G.L.U.T Review
Greater Lansing Ubiquitous Theatre's Review of "Snow White and the Seven Dude" by Jane Zussman
"Matt Flick’s silly spin on the classic Snow White fairy tale runs only about 45-50 minutes — short and silly enough for kids, but sassy and absurdist enough for adults. Director Kallie Morrison leads a motley cast of expected and unexpected characters through this fractured fairy tale.
Darryl Schmitz narrates with a sardonic calm that tries but fails to impose order on the story, as the “dead” queen (Debbie Lundeen), birth mother of Snow White, delightfully disrupts him with her personal prejudices against the fabulously malicious Vahlaree Kakela as Queen Judith— who MUST be “the hottest in the land.” Wise but worried Mirror (Summer Stevens) gives her the bad news.
Charming air-head Prince, Drew Clark, cannot bring himself to kill Snow White, the lovely Kitana Spinoza, and, instead, brings her to the “Dood Ranch” and commits her to the care of the Seven Dudes (many of whom are dude-esses) who shake up the story with their fun assortment of characters: Bucko is a folksy cowhand Rich Kopitsch; Bozo is, of course, a clown, Eric Vincent; Emo is an emotional artiste Emilee Wilcox; Hobo is a disheveled Makayla Marrison, Cholo adds more silliness by Denise Huguez; Boyardi-o, played by M.D. Nelson, adds a quirky culinary flair; and Michelle Harvey-Hill is Mimo the Mime evoking the ridiculous without words.
The costumes are delightfully varied and outlandish from mirror-face to Apple Seller Disguise and distinctive duds for each Dude — designed by director, Kallie Marrison."
See G.L.U.T's review: https://www.greaterlansingtheatre.net/reviews/snow-white-and-the-seven-dudes
"The Lookout" Review
LCC's The Lookout's Review of "Snow White and the Seven Dude" by Abby Cowels
"The Black Box Theatre at LCC presented “Snow White and the Seven Dudes” Oct. 11 and 12. The comedic and self-aware adaptation of the Disney classic, written by Matt Flick, was a sold-out show both nights.
When Queen Judith is not named “Hottest in the Land,” she becomes jealous. Snow White is then left on a Dude Ranch with her close friend Prince, to avoid her murderous step-mother.
“I love coming here (to the Black Box Theatre) because it is such an intimate setting,” said LCC alumni Matthew Wilcox, whose sister Emilee portrayed Emo in the play. “I mean, you’re so close to the action.”
The theatre is a simple setup with dark walls and a flat floor for a variety of seating arrangements to encourage audience participation and engagement.
“I just graduated from Western (and) I wanted to get back into acting,” said LCC alum Drew Clark, who played Prince. “I saw this was open for auditions when looking around for opportunities, and I was like, that'd be a good place to start. (So) it kind of got the ball rolling for me again.”
Prince, abandons Snow White at the ranch, when tasked to “take care of her” by his mother, Queen Judith.
“I think there are things that I messed up, but nobody probably could tell,” Clark said. “Especially since it's a farce, which makes it even better, because every mistake is just another way to make the audience laugh, which is awesome.
“My favorite part of the show will always be when I karate chop my mother the Queen. I always really lean into it and (it’s) always fun for me.”
Clark added, “The part that I really love the most is when the Queen goes, ‘That dimwit hit me!’ It's like, ‘Wait a minute. You're calling me a dimwit?’”
It was clear the show was a huge success and the director of the show, Kallie Marrison, could not agree more. She expressed her pride in the performance.
“It went awesome,” Marrison said. “The cast is great. I'm so proud of them. They worked so hard and I just couldn't be more excited.”
She also offered a piece of advice and her personal proverb: “You can't take life too seriously.”
