Why be one thing when you can be everything else? Not a Smart? Not a Brave? Not a Snake? Well, don’t worry, there’s still the Puffs! They’ll take you! They take everyone. They’re no one’s favorite house and they fail… a lot. But it’s okay. They’re Puffs. (HI!) Small Town Stars Theatre is getting its first show of the 2021 season underway in the new Panther Performing Arts Center (formerly North Carroll High School) this summer. And how appropriate that their production of Puffs (Or: Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic) should be up and running during a certain wizard-who-lived’s birthday? (July 31!? DUH.) Directed by Miranda Secula (who in true Puffs style handed this reviewer an upside-down, inside-out program…because she wanted to authenticate my Puffs experience THAT MUCH) this Potterific-spoof play by Matt Cox covers the least likely, most disastrously ordinary ‘house’ from that super-secret-but-totally-not-secret school of— erm… magic and magic. A hilarious send-up to Potter culture, poking fun at all the obvious plot holes brought about (largely by their cinematic incarnations), this cast of just eleven covers upwards of three-dozen roles and gives you all the chuckles you need to enjoy a hot summer night this season.
Some technical issues aside— mainly phantom sound levels vanishing, (though Sound Operator Jacob Single assures me that “the really big people-freezing snake did it” and that he will have it vanquished and returned to normal before the next audience arrives.) and some flickering lights that were questionable in their intentionality (though Lighting Designer Jacob Bartholow points a blaming wand at that peevy poltergeist— er what was his name?)— the show is well paced, hilariously hokey, corny, and downright campy. The script may not be everyone’s cup of tea, especially as it’s somewhat lackluster in places but that’s Matt Cox’s problem and not Miranda Secula and her amazing band of merry players.
Technical Director and Scenic Designer Dakota Rosell has crafted a fun and quirky set (a deceptively simple wall run with four alcove doors, disrupted by each of the four ‘house’ banners, the iconic red, green, yellow, and blue with their matching animal silhouettes grafted onto the colors) which enables maximum shenanigans throughout the production. This is particularly true during “year seven” where the cast encounters a Benny-Hill-Scooby-Doo ‘round the round’ style chase in and out of the ‘doorways’ between students and “Death Buddies.” (If the great big snake who ate the sound cues and volume levels could regurgitate it, particularly here, some hilarious background music to add to the insanity of this scene would be really great.) Lighting Designer Jacob Bartholow compliments Rosell’s set with some cool effects, several of which involve shades of green. Putting Bartholow’s lights together with the sound design, you get rapid-paced delivery of quick scenic shifts to illustrate the passing of time, particularly between classes. (Micro-blackouts with the school bell ringing and kids shifting their physical stances on stage— BOOM. 13-classes in 30 seconds.)
It wouldn’t be much of a stage show about the least favorite house in the magic-castle-school if there weren’t some killer costumes featured all throughout the performance. Costume Designer Jennifer Secula wins the Fashion-Wizard-Cup for coming up with creative and cheesy ways to help some of those ‘quick change’ moments live up to their namesake. Secula must have one of those infinity-bags— you know, the one the bushy-haired-know-it-all took on the run so she could have everything they’d ever need including a living portrait but not food during year seven?— as her wardrobe space because the sheer amount of wizard robes, hats, scarves, glasses, accessories, and other sartorial paraphernalia seems limitless. Court Zeitler in particular seems to get slapped with the ‘ever-shifting-teacher’ roles and has to be several different professors in a matter of mere minutes— the yellow crushed felt fedora to represent the sprouting fondness of the professor of Herbology is one of the best— and Secula’s never-ending supply of fashion pieces aids these transitions smoothly. Double shoutout to Secula’s atrociously loud and vibrant ‘80’s party jackets’ featured during Xavia Jones’ flashback scene and that way too cool for school bath robe for Mr. Voldy.
