IFYAC putting on musical-comedy production for its annual spring show
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IDAHO FALLS — The Idaho Falls Youth Arts Center’s annual spring production is back, and the proceeds from the event will go toward helping local young people.
“The Drowsy Chaperone,” a musical-comedy originally published in 1998, will run from April 25 to May 7 (specific dates and times can be found here). The show will take place at IFYAC’S new location, 3910 S. Yellowstone Highway. It’s their first performance at its new building.
“We have a brand new stage built, and it’s absolutely incredible,” co-producer Jessie Nichols said. “We’re really excited to have people come out here. … The cast and crew were part of building that stage and the set as well, so there’s not a single part of this show that every single one of us hasn’t been involved in from the ground up.”
Nichols said the show’s story is centered around a man who lives in an apartment, and he starts to tell a story about his favorite musical, “The Drowsy Chaperone.”
“As he puts the record on the player, the story comes to life in front of the audience, and they get to experience the musical with the man in the chair,” Nichols stated. “It’s a story that’s set in the 1920s, and it features a glamorous movie star, gangsters disguised as pastry chefs — just a lot of ridiculous and wonderful antics and huge dance numbers. It’s a phenomenal piece of work.”
The cast is made up of 20 members, mostly adults but a few teenagers as well. Rehearsals got underway in February, and Nichols said they are “polished to the nines” and “ready to go.”
“This cast is such a professional group of people,” Nichols said. “They have a lot of chemistry together, and they’ve worked really well with the production staff to create a phenomenal experience.”
Co-producer Molly Harker added, “This is like a date-night show for older teens and adults, and I think they are going to realize that we have a vast talent pool in this community that they’re not aware of. Usually people who come to our shows leave saying, ‘I think some of these shows are better than the ones in Salt Lake.’ That’s a testament to what we do here.”
IFYAC is focused on helping youth in the community learn more about the arts. Tickets sales from this production will help fund its summer theater camp program. Nichols said without the community’s support, the group loses the ability to reach out and introduce the arts to children and adults.
“We are a group that thrives on the support we receive from our community and this is a show that has already had so much community support with people donating to our raffles and sponsoring the show itself,” she said. “We want to demonstrate how much we care about our community and give back to them by putting on a fantastic show for them.”
The show runs about one hour and 40 minutes. Tickets are $20 for general admission and can be bought here.
On Saturday and May 4, a pre-show event will take place in the form of a wedding rehearsal dinner to honor the 1920s wedding that takes place in the show. There will be a live jazz band, wedding cake, light hors d’oeuvres and VIP seating for the show. The special event on Saturday is sold out but there are still tickets available for the May 4 pre-show event (also a Saturday), which includes a show ticket, for $30.
