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style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face=Georgia><FONT color=#111111>Lakeland Civic Theatre finds the fortitude in
‘Freaky Friday’</FONT></FONT></SPAN></B></P>
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align=center><B><SPAN
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face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN></B> </P>
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style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 8pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt"
align=center><FONT face=Georgia><STRONG><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat; BACKGROUND-ATTACHMENT: scroll; BACKGROUND-POSITION: 0% 0%; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"> </SPAN></STRONG><SPAN
style='BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; FONT-FAMILY: ; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; COLOR: ; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; mso-bidi-font-family: arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in'>Bob
Abelman</SPAN></FONT><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'></SPAN></P>
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style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt"
align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style='BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; FONT-FAMILY: ; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; COLOR: ; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; mso-bidi-font-family: arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in'><FONT
face=Georgia>Cleveland Jewish News, The News Herald, The Morning
Journal</FONT></SPAN></I><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'></SPAN></P>
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style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face="Times New Roman"></FONT></SPAN> </P>
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face=Georgia><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
color=#111111>Best known for writing serious stuff, including the music for Tony
Award- and </FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'>Pulitzer
Prize-winning “Next to Normal,” composer Tom </SPAN><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
color=#111111>Kitt also has a history of rescuing the occasional lightweight
stray.</FONT></SPAN></FONT></P>
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style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
color=#111111 face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><FONT
face=Georgia><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
color=#111111>In 2011, he helped write the music for a screen-to-stage
adaptation of “Bring It On,” which was a teenage angst non-musical in its
original incarnation with the tagline “</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat; BACKGROUND-ATTACHMENT: scroll; BACKGROUND-POSITION: 0% 0%; COLOR: "><FONT
color=#252525>Two squads, one mission: claim the title at the National
Cheerleading Championships.” </FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
color=#111111></FONT></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
color=#111111 face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><FONT
face=Georgia><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
color=#111111>In 2016, he wrote the score for the fantasy comedy “Freaky
Friday.” Based on a fluffy piece of teen fiction by Mary Rodgers, “Freaky
Friday” is about </FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial">a warring
control-freak mother and rebellious adolescent daughter who accidently trade
souls for a day</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: "><FONT color=#111111>
courtesy of an enchanted object</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial">. The novel was
turned into a </SPAN><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
color=#111111>1976 Disney film, a lesser known 1995 TV movie on Disney-owned
ABC, and a 2003 cinematic remake before becoming a musical comedy with no
Broadway aspirations.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
color=#111111 face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P
style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT
face=Georgia><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial">Most of Kitt’s
songs, </SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: "><FONT color=#111111>written
with long-time collaborator Brian Yorkey,</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"> </SPAN><SPAN
lang=EN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: en"><FONT
color=#373737>are tuneful but unremarkable affairs that don’t serve to move
along the storyline or contribute to character development.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>And the show has no shortage of
innocuous, high-energy production numbers like “Just One Day” to keep audiences
entertained if not particularly engaged intellectually or emotionally.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It is, in fact, </FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: "><FONT color=#111111>the musical and thematic
antithesis of the complicated and melancholic “Next to
Normal.”</FONT></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P
style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: "><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"><FONT
color=#111111 face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN></SPAN><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: en"></SPAN> </P>
<P
style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
lang=EN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: en"><FONT
face=Georgia><FONT color=#373737>But then there’s “Parents Lie” and “Bring My
(Baby) Brother Home,” which remind us that the guys who actually wrote “Next to
Normal” are in the room.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P
style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline; BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
lang=EN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: en"><FONT
color=#373737 face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><FONT
face=Georgia><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style='BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; FONT-FAMILY: ; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; COLOR: ; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; mso-bidi-font-family: arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in'>For
more of this article, go to </SPAN></I><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
color=#0000ff>www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/bob_abelman/</FONT></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>