Miranda Secula lets the cast run wild with the campy, over-the-top theatrics of this production. Matt Cox should be proud. There are probably half-a-dozen moments of deep serious emotions happening during this production and Secula really gets the cast to double down on those, playing them for earnest truth and honest happening. She’s picked a great bunch of performers to take up the burden of being this ragtag frazzled group of “Puffs” and they make the show tons of fun. There’s a lot of great coordination of ridiculous moments like the ‘Butter-buzzed’ common-room party or ‘Groupify!’ when four Puffs (Liam Rousselle, Court Zeitler, Olivia Ward, and Dakota Rosell) attempt to practice their ‘Stupifey’ charm. At the same time. On each other. Secula finds a way to safely execute these moments on stage while intensifying them for maximum audience hilarity and enjoyment. Also, there’s bubbles. For the ‘bathtub’ scene and not only are they awesome? But Secula takes safety-first as a true virtue, giving the show’s narrator some extra labor to scrub up the floor when that scene ends. Go safety! (That seems Puff-appropriate.)
Working from the bottom-up of the very Puff-appropriate program seems a great way to tackle this cast and give them their due. Each of the actors is credited as their ‘Primary Puff and Others’ though sometimes it’s the “and others” that really makes them noteworthy! This is the exact case with Olivia Ward playing “Susie Bones and Others”…primarily the Wizard-Boy-Who-Keeps-Living-To-Save-The-World. Ward is hilarious in her presentation of ‘that famous wizard boy’, skipping gaily around the stage as if that-wizarding-boy couldn’t have a care in the world. (A hilarious juxtaposition to what we all know to be true about that particular wizarding boy’s life.) Ward’s a great double-puppeteer as well, often carrying a wig on one hand and a wig-on-a-stick in the other to represent the bushy-haired know-it-all and penultimate youngest ginger best friends of ‘that wizard.’
Hannah Worley plays the epitome of a bubbleheaded wind-tunnel-between-the-ears dip when she takes up her role as “Sally Perks”, the Puff with puffs for brains. And while it is hilarious to watch Worley totter around the stage doing what it is this Sally character does best (we don’t really know because— well— watch her and you’ll see what I mean) Worley is equally hilarious as the ‘Malfoy’ (wearing a giant stuffed-snake turban) and as Bippy the wibbly-wobbly House Elf!
Megan Friedman is equal parts air-headed in her portrayal of Leanne and might be the posterchild for this particular type of Puff. Completely clueless but super chipper about her cluelessness, Friedman flounces about the stage with squeals of glee, particularly when her character thinks that the entire school has showed up to her ‘slumber party’ in year three (when everyone has to sleep in the Great Hall because— Sirius-ly? Some bad dude broke out of Wizard jail. But fear not— the school is totally safe. Probably.) Friedman is also Ginny at one point, but like year2 Ginny, stumbling emo-blind through her woes of a dark-controlling diary and its hilarious.
Finch!! (Add the Pierrepont and you’ve got a whole different show!) Played by the charismatic and hilarious Liam Rousselle, J. Finch talks about J. Finch in third person and is this too-cool-for-school crazy cad who could totally be in literally any other house except he’s basically still a Puff. When he starts melting down (every time Friedman’s character tells him he’s imaginary) and going back to “the petrified place” it’s hilarious. Mad shoutout to Rousselle’s physical skills (I’m a dork, I watch for micro-moments like these) when he’s in petrified mode, getting wheeled in, he hovers through the whole scene, perfectly still on the tips of his toes. (Probably a master at illusion by doing that with just the foot that’s upstage? But still!) And let’s not forget when he becomes the totally obnoxious, chauvinistic Zac Smith— head of SPORTSBALL for the Puffs. What a jerk! Rousselle is loads of fun in all of his roles but these two are the most impressive.
