REVIEW: Tuck Everlasting (Chalice Theatre)

Chalice Theatre brings the musical Tuck Everlasting to beautiful life in a production that celebrates community, life, and art in a truly loving way.

Photo by D Ohlandt

Every part of this production felt intentional and thoughtful. Direction by Elle Marie Sullivan along with well-executed choreography by Zophia Pryzby, lovely music direction by Krystal Stark, and seamless stage management by Cris Ruthenberg-Marshall kept the story moving swiftly. The focus was crisp. The full cast numbers were continuously entertaining. The music was full and rich. The sightlines were excellent in the rarely seen tennis court staging. The attentive work of the production team made a show that flowed swimmingly.

Riglee Ruth Bryson leads the cast as the precocious “Good Girl Winnie Foster.” Her confident vocals set the tone for the show where so much of the story is driven forward by her curiosity and hunger for life. Sarah M. Walsh and Alison Sheahan as her Mother and Nana rounded out a loving family facing the grief of the late father, gently irritating each other with their expectations of how they should feel in the face of loss in a heartbreakingly understandable way. Their strict world is contrasted by the wild Tucks: Jesse (Sunshine Smith), Miles (Nik Sorocenski), father Angus (Bill Bodie), and mother Mae (Tanya Coyne). Once again, family relationships felt realistic, like the bickering between the two brothers and the younger Jesse feeling like a nuisance or pleading with his pa when he gets caught sneaking around. Bodie and Coyne lead the family with an elegance and focus that made their performances positively electric, from the big musical numbers to the quiet moments.

Robert Christopher Adolphus Lontok-Mullins brought a sweet voice and easy demeanor to the Man in the Yellow Suit. Earle Greene and Callen Ohlandt brought an endearing goofiness to Constable Joe and his protégé Hugo. Special attention should be paid to Manali Simkiss’s Toad who made an impact with limited stage time and their expressive croaks.

The cast featured children, adults, and seniors with a wide variety of artistic backgrounds. This is in keeping with Chalice Theatre’s mission to produce intergenerational theatre. Chalice Theatre is making good on its mission not just to cast intergenerationally but to truly create art with everyone on board. From creating the landscape of the hectic and lively fair to setting the contemplative mood of the lake, the ensemble was always purposeful, believable, and neat.

Of particular note, Zophia Pryzby’s choreography in the final ballet scene and the performers made for a poignant end to a play that asks its lead and its audience to consider so many heady questions. Multiple audience members were misty-eyed.

Costumes by Michelle Harris set the show firmly in time, and the Man in the Yellow Suit’s iconic yellow suit wowed. Scenic design by Diedre Nicholsan-Lamb and lighting design by Ari McSherry filled the space with low profile set pieces (a well-constructed fence, an antique trunk) and focused lighting to great effect.

Tuck Everlasting is a story that relies on your imagination and your curiosity. It asks what it means to be alive, how death affects us, and how love endures. Chalice Theatre brought this beautiful story to life in a way that really let you know that you are in a full community of artists, of people asking the same questions. It will give you hope.

Tuck Everlasting runs through March 21, 2026 at Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington. Tickets are $25 and available on the Chalice Theatre website.