Encore!

Rating: 4.75/5

A must watch for all fans of musical theater, Encore! is a heartwarming good time.

Kristen Bell brings to Disney+ a wonderfully unique series devoted to the love for performing, musicals, and reconnection. Each episode sees a group of former high school cast mates, getting back together for six days to rehearse and then do a one night encore performance of the show they performed in high school. Some episodes are with a cast of still semi-recent high school grads, in their late 20s and early 30s. Others have people who are reuniting after performing their show almost 40 years prior. Every episode brings these people together, not just to take the stage once again, but to reconnect with the camaraderie that comes along with being in a cast and maybe even finding the love for performing they'd thought they'd lost.

When I got Disney+ awhile back, I remember seeing this show advertised on it and being really excited about the concept and by the fact that it involved Kristen Bell, because I have a tendency to love most of the work she does. For some reason, though I was looking forward to watching this, it somehow found its way to the back burner and it wasn't until just recently that I discovered it again, and boy am I glad I did. This show was the perfect music and cheer filled antidote to an otherwise gloomy time.

What I really love about this show, is that the episodes aren't intended to showcase what marvelous performers everyone in the casts are, it's just meant to exhibit how, no matter the skill level, anyone can do theater and have a great time doing it. It also shows how difficult it can be to make a show look easy. Some episodes, the cast seemed to be able to pick up right where they left off years ago, but others seemed to take awhile to get their performance legs back, and that's what's so wonderful about Encore!; for the most part, it seems very real and has only few moments where it appears anyone is playing to the camera. It does happen every so often on a few episodes, but 95% of the time, it appears genuine. This is especially clear when the cast does their performances and you see their families' reactions in the audience. That's easily one of the best parts of the entire show.

I am a musical theatre nerd, and have been for as long as I can remember, but haven't had a chance to perform in quite some time. Nothing has made me have the urge to get back on the stage more than this show has. It reminded me of everything I loved about being in the musicals I've been lucky enough to participate in. During some of the episodes, I found myself singing along to the songs if I knew the show and reminiscing about my own time being in a high school cast. Encore! is uplifting and all around just really enjoyable.

Encore! is a show where you do not need to watch it from beginning to end. You can easily jump around and pick witch episodes you want to watch first compared to others. My personal favorites are the "Sound of Music" and "Grease" episodes, but that's just me. If you have any interest in it at all, find an episode that focuses on a show you're familiar with and give it a shot, I don't think you'll be disappointed.