotions of the characters as well as communicating the intent of their actions and feelings without the use of spoken dialogue.
If any true problem were to be found with the show, the set design may have left a little to be desired. The setting of the play is generally boiled down to three specific location within Ester’s Paradise. Although the front stage and office were well set up and utilized, the lack of detail in the backstage area, in addition to its close proximity to the front stage, leads to some awkward moments in which leads to difficulty in imagining where the characters were supposed to be located.
Overall, “Breaking Up is Hard to Do” is a fairly standard romantic-comedy musical. However, through great performances and a surprising level of audience interaction, the show is a rather charming, enjoyable time that made two and a half hours pass within the blink of an eye.
“Breaking Up Is Hard to Do” is currently playing April 25-28 at 8 p.m. and April 29 at 3 p.m.