‘Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals’ comes to DuBois
— Courtesy photo
By Andy Stine
astine@altoonamirror.com
“The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals” was only created in 2018, and the Reitz Theater Players in DuBois will be performing it from April 17-19 and again from April 23-25.
Andy Benson, who is a Reitz Theater board member and past president of the organization, said it’s a musical that’s filled with satire.
“It’s about an average, white-collar guy named Paul Matthews,” Benson said. “He doesn’t care for musical theatre. There’s a meteor that crashes to earth nearby, and the residents of his town are slowly becoming alien-type zombies that are singing and dancing like they’re in a musical.
“It’s a parody. Everyone starts singing and dancing and they try to make everyone else sing and dance. Of course, Paul Matthews doesn’t like that.”
The musical will be directed by Kari Trapana.
“The Guy Who Doesn’t Like Musicals” has mature language and adult content.
“It’s not for kids,” Benson said. “It’s a great parody and it’s good satire, but I should say it’s not for children.
“We want people to know it’s a musical, of course, but it’s not a typical one. There’s a lot of younger people I know that are interested in it.”
The Reitz Theater, which is on Scribner Avenue in DuBois, was built in 1887 and served as a church until 1992. The stage was built that year, and later the theater presented its first production of “Steel Magnolias.”
The auditorium was renovated in 2014, and the backstage was heavily renovated from 2019-24.
Benson, who is employed at the Brockway Center for Arts and Technology, said the Reitz Theater Players are always looking for new people to be part of future productions.
“People of all ages can get involved,” Benson said. “We have a lot of people that prefer to be on-stage performing and acting. We also have people that are very into the behind the scenes stuff. A lot of people will do both.
“For example this one, we’ll have people perform in, and the next one they’ll be on the stage crew. There’s a lot of good people here, but there’s always room for new faces.
“We’re always looking for people that might be new to it or maybe haven’t been around for a while, or someone who did theatre a long time ago and wants to get back into it.”
The Reitz Theater will perform three more plays through the remainder of 2026, including the next one in July when “Sweeney Todd” will take the stage. Auditions for “Sweeney Todd” will be on April 19 and 20 from 6 to 8:30 p.m., and again on April 26 from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
Show times for “The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals” are at 7 p.m. each day, with the exception of a Sunday matinee on April 19, which will start at 2 p.m.
Tickets are $20 and can be purchased online at reitztheater.littleboxoffice.com.