A Blast from the Past was a fun trip to a musical era full of blue suede shoes, bobby socks and poodle skirts.
The extravaganza, written by Lynne Dickson and directed by Tracey Lloyd, gave two performances at Chatelech Theatre on April 10. Hey, boys and girls, did you know that pennywhistles can really knock out a rock tune? Or that Jerry Lee Lewis, played by Zoe Shaw, thought he was the king of rock and roll, that the Everly Brothers, performed by Reg and Lynne Dickson, were all about harmony, and that the Stones were uglier than the Beatles as told by bad boy Mick Jagger (Owen Pallot) to a tiny John Lennon (Oonagh Fogarty.) Some highlights of the show that involved over 100 cast and crew included the roles of the five children who lost their way into another time zone, especially the smart siblings Clarence and Clara (Kiel Strang and Talia Strang) and fifties deejay Wolfman Jack played by Jezabelle Friedman. A pint-sized Fats Domino (Rory Duvall) got his thrill on blueberry hill. A late Vegas-era Elvis (Nicky Sherwood), still slender in a lounge lizard outfit, sung Hound Dog. And the adult choir, whose names did not appear on the program but who received tumultuous applause, certainly earned it with their doo wop medley.
