The depiction of a retirement home is not a topic one traditionally sees in the theater. However, the residents of Happy Pleasant Valley Senior Apartments, a retirement community displayed in the world premiere of “Happy Pleasant Valley: A Senior Sex Scandal Murder Mystery Musical,” shows elders more vibrant than any younger age group.
In the show, playwright Min Kahng explored the topic of sexuality, intergeneration relationships and mystery to explain the comedy alongside the fears within an aging population. TheatreWorks, alongside Center Repertory Company in Walnut Creek, helped bring Kahng’s long-awaited story to life with a cast that can sing, dance and have dynamic roles with screams and great comedic timing.
The play’s most important creative venture was its original music that contextualizes the quirks, passions and fears of the characters. All the songs ranged in various genres such as disco, rock and rap, and it was a creative way to explain the various age groups involved in the show. The songs helped move the plot along and elevate the show to reach wider audiences for those who enjoy both Broadway musicals and drama.
The play’s set takes one into a shared living community, with residents roaming the halls and spying on each other. It doesn’t take long for everyone to find the latest gossip and spread it among themselves. The latest drama out of the facility is June (Emily Kuroda) and her endless list of boyfriends. Every time she sleeps with them, they drop dead, and people around her accuse her of involvement in their demises.
June’s granddaughter Jade (Sophie Oda), a famous TikToker, was asked by her estranged mother (Rinabeth Apostol) to check in on her grandmother and help her move after the series of events. It had been three years since June last saw Jade and there have been unspoken family issues since she was born. Dean (Ezra Reaves, but played by Miller Liberatore on opening night when I saw the play) is June’s videographer, and Jade recruited her to assist her with the move. Jade, however, did not agree to go visit her grandmother out of the goodness of her heart but as a selfish way to improve her follower count to show her fans a charity performance.
Jade believed her visit would be a boring experience, but she was soon blind-sided by the personalities in the community center. Everyone had a story to tell and lived a full life for the audience to explore. When Jade and Dean arrived, they were shocked to see June’s ongoing secret investigation to find who was framing her for the deaths. We soon get to peek into every character’s life and see how they could be a possible suspect. It was great to see an homage to a great detective series through suspect interviews and the use of digital screens to highlight a clue. The grandmother was also a serious fan of Jessica Fletcher in “Murder, She Wrote,” a show that celebrates an aging woman who uses her wits to solve any case.
Residents such as Bernice (Jacqueline de Muro), a talkative and oversharing frenemy of June who is always aware of the latest trends and Danny Scheie (Mort), the husband of DeeDee (Cindy Goldfield) who was in the closet for most of his marriage and Vicki (Lucinda Hitchcock Cone), an eccentric former ranger who is obsessed with squirrels, are examples of characters who live enriched lives. They show anyone can try something new at any age and act on their goals. These characters stood out to me as real-life people who have well-rounded hobbies and continue to be active well into their older ages.
The play is not just the search for a murderer, but digs into a family that has been torn apart. Jade for her whole life was not aware of her grandmother’s secrets until she began to spend more time with her. Later in the play Jade begins to unravel and is at a crossroads with whether to help her grandmother despite all the pain she caused her family. There are a lot of hard decisions made in this play, but every character has a good sense of humor that can carry them through their darkest moments.
For more information and to buy tickets, visit theatreworks.org/mainstage/hpv/.
