The Oregon Children’s Theatre production of Goosebumps the Musical: Phantom of the Auditorium, brought the right level of gentle scares mixed with goofy humor to the Newmark Theatre last weekend. The show, continuing through November 20, is perfect for older grade schoolers through middle schoolers, who could probably empathize with how the dynamics of high school can be just as frightening as what’s lurking in the school basement.
The gist of the plot is that endearingly dorky Brooke and her best friend, goofball Zeke, have been given the lead roles in the high school play, “The Phantom.” But mysterious occurrences threaten to sabotage the play, with spooky messages warning the kids to “Stay Away from My Home Sweet Home.” While the characters deal with jealousy over lead roles and uncertainty over their ability to perform, they learn to work together to solve the mystery. But will the show, indeed, go on?
The level of scare was similar to “Scooby-Doo,” so that no audience members were viewing the musical through their closed fingers. My 8-year-old son loved the lights, the eerie music, and especially when the Phantom “disappears” at the end of the musical. The catchy music included jazz and even ’80s-style rock, with on-point lighting and choreography that evoked an MTV video.
Katie McClanan brought a “Kimmy Schmidt”-level of sweet awkwardness to Brooke (who among us can’t relate to stumbling over their words when meeting an attractive person in high school?), which contrasted nicely with Sophia Takla’s fiercely ambitious yet jealous Tina Powell, Brooke’s understudy for the play. Brendan Long and Skylar Derthick, playing new-kid Brian and best buddy Zeke, respectively, were engaging as competitors for both the play and Brooke’s attention.
For us, the best moment of the show was when the characters practiced their lines for the high school “play”; the characters’ stilted and sincere line readings contrasted sharply and comically with the actors’ dramatic talent, making for quite the meta experience. My son also got a kick out of meeting the actors after the show. They were eminently charming after the play, signing autographs and asking their young audience members how they liked the musical and if they were scared.