Review: Mystic Pizza at Paper Mill Playhouse - Millburn, NJ (7.5/10)
Cooked lightly with a solid base, a little spice, and a heap of extra cheese
The Pizza Wars of the Northeast United States have existed since the days of the thirteen colonies (probably). Everyone has their own hot and ready opinion about why their state has the best pizza, even governors who playfully assert their dominance on Twitter. As a New Jersey resident, born and raised, I personally have spent my thirty years of life praising at the altar of the boardwalk slice after a day down the shore - though everyone’s mileage may vary. Such is also the case with the latest franchise, ahem, production of Mystic Pizza, a musical based on the 1988 film featuring a young Julia Roberts.
Mystic Pizza opens in New Jersey after multiple productions across the country, including most recently in Florida, California, and Maine at the Ogunquit Playhouse, mostly unchanged along the way. Set against Nate Bertone’s rustic New England shore town set, the story follows the lives and loves of a trio of waitresses coming of age at a pizza joint in small town Connecticut. (The opening number of John Mellencamp’s “Small Town” puts firm punctuation on that detail.) This includes Portuguese sisters Daisy (a spicy Krystina Alabado) and Kat (a sweet Alaina Anderson, as well as their commitment-phobic friend Jojo (played by Deanna Giulietti with comically manic verve not unlike Amy in Sondheim’s Company). Mystic’s shop owner and sauce matron, Leona, holds firm as their mother hen even while dealing with a lack of (financial) dough. In this role, Jennifer Fouche keeps the girls in line with wisecracks, wisdom, and powerhouse vocals.
When the girls break off into their own tales of love and heartbreak after the dog days of summer have passed, each actress has their own unique opportunity to share their story through a unique shuffling of 1980s pop hits. Alabado’s Daisy fares the best when gets down and dirty with Vincent Michael (playing a college dropout with a sizable trust fund), going from a frisky “I Think We’re Alone Now” to a fiery “Hit Me With Your Best Shot”. Meanwhile, Anderson’s Kat finds her (beautiful) voice with a reprise of Wilson Phillip’s “Hold On” following being jilted by her married lover, and Giulietti and F. Michael Haynie (the punk rock teddy bear recently of The Heart of Rock & Roll, another recent entry into throwback theatre) rock out to “Addicted to Love” and “Mad About You”. However, back at the pizza joint, the arrival of a snotty local food critic has Leona and the girls on edge, as his review will make or break the shop’s already imperiled fortunes. All they need is a miracle as they keep hangin’ on and, surprisingly, they get one in the form of an effusive review that sets up our quartet for a very happy ending.
Much like the titular food, it’s piled high with cheese and a panoply of toppings that make it not just good in times of comfort, but also supreme and will leave you wanting to come back for a second or third slice. Go into the Mystic, buy yourself a ticket and bom apetite.
Mystic Pizza runs through February 23, 2025 at Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ. Tickets are available from $35 through the theatre’s official website.