‘Saturday’s Voyeur’ is having a ‘Pop-In’ 41st year

BY TONY HOBDAY

Thanks to the plethora of sometimes inane (OK, mostly) markers added to Utah’s culture1 and politics over the last year, playwrights Allen Nevins and Nancy Borgenicht have scribed a truly delightful Saturday’s Voyeur. And thanks in large part to the brilliance of the entire cast, and direction by Cynthia Fleming, Voyeur 2019 should go down as one of Salt Lake Acting Company’s best productions.

In a press release, Fleming said about this production of Voyeur, “Our intention at SLAC [this season] was to present works that entertain, inspire, and hopefully begin to help heal the cultural divide in our nation — or at least explore the realities of what it’s like to live in such a divided country. This year’s production of Voyeur is — surprisingly — an irreverent companion piece to The Cake, in that we hold a magnifying glass over extreme thinking on both sides of the aisle, in hopes to point out the ridiculousness of remaining a polarized culture.” She then added, “As a theatre company, we’re once again trying to remind our audiences that at the end of the day, no matter what our viewpoints are, we’re all in this together.”

And as a theatre company, I feel like once again they achieved this feat, noted to a roaring crowd at curtain closing.

As in years past, Voyeur 2019 features a few return characters (exaggerated inflections of Utah’s finest targets) including Mitt Romney (Mitt Rominey), Joseph Smith, and Gayle Ruzicka (Gayle Godzicka); as well as certain leaders of the free world — or more so, the not-so-free world — that need not an introduction here.

And a new character this year is Mary Pop-In, an Angel Moroni of sorts, who is hilariously portrayed by 10- year veteran Voyeur, Annette Wright. On this note, other well-known return actors include Robert Scott Smith, Justin Ivie, and Dan Larrinaga — all of whom were brilliant, but I want to shine a light on Smith and Larrinaga who played multiple roles with amazing intricacy. I mean having several costume changes throughout with missing a beat is ... well, a grand feat.

The “newbies in the house” also were absolutely fantastic — Daisy Allred, Fiona Hannan, Bradley Hatch, Aalliyah Ann, Jacob Weitlauf, Madi Cooper, Julie Silvestro Waite, and Matthew Tripp.

If you’re a Voyeur virgin, this 40-plus year old production is a musical. Each year, original songs really make the show. And this year, was no diffierent. I found myself bucking in my seat to “Ride an Elder”, and if anyone could actually find “50 Ways to Name Your Gender”, it is Nancy Borgenicht.

Saturday’s Voyeur continues through Sep. 1, 2019, at Salt Lake Acting Company, 168 W. 500 North, Salt Lake City. Tickets available at saltlakeactingcompany.org.