It’s 8 p.m. and the sun is setting, but George Walker’s got enough sunshine in his pocket to light up an amphitheater during his cover of Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” His peers in the cast of PCPA’s Together: A Musical Journey can’t help but join in and dance along. And let’s be real, if I knew I could get away with it without being banned from the theater for life, I’d jump on the stage too. But I stay in my seat and tap my feet instead.
Marking its return to live, in-person performances after more than a year elsewhere, it’s easy to tell why PCPA chose to showcase some of its most familiar resident actors in such a celebratory fashion. Together: A Musical Journey (currently showing at the Solvang Festival Theater through Aug. 7) works as an engaging concert revue, dividing its time between heartfelt anecdotes and elaborate song and dance numbers—all of which include live instruments played by the actors themselves (accompanied onstage by the show’s pianist and musical director, Michael Wilkins).
The concert atmosphere reminded me of past theatrical productions I had seen of Million Dollar Quartet and Pump Boys and Dinettes; as an audience member, there’s something unique and organic about getting to see where the music is actually coming from onstage. PCPA resident artist Erik Stein, who wrote the original script for Together, confirmed the live music aspect was a unique experience behind the scenes as well.
“We get to act and sing with each other a lot, but we’ve never all played instruments together,” said Stein, who also performs as a cast member in the show. “George [Walker] on the guitar and the banjo, Emily [Trask] on the cello, Yusef [Seevers] on the bass, with Michael [Wilkins] on the piano—they were so cool to watch.”
Stein himself plays the cajón for many songs in the show, which he described as “living all of my Mumford and Sons dreams,” and often lends his vocals as well, most prominently while leading a fun, memorable cover of Michael Bublé’s “Haven’t Met You Yet.”
Together: A Musical Journey features a diverse selection of songs, ranging from rock, jazz, and soul hits to popular show tunes and film staples. Standouts include Yusef Seevers’ rendition of Bill Withers’ Lovely Day, which is pitch perfect, so perfect that it almost tops his powerful duet with Walker during my favorite number in the show, “Falling Slowly,” from 2007’s Once.
The song is already inherently moving, but there’s a new layer to be discovered here in this particular post-2020 production, within the context of its two singers dealing with the stresses of separation and isolation directly caused by the pandemic.
“You have suffered enough/ And warred with yourself/ It’s time that you won,” the lyrics read. “Take this sinking boat and point it home/ We’ve still got time/ Raise your hopeful voice, you have a choice/ You’ve made it now.”
Other memorable performances in Together: A Musical Journey include Kitty Balay’s rockin’ cover of Carole King’s “I Feel the Earth Move,” Andrew Philpot’s suave tribute to Frank Sinatra’s “The Best Is Yet To Come,” and Katie Fuchs-Wackowski’s (who also directed the show) stirring rendition of Sixpence None The Richer’s “Kiss Me.”
Whether it’s an upbeat, bittersweet, or sorrowful tune, each performance has a certain glow to it, as if the cast members’ endorphins are either contagious or in a symbiotic relationship with the audience’s feedback.
“We can literally feel the audience’s energy, and their presence is absolutely necessary,” Stein said, who compared the feeling of returning to the stage as “finally being able to eat pasta after being on a diet for so long.”
Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood could not go more than a year without pasta. Send comments to cwiseblood@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jul 29 – Aug 5, 2021.