DOGFIGHT hits with Sentinel’s Inaugural show

AMERICAN FORK — Dogfight is the opening show for Sentinel Theatre’s inaugural season, and with this production they have shown audiences that they are a force to be reckoned with! This production tells the story of three marines on their last night before shipping off to Vietnam. They decide to throw a “dogfight” or a competition to see who can bring the ugliest woman to the party; the winner walking away with cash. This competition leads one of them, Eddie Birdlace, to Rose Fenny. Becoming his date has a changing effect on both characters. This musical tackles difficult themes, and this cast and crew faced that challenge head on and delivered a beautiful, heartfelt performance.

Direction

Directed by Andrew Jefferies (also a founder of Sentinel Theatre), this cast brought energy and heart to this production. I was very impressed by the stunning visuals created on the stage. One of these visuals included Rose, a sweet woman who works at a diner, and Marcy, a hardened sex worker, as they both individually prepared for and then individually reflected upon the “dogfight.” Simple blocking showed the parallel experiences of these women and how this party affected both of them.

Another moment was during the party: the two women moved at a regular pace while singing and the men at the party moved in slow motion. This showed the dissonance between the experiences of all of the party-goers. The final extremely successful visuals were those that helped to communicate that the characters were in war. These communicated the intensity and fear of war without being gratuitous. 

There were a couple of moments where it seemed the intimacy of a moment was interrupted by the blocking. The first being Rose’s song after the dogfight, and the second being a night that two characters share together. During both of these, the rest of the cast came on stage in the middle of the scenes to sing or watch. Having these other characters on stage seemed to take away from the intimacy of the moment. There was another moment near the end when Eddie was singing and other characters were onstage. The other characters onstage were not the focus at this point, but the way they were blocked made it difficult for the actor to fully sing his song. Overall, though, the pacing of this musical was excellent. The audience was fully engaged from the moment these actors came on the stage until the curtain call. This was a well blocked, well paced musical. 

Choreography and Music

Heather Jefferies choreography was also excellent. The small cast of actors danced around the stage with energy and ease; a clear sign the the choreography worked for the show, space, and performers. The dances also showed the characters’ personalities, especially of the group of men leaving for war. Jefferies filled the stage nicely and moved through formations seamlessly with character entrances and exits adding to each scene. Heather and Andrew Jefferies both made a small cast of actors seem like a large cast with their blocking and choreography. 

The music direction and sound design were done by Chari Bennett, a founder of Sentinel Theatre. The music direction was extremely impressive. The harmonies in Dogfight are dissonant and difficult, but they were executed near perfectly. There was excellent balance between the actors. There is also an onstage orchestra conducted by Adam Young. This orchestra was a delight to have onstage – well rehearsed and well conducted. The balance between the actors and musicians was sometimes off, especially during the beginning of the show; this did, however, improve by the end of the show. Sound effects were also very helpful in creating the world of this play. War sounds were effective instead of hokey, and helped to create drama and intensity.

Acting

Led by Alison Gordon as Rose Fenny and Adam Moore as Eddie Birdlace, this was an impressive group of actors. Gordon and Moore brought chemistry, heart, and grit to their characters. Each of their songs and scenes were beautifully staged and acted. Another standout performance was River Robinson as Marcy. She played this role with so much truth and played it fearlessly. Her rendition of the song “Dogfight” was breathtaking.

The entire ensemble is to be commended in this show. Most of them played more than one character. Ioane Camacho was impressive with his portrayal of at least four different roles, bringing clear and different character choices to each one.

This production also had the help and guidance of an intimacy coordinator – Liz Whittaker – because of the sensitive nature of some of the scenes and situations. The characters were able to have natural chemistry through these scenes because of Whittaker’s guidance and help.

Design

The designers of this show also deserve recognition. With a two-story set and small scene changes, Kristyan Williams designed and Marcus Roberts built an exceptional world for these characters to inhabit. It became at some points a home, diner, and even a seeming jungle gym. 

Costume design, done by Cheryl Cripps, was also successful. Visually these characters represented their time period and characters. This was quite the task as most characters played multiple characters and therefore had quite a few costumes.

Caleb Wallengren was the lighting designer. This was executed expertly. One standout with the lights was the way the lights were able to create the war. Gunshots and bombs were created by using specific lighting effects. 

This production – to be honest – blew me away. It had heart, it was executed extremely well, and I left excited to come back. Go see this show, and while you are there stop by the themed concessions. It truly was a great night out to the theatre, and I look forward to everything Sentinel Theatre adds to the Utah County theatre community in the future.