From the first time I attended a show by IMPRINT Theatreworks, I could tell they were exceptional in most every way. They went out of their way to make the audience feel welcome during the curtain speech. They chose unorthodox content. They were palpably exhilarated and you could feel it. Founder Ashley White, et al were possessed of a sweetness, an authenticity, a radiance that tickled your spine like a lightning rod. After that I always looked upon those opening nights with loopy anticipation.
I daresay this pandemic has been something worse than a buzzkill and something less than a catastrophe. But based upon my previously sublime experience with IMPRINT I was stoked (albeit curious) to see how this intrepid theatre troupe would tackle 45’s onslaught on live entertainment. I needn’t have worried. Raise You Up! was a musical revue brimming with earnest warmth and cunning ingenuity, designed to appeal to our shared humanity as performers, artists, technicians, “creators” and lovers of the Arts. IMPRINT has always shown thoughtfulness and respect to everyone involved in making a show a success, including those in the seats. And they’ve always had a knack for dealing in the currency of enthusiasm.
Rise you up! Interlaced off the cuff, yet poignant testimonials to how the recent crisis has brought us together. Unlike the PSA’s we’re subjected to on television, that suggest conundrums and impractical slogans, Raise You Up! seemed to come from a place of down to earth, jovial, anecdotal wisdom that felt therapeutic and helpful. There were musical numbers that involved the entire company, a clever tongue-in-cheek sendup of Kander and Ebb’s “Cell Block Tango” (by way of Henry VIII’s Six Wives) a turbulent cover of Morisette’s “You Oughtta Know”, and numerous other pieces including rock and roll from Lizzie! (their past musical of the life of Lizzie Borden) Murder Ballad, Bring Him Home and Ghost Quartet.
Like past productions of IMPRINT Theatreworks, Raise You Up! never lacked for audacity, energy, professionalism and craft. IMPRINT always gives 200% and they have a gift for making us feel jazzed, surprised, for stirring up our molecules. They are so dedicated to giving us the best they can muster, yet they are crisp while avoiding the slickness of theaters with deeper pockets. And how could you not be delighted by their cast of 20+ actors, singers, musicians…? I came away with a profound sense of gratitude, and appreciation for the warmth and humanity they offer, every time they raise the curtain, and invite us into their realm of the miraculous and beguiling.