SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake Acting Company tradition for over 35 years, Allen Nevins and Nancy Borgenicht‘s Saturday’s Voyeur is a Salt Lake staple when it comes to summertime theatre. Voyeur parodies the Mormon cult-classic musical and now movie Saturday’s Warrior. Taking directly from modern-day cultural references, this year’s production focused on the plight of a young man named Ned who, with the help of a special sacred garment, thinks he is invisible. Everyone can still see him, including his lesbian mothers and gay fathers. Yes, he has two dads and two moms. After a troubling day at school, Ned has a dream where he is sent to “Celestial” where is learns of a plan brewing between Satan’s sister Luci, Heavenly Father, and Joseph Smith to get more Republican voters in Utah. Ned, with the help of his super gay family (and a bitingly bitchy Heavenly Mother), set off to stop the plan in its tracks.
Show closes August 28, 2016.
Okay, so the story is a little loose and far-fetched, but it makes for great comedy. Throw in the essential tagline of the show “Being Mormon is so confusing!”, Voyeur is a hit for those members of the LDS Church who may be feeling a little disaffected. If you’re not a member of the Church, you’ll find the show entertaining of course, but its success lies ultimately on the audience member being familiar with the source material.
The show begins with an overture complete with hints of “Who Are These Children Coming Down?” from the original Warrior. The ensemble enters the stage where we see a ward choir practicing an arrangement of “If You Could Hie to Kolob.” From the beginning I could tell I was in for a treat. Although I was watching a theatrical parody, that doesn’t mean the finished product can be less SLAC’s usually high quality work. Under Cynthia Fleming‘s direction, the entire ensemble worked together in this scene—and all others—with precision and finesse, and welcome comedic timing. Punching their consonants, over exaggerating their breathing, and the all-too-common “Mormon-women-choir-voice,” the evening was off to a great start.
Soon, we see the main characters father’s Ted and Fred (played by Devin Rey Barney and Eric Lee Brotherson) watch in anticipation as their child Ned (played by Tito Livas) is born. Ned’s mothers, Rose and Mary (Amanda Wright and Becky Cole), eagerly await his arrival. Ned is born, and the action moves forward 17 years to when the LDS Church’s new policy on the membership status of individuals in homosexual families. The show demonstrates the cognitive dissonance many experience in the church right now. Church doctrine says people are on earth to have joy and to be loved, but that can be hard to believe for people who are joyful when loving someone of the same sex and are in conflict with LDS Church policy. “Being a Mormon is so confusing!” the characters all shout.
Brotherson plays Fred and does so with just the right amount of stereotype mixed with truth and reality. His character is likable and sweet, whcih was most apparent in scenes with his other half Ted. Barney is a junior at the University of Utah and imbued his character with sass and spunk, which complimented Brotherson’s character. They had a sweet chemistry especially in tender moments like “Our Ned” and “Changes.” Wright and Cole matched well together not only in vocals in songs such as “Our Ned” but they also gave their characters an incredible realness in the deeper moments. This was apparent when all four gay characters realized they had been sent to Celestial, when they had surely hoped for the Telestial (at the very least).
Rife with vile humor, no parody in 2016 would be complete without a character mimicking Trump, played by Justin Ivie. See, Ivie plays Heavenly Father as Trump. The big hands. Huuuuuge. Racist jokes. They’re all in there. In almost every scene. This is where Saturday’s Voyeur will be most offensive to readers, but Ivie does do it so well—especially in the song “Bang Me.” Now, no God would be complete without a wife (this one has two, and wants more). Ivie is perfectly paired with Luci, Satan’s sister, played by Ed Madson. This review cannot contain a description of every wonderful moment of comedic work Madson pulls off in this show. Suffice it to say that Madson is the best She-Devil out there, and when Luci finally gets her way with Heavenly Father audience members better prepare for some of the most irreverent comedy imaginable.
Even though Livas plays Ned without showing his face to the audience for most of the show, he played his character with just enough annoyance to believe he was 17-years old and the right amount of charm for me to like him, especially when he gives into temptation and has a dirty soda for the first time. Heavenly Mother is played by Annette Wright, who makes the character a mix between Jenna Marbles and Betty White: foul-mouthed, but sweet enough to be a nice grandmother. Robert Scott Smith plays the overly attractive Joseph Smith with such a strong sense of arrogance, stupidity, and incredible charisma. It was easy to have a severe love/hate relationship with his character, especially in “Slut Walk” and “White Prophet.”
Being personally affected by the latest policy change from the Mormon church, I felt a deep connection to this story, even though it was a wild romp. The most poignant moment for me is when the cast sang “Changes” by David Bowie, with a few tweaked lyrics. They ended the show with, “Time has changed us, and you can’t stop time.” Here’s the the point of Saturday’s Voyeur: the world is changing, and the LDS Church isn’t changing fast enough, especially for the younger generation. Whether they like it or not, time keeps on moving and the Church had better keep up if it wants to keep its members.
In all, Saturday’s Voyeur is highly irreverent, but highly enjoyable. It’s almost a cross of South Park, Saturday Night Live, and Sunday School. It’s funny, it’s relatable, and it’s certainly an unforgettable night of theatre.
