Miniaci PAC: Motherhood The Musical (2 reviews)

GFour Productions launched its world premiere production of Motherhood the Musical at the Miniaci Performing Arts Center on October 8, 2010, after two weeks of previews.

Featuring the hilarious Top 10 Billboard Comedy Hit "The The Kids Are Finally Asleep", the rousing "Costco Queen" and the tender "I'm Danny's Mom", this hysterical and poignant musical is a must see for anyone who is, has, or knows a Mom . It will remind you that it's not just about Motherhood...it's about you.

Lisa Shriver directed a cast that featured Lisa Manuli, Laura Turnbull, Margot Moreland, and Kareema Khouri.  Book and music by Sue Fabisch, musical direction by Johnny Rodgers.

Christine Dolen reviewed for The Miami Herald:

If a key aspect of most theater is how much a show resonates with its intended audience, Motherhood the Musical is well on its way to the sort of sustained success enjoyed by other commercially canny shows aimed at women.

That does not mean, however, that show is a penetrating, impressive or innovative addition to the world of musical theater. It isn't.

(the) show isn't any more illuminating on the subject of motherhood than what playwright-producer Jeanie Linders has said to an older-gal audience in Menopause the Musical. On the other hand, given the huge ongoing success of Menopause, Fabisch could do worse than walk down Linders' lucrative creative path.

Fabisch, whose music has been terrifically arranged and orchestrated by Johnny Rodgers, gets skilled, passionate interpretations of the Motherhood  songs from four multitalented performers. Under the guidance of director-choreographer Lisa Shriver, Lisa Manuli (as mom-to-be Amy), Margot Moreland (as attorney and harried mom Brooke), Laura Turnbull (as stay-at-home mom Barb) and Kareema Khouri (as single mom Tasha) all shine brightly in their solos and group numbers.

Bill Hirschman reviewed for South Florida Theater Review:

Motherhood acts as if it doesn’t aspire to much more than an undemanding and diverting evening of chuckles and tears. But without overtly reaching, composer/lyricist/bookwriter Fabisch plugs into the universality of human experience and delights in the sense of community that it can engender.

Neither Fabisch’s tuneful melodies nor her nimble lyrics would seem anything more than pleasing and inventive by themselves. But paired together – and enhanced by Johnny Rodgers’ arrangements – Fabisch weaves an alchemy that makes them irresistibly infectious and undeniably touching.

Manuli creates a rubber-faced and sweetly daffy Candide-like Amy. Turnbull earns all the best punch lines as the tart-tongued and genuinely weary Barb. Moreland depicts the frazzled demeanor of someone trying to do it without succumbing to schizophrenia. Khouri, the only unfamiliar face in the cast, stops the show every time she stands up to sing.

Motherhood marks the directorial debut of Lisa Shriver who designed the dances for GFour’s Ring of Fire on Broadway in 2005. She competently stages the show, including classic girl-group choreography, but her real accomplishment is the feeling of smooth fluidity and polish that imbues the production.

Motherhood the Musical plays at the Miniaci Performing Arts Center through October 31, 2010.