Fuddy Meers

It was another busy week for South Sound theater. So in an effort to present you, the Weekly Volcano’s dear readers, with the area’s fine offerings, here is another roundup.

The sleeper hit of the week is a little show at a little theater in Olympia. Prodigal Sun is serving up a full plate of funny as it stages Fuddy Meers, a goofy show about a woman with amnesia. Claire (wonderfully played by Kathy Kluska) loses her memory each night when she falls asleep, and she finds herself being introduced to her family each morning. If that isn’t weird enough, the family she finds herself a member of is less than stable, to put it mildly.



There is the overbearing husband, the rebellious teen and an ex con with a bit of a secret of his own. Oh, and then there is a hand puppet named Hinky Binky. What play can ever go wrong when it has a hand puppet? I say none.



This roller coaster is just fun, fun, fun and more fun. Director Christian Carvajal landed a solid cast and some great little touches such as the bare staging and hooded prop handlers to create depth and style to the show. The bare-bones staging added to the show by directing the attention to the great cast. 



There will be a special performance on Saturday, Feb. 14, dubbed My Fuddy Valentine, that will include a Valentine’s Day raffle with prizes.

Glorious!

Upping the production complexity is Tacoma Musical Playhouse’s Glorious! This show is a bit of a leap of faith for the theater since it is not a traditional musical. It is more of a classic comedy that includes some songs, in a loose sort of way that is. The play follows the story of Florence Foster Jenkins, who is a socialite who reckons herself a singer. Songstress she is not, but no one bothers to tell her. Comedy ensues.



The key to this show’s success is that it is anchored by Sharry O’Hare. Her ability to so skillfully sing poorly so consistently is absolutely brilliant. And she is hilarious. Added to her solid set of pipes is the hilarious straight man performance by Josh Anderson as Cosme McMoon, a gay pianist who sees the light while everyone else is in the dark.

Memphis

The big stage award these days goes to 5th Avenue Theatre’s staging of Memphis, a musical journey of a white dude who brings “colored music” to the world. The score was composed by David Bryan of Bon Jovi fame and includes some rocking music. This high-energy new musical about race, romance and rock ‘n’ roll reminds audiences just how far we’ve come from the segregated South of the 1950s. The leads are amazing Broadway powerhouse Montego Glover, who plays Felicia, and Seattle’s own Chad Kimball, who plays Huey. They make the show work with heart and amazing voices.



[The Midnight Sun Performance Space, Fuddy Meers, through Feb. 21, 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, $12, 113 N. Columbia St., Olympia, buyolympia.com]

[Tacoma Musical Playhouse, Glorious!, through Feb. 22, 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, $10-$25, 7116 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.565.6867]

[5th Avenue Theatre, Memphis, through Feb. 15, $22-$81, 1308 Fifth Ave., Seattle, 888.5TH.4TIX]