High Button Shoes has not been revived in the Northwest for 50 years...with good reason

If you have never been to Kitsap Forest Theater, it's worth the trek, although make sure you have reliable and detailed directions. it is difficult to find, but when you do, you are rewarded with a verdant retreat. The carpark is a 10 minute hike to the theater, but along a well-kept trail.

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This is the setting for the revival of a musical that has not been seen in the Northwest since 1955, when it was produced at the Greenlake Aqua Theatre. If you are looking for light and fluffy entertainment and early Americana, this is the place to go. With strong shades of Music Man and Oklahoma for plot elements and musical schemes, High Button Shoes is decent family entertainment, but is simple and lacks depth and arc. There is no character development in sight, and at no point do they change or self-realize. This is through no fault of the actors or production values, but simply the nature of the writing itself. In place of interesting plot or endearing characters, we have wholesome fun that sometimes drops a bit flat in its effort to be comic and clever.

The show truly belongs to Harrison Floy, the unspeakably smarmy conman (think Meredeith Wilson's potrayal of Harold Hill without any of the redeeming aspects), portrayed by Nathaniel Jones. Jones is truly the bright spot of the show, with great timing, talented voice, and a comically slimy and devious performance.

Nathaniel Jones portrays the slimy Harrison Floy

A big disappointment in the show is Hubert Oglethorpe protrayed by Stuart Baker. He was evidently cast for his looks and age, but lacks the ability and in his big number Can't You Just See Yourself? frequently struggled to find pitch. Eric Emans gave a flat performance as Harry Longstreet, but in his second act duet with Gail Foster, as Sarah Lonstreet, I Still Get Jealous, he shocked the audience with a beautiful, rich baritone voice.  

The direction seemed to really miss the mark in terms of sharp, surprising comic choices, and the attempts at slapstick felt highly under-rehearsed. Considering this was a musical, the vocals were also surprisingly lackluster. Despite the best efforts of one half of the ensemble, the other half seemed to feel their numbers were a burden and half-heartedly whimpered them.Overall the actors simply were not confident, and considering that the material they started with was not great, led to a disappointing performance, with the notable exception of Nathaniel Jones.