Court Zeitler, again given the Puff role of Hannah is actually way more notable as the 40 professors he plays or better yet the maniacal do-badder witch-mom of Megan Jones! What would the plants think— of this crazy double casting? The sprouting head of Herbology Professor being portrayed by the same actor as a big baddie? WHAT? Zeitler has the character differentiation down pat and does a great job flipping voices around, in and out of little British affectations as various characters require. Ironically, Zeitler and Ernie Mac actor Dakota Rosell ‘share’ a role. While Zeitler starts off as the school’s Headmaster, Rosell picks it up by the time the Puffs enter year three. And there’s a hilarious little nod to the fact that we switched actors between movie two and movie three (sorry, Richard Harris, death comes for us all in the end) and “no one noticed that our Headmaster is like a completely different guy?” You can catch a great many of Rosell’s antics throughout the show as varying other professors as well. Like his ‘Real Mister Moody’ (and holler! He looks just a little like David Tennant, which is hilarious because David Tennant played Barty Crouch Jr., the guy who posed as Fake-Moody for most of the ‘fourth year.’)
All hail the coolest Puff there is and was— Cedric! Who, for reasons known only to Cedric, keeps going off to bed. And everybody follows. In their own bed!! Rodney Mitchell is hilarious and has that suave, supportive charm masterfully in hand when it comes to portraying the only thing worthwhile to ever come out of Puff-House. (Seriously— you almost feel extra bad when Cedric— erm— Spoilers? Because Mitchell is so damn cool!) But fear not. The most ridiculous of cross-casts presents Mitchell with a chance to show off his wicked dark side too. He gets to play— you guessed it— Mr. Voldy! And boy does Mitchell master that serpentine hissing sound that we all expect to hear from that “Creep-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named.” His comic timing is pretty on point too.
Alanna Kiewe is the show’s Narrator. (Because like Spamalot, and they’ve even put her in a burgundy blazer that half represents private school and half replicates the Historian from the aforementioned musical, there needs to be a guiding force, a conduit between show and audience, to keep us from getting hopelessly lost in the bowels of this crazy, enjoyable plotless trainwreck.) Kiewe is a delight, full of peppy enthusiasm and solid comic delivery. She’s loaded with expressible emotions that really help the audience laugh a little longer when it comes to all of the shenanigans in the show. Kiewe even signals when it’s time for the intermission and time for the “19 years later epilogue”, which is a critical component to who and why her character belongs in this show in the first place!
Completely made up for the purposes of Puffs are the three leading characters Wayne Hopkins (Johnny Alderman), Oliver Rivers (Jacob Gorham), and Megan Jones (Bella Carstea). While they aren’t carbon copies of Harry, Ron, and Hermione (because they basically take everyone else’s secondary and tertiary and quartranary sidelines and rope them into their personal narratives) they are good fun and they are a great focus for the show. Alderman is the Potter-foil. He’s a non-magic, living with non-magic relatives who suddenly discovers he’s a wizard! Alderman is full of exuberance and desperately wants to be important. Gorham’s Oliver Rivers character is ultra-nerdy and spastically good at math. Carstea tackles the moody, emo, and edgy Megan Jones. She’s got a permanent ice chip on her shoulder, which inevitably melts the more Puff-y she becomes. This trio of talent really gives a rousing performance as Wayne, Oliver, and Megan respectively. And their story becomes one that, despite laughing all the way through, you actually care about.
They are not a threat! Please be their friend! They are not a threat! Please be there— well— go see their show? Unlike the Puffs, Small Town Stars Theatre is not failing. They’re succeeding with this production of Puffs and it’s a great thing to support their efforts. It’s funny, it’s well-done, they give you chocolate (but fake chocolate because, let’s face it— they’re really Puffs at heart!) Grab your wand, leave your invisibility cloak at home, and apparate? Portkey? Maybe just drive to the Panther Performing Arts Center and check out Puffs this weekend only!
Running Time: 2 hours and 30 minutes with one intermission
Puffs (Or: Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic) plays through August 1, 2021 with Small Town Stars Theatre in the main auditorium of the new Panthers Performing Arts Center— 1400 Panther Drive in Hampstead, MD. Tickets are available at the door or in advance online.
For a trailer of this radical production, click here.
