Totally Electric

This July, the days of Day-Glo, jelly shoes and Jordache jeans will return to Bradenton’s Riverfront Theater with Totally Electric, the new ’80s musical sensation, written and directed by Clearwater resident Jonathan Van Dyke. The show, billed as "a musical hall pass to the ’80s," follows a group of high school students on a musical journey through the last days of their senior year, circa 1989. Featuring hit songs from the decade and plenty of pop culture references, Totally Electric has proven itself a hit with audiences of all ages. 

The 2 p.m. matinee on Thursday July 3 will be signed for the hard of hearing.

Totally Electric begins at the high school reunion for the West Lake High School Class of 1989, where we meet the Teppermans, coordinators of the reunion, and some of their fellow classmates. When the evening’s entertainment, the award-winning West Lake show choir “The Syncopated Sensations,” are unable to perform, we flash back to 1989, and the Sensations’ last weeks of high school. Each with a unique personality, the Sensations find friendship and camaraderie in their group, while being bullied by the “Soc’s,” the mean kids whose primary goal seems to be making the Sensations’ last days of high school a miserable experience. However, the Sensations are ready to show the rest of West Lake High School what they are made of as the year’s final pep rally approaches. Through their determination, talent, and friendship, and with the help of some new friends, the Sensations will leave their mark on West Lake forever! Totally Electric was originally produced at the Duplex Theater in New York City in March 2007, and has since played to enthusiastic audiences in Tampa, Orlando, and Riverview, Florida, and New Orleans, Louisiana. In addition, theaters across the country are showing interest in producing this little show that’s turning into a big hit!

The talented cast includes Kali Westphalen, a frequent performer on the Manatee Players stage in numerous shows including Camelot and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.