Beguiled Again Premiere a Smash Hit

Smiles were everywhere last night as Actors Guild of Lexington presented the crowd pleasing opening performance of Beguiled Again, The Songs of Rodgers and Hart at the Downtown Arts Center.

Director Stephen Currens, who has written musicals himself, has fine tuned the songs his superb cast sings so the show moves so quickly through the mind boggling songbook of music written by Richard Rodgers along with the lyrics of Lorenz Hart.

All anyone in the house could do was grin with each new tune, as Wood Van Meter, Cameron Perry, Sarah M. Matthews, Luke Wesley Baldridge, Liz Bachman and Julie-Ann Aguhob sang and danced their way into our hearts.

I loved the balance of their voices, the unfailing perfect pitch of the singers  put to the test on several numbers, when the songs ended in unison, which is always a little tricky.  The performers also kept their energy level up throughout...I don't know how they did it, it was literally a musical marathon.

You can't have a musical without fabulous costumes, and a tip of the feathered cap goes to Julieanne Pogue, for the dapper apparel, especially the flowing gowns the ladies wore.  The costumes wore well with the retro-looking set, which I believed was designed by Associate Artistic Director Eric Seale himself.  The lighting and the single solitary treble clef served as the centerpiece behind musical director Orville Hammonds' piano, and provided just the right ambience to put everyone in the mood to hear so many old favorites by Rodgers and Hart, like Blue Moon...and too many others to name here.  You'll have to go see it and count them yourself, lambchops!  It's such a good time, there's no way you could come away not Bewitched! 


Below is the information you need for a lovely evening of entertainment - you can even take your kids! 

The remarkable partnership of composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Lorenz Hart spanned twenty four years, resulting in scores for thirty musicals and nine films. Beguiled Again illuminates the astonishing breath of their output with a musical menu offering nearly fifty selections from the incomparable Rodgers and Hart songbook. Featuring such classic show tunes as “Blue Moon”, “My Funny Valentine”, “The Lady is a Tramp”, “Ten Cents a Dance”, and “With a Song in My Heart.”

Music by Richard Rodgers/Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Conceived by J. Barry Lewis, Lynnette Barkley, and Craig D. Ames
Music Arrangements by Craig D. Ames
Directed by Stephen Currens

CAST:
Julie-Ann Aguhob
Liz Bachman
Luke Wesley Baldridge
Sarah M. Matthews
Cameron Perry
Wood Van Meter

September 24th - October 4th, 2009
(Thursday 24th preview and Sunday 27th matinee are "Pay-What-You-Can")
Curtain at 7:30pm (Matinee curtain at 2:00pm)
For tickets call AGL's box office at 866.811.4111, LexArts box office at 225.0370, or visit www.actorsguildoflexington.org