ICE Event Review: First Date
University Theatre Players “UTP” held the opening night of the Inter-Curricular Enrichment “ICE” event “First Date: The Musical” on April 13 in the Etherredge Center.
“First Date: The Musical” is a musical book by Austin Winsberg with music by Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner. The story follows Casey, played by Kayla Hutto and Aaron, played by Cade Melnyk, on a blind date at a restaurant in New York. Casey is a serial dater who usually goes for bad boys, while Aaron is getting over a breakup with his ex and is new to blind dating. They were set up on this blind date by Kevin, Casey’s brother-in-law as well as Aaron’s co-worker, and Lauren, Casey’s sister.
Aaron is nervous and sweating about the blind date and goes dressed in a suit and tie. Throughout the date, he imagines his best friend, Gabe and his ex-girlfriend, Allison who criticize him. Gabe tries to dissuade Aaron from mentioning Allison on the first date and whenever she appears in Aaron’s headspace Gabe snaps him out of it by doing things such as blowing her away. This also occurs with Casey who imagines Lauren and an ex. Lauren encourages Casey to give Aaron a chance and not be so guarded, while the ex is reminding Casey of her past and how she likes bad boys.
The songs in the musical capture the internal struggles that the characters are going through such as Casey’s struggles with letting her guard down in the song “Safer.” The performance by the actors was well done and allowed the audience to grow attached to the characters over the course of the play.
Chloe Stafford, a junior communications and emerging media major, enjoyed the lead’s voice and was impressed by their singing.
“I thought it was very good. I mean I was surprised cause I feel like we never had a musical here at USCA. So, I was surprised to see it being brought to USCA and I was actually quite impressed,” said Stafford.
The chemistry between the characters was excellent. Even though Reggie, Casey’s best friend, arrived at the restaurant after they had already left and Casey never picks up Reggie’s calls the audience really gets a sense of their dynamic. The voicemails Reggie left for Casey show his concern that something bad might have happened. It felt natural and relatable. The comedy within the play was also engaging.
“And I also thought it was really funny with all the characters and their different personalities. It was funny with the little jokes that they had mixed in there,” said Stafford.
Overall, the performance of “First Date: The Musical” was excellent and brought to life the characters' different personalities through UTP's acting, singing and set design.
