Under regular circumstances, there would be little theatrical significance to Legacy Theatre’s musical revue “John Denver & Other Great Storytellers.” Featuring a solitary singer/guitarist on a basically bare stage, performing some 20 easy-listening hits without any of the usual showbiz razzle-dazzle (or even a traditional script), it isn’t so much a full-fledged theater production as it is an intimate folk-music concert.
Then again, under the hardly regular circumstances of the past six months (and counting), as Atlanta’s theater scene has been entirely upended and largely shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic, the chance to see and experience any live performance at all, regardless of its form or fashion, is long overdue — and essentially reason enough to rejoice.
More power to co-founding Legacy artistic director Mark Smith. Other local troupes have mainly resorted to programming virtual play readings or similar online streaming content, but earlier this summer, Smith put to use roughly two acres of lawn surrounding Legacy’s existing theater building in the Fayette County community of Tyrone.
From a newly constructed, two-tiered wooden platform of a stage, Smith and company mounted outdoor renditions of the popular musicals “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” and “Smoke on the Mountain.” Seats were configured in clusters, depending on the number of people in each party, and then separated by at least six or more feet. (Smith says audience capacity is being limited to 170, “what we can safely accommodate with social distancing.”)
I erred on the side of caution when it came to (not) seeing or reviewing either of those two shows. With a proven talent like Chase Peacock headlining “John Denver & Other Great Storytellers,” however — and after sitting through my fair share of Zoom-oriented “webinar” presentations over the last few months — I was finally ready for a good, old-fashioned return to some semblance of normality.
To be sure, you can’t get much more normal or old-fashioned than a John Denver revue. In addition to well-known Denver standards like “Sunshine on My Shoulders,” “Rocky Mountain High,” “Annie’s Song,” “Take Me Home, Country Roads” and “Calypso,” Peacock also delivers solid versions of Jim Croce’s “Time in a Bottle,” Gordon Lightfoot’s “If You Could Read My Mind” and Harry Chapin’s “The Cat’s in the Cradle.” (A slight quibble: What, no Cat Stevens?)
Credit: STEVE THRASHER
Credit: STEVE THRASHER
Peacock, an undeniably accomplished musician, is a veteran of Atlanta’s musical-theater scene. Interestingly, the Sharpsburg native made his professional debut in a 2007 Legacy production of “High School Musical,” in a role he eventually reprised in the national touring company production of the show.
After a stint on Broadway in the Green Day-inspired musical “American Idiot,” he relocated back here, where he has starred around town in such shows as “Evita” and “Miss Saigon” at Serenbe, “Catch Me If You Can” and “The Wedding Singer” with Atlanta Lyric, and, most recently, Horizon’s wonderful “Once” earlier this year.
With his writing partner, Jessica De Maria, Peacock also composes his own musicals — one of which, “The Pretty Pants Bandit,” is slated to premiere at Georgia Ensemble in the spring. Although he works in a passing plug for that show during some of his banter between Denver numbers, he doesn’t tease any songs from it. But he does perform a couple from an upcoming Legacy musical (newly written and composed by Smith) about the Celtic theologian Pelagius.
The promise of those two wholly original productions certainly gives a theatergoer hope for the future. For now, even the more cynical of them, who ordinarily might scoff at the thought of attending a John Denver cabaret, may be content to settle for what they can get: 70 or so minutes of nostalgic music, nicely executed by an engaging performer, in a communal environment that almost feels like its very own blast from the past.
THEATER REVIEW
“John Denver & Other Great Storytellers”
Through Oct. 4. 7:30 p.m. Fridays; 3 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays; 7:30 p.m. Saturday (Sept. 26); 7 p.m. Sunday (Sept. 27). $15-$35. Legacy Theatre, 1175 Senoia Road, Tyrone. 404-895-1473. thelegacytheatre.org.
Bottom line: Nothing great, but, now more than ever, good enough.
