“MIXTAPE” at Lamb’s Players Theatre

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Aired on KSDS-FM on 7/26/19

RUN DATES: 6/21/19 – 8/11/19

VENUE: Lamb’s Players Theatre

How would you like to travel back in time and revisit the music of your youth?

That’s what happens to a group of Gen-Xers in “Mixtape” at Lamb’s Players Theatre. By means of some weird time-warp, they take a musical journey back to the ‘80s, starting with their early TV memories, from “Sesame Street” to “G.I. Joe,” moving on to “Diff’rent Strokes,” “Cheers” and “Hill St. Blues.”

Then comes high school, first love and heartbreak. Seminal movies, fast cars, sex, Jazzercise and college are followed, inexorably, by employment and disillusionment.

Through it all, relationships and missed conversations are expressed through cassette mixtapes, music compilations that mark a time and leave an indelible message. Whether or not you’re in that ‘80s generation, music does tell the story of our lives.

“Mixtape” co-creators Jon Lorenz and Colleen Kollar Smith hatched a winner with this buoyant show, which premiered in 2010 and ran for 3½ years. Now, it’s back, tweaked and tightened, with a mostly new, fresh-faced cast, except for two Mixtape veterans: killer singer/actor Joy Yandell and the funny man with the gorgeous voice, David S. Humphrey.

The rest of the ensemble is outstanding, too, and each gets memorably humorous or heartfelt moments. The Lorenz arrangements are fantastic, and Collar Smith’s choreography is jaw-dropping.

Act I is incredibly high-octane, almost frenetic. The medleys are superb; Lorenz really knows how to weave songs together. In Act II, the pace slows down a bit, with more solos and melancholy moments, peppered with tons of comic brio. Over the course of two hours, the creators miraculously cover, sometimes in snippets, some 140 songs. Voice of a generation, indeed.

When they come back to the present, the seven are a little more serious; hopefully, a little wiser; and fully aware of how fast time goes. They just want to make their mark and be remembered. Don’t we all.

With a phenomenal band, superb projections, crazy-creative costumes, and Kerry Meads’ sharp direction, this show is a knockout. Guaranteed to keep you rockin’, spark your memory and touch your heart.