Red Mountain Theatre and UAB Theatre co-presenting Disney's ‘Freaky Friday' in April
This collaboration between Red Mountain Theatre and UAB Theatre was launched in 2024 to allow theater students to work professionally while still in college. The partnership's inaugural production, 'Sister Act,' featured UAB students in more than half the roles in the show's cast and crew.
The two lead roles in 'Freaky Friday' will be played by UAB Head of Musical Theatre Valerie Accetta and student Sammy Sledd. Red Mountain Theatre Singh Artistic Director Roy Lightner, who's an associate professor at UAB, will direct the show. The show's assistant director is UAB senior Matthew Piper.
Alabama State Fair returning to Birmingham Race Course
UAB students make up the majority of the cast and crew for this production. UAB faculty and alumni are also involved in many aspects of the show.
Performances will be Thursdays to Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. with 2 p.m. matinees on Saturdays and Sundays. Ticket information can be found here.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
I took 3 kids and my 70-something mom to see 'Freakier Friday.' No one laughed harder than grandma.
The movie is rated PG — that's "perfect for grandma." This story contains spoilers. Don't say we didn't warn ya. Hello, Yahoo readers. I'm Suzy Byrne, and I've been covering entertainment in this space for over a decade. I'll be the first to tell you I'm no hardcore cinema buff. Since I had a child, though, I've made it a point to see as many kid-friendly movies as possible. Maybe it's because I'm a big kid ✔ and love a cheerful ending ✔. But also, as a busy working parent, getting two hours to turn off my phone, put up my feet and eat whatever I want while my child is fully entertained is the definition of movie magic. So that's what this is — one entertainment reporter + her 10-year-old child + friends seeing family-friendly fare and replying all to you about the experience. Welcome to Kids' Movie Club. Now playing: The adults outnumbered the kids six to three for our family movie trip, which should clue you in that nostalgia was the real star of the Freaky Friday sequel. That said, when we walked into the theater, someone in our group admitted, 'I don't think I even watched Freaky Friday' — and it turns out they weren't alone. Seeing the 2003 original definitely adds context, but our crew — which spanned three generations and two continents (my sister's family was visiting from Australia) — felt the sequel stood on its own just fine without revisiting its predecessor. Jamie Lee Curtis stole the show, especially with my 70-something mom, who guffawed at every senior citizen joke like it was written for her. Lindsay Lohan was like a fast-forwarded version of her younger self; she had the same cadence, delivery and spark. The PG-rated movie isn't chasing Oscars, though; it's chasing laughs and delivers enough of them. With a mix of punchlines about aging and early 2000s nods, it knows exactly who it's playing to. Maybe because it felt a little old school to the 10-year-olds among us, Freakier Friday was a harder sell to the kids than the other movies we've seen this summer. I had to promise to take them to Cat Video Fest first (yes, two hours of cat videos) in exchange for them seeing this. Apparently, they don't hold LiLo in their Y2K hearts the way I do. The plot 🎬 Like in the first film, Freakier Friday has body-swap chaos, but this time it's not just two people in the mix, it's four: Tess (Curtis), her daughter Anna (Lohan), Anna's daughter Harper (Julia Butters) and Anna's soon-to-be stepdaughter Lily (Sophia Hammons). Everyone in my group was confused trying to keep track of who was in whose body. We could have used some good old-fashioned Pop Up Video captions — 'Lily is in Tess's body' — just to stay on track. Saturday Night Live alum Vanessa Bayer has a scene-stealing role in the magical mix-up. From there, most of the film is the four women working to undo the switcheroo while stepping into each other's very different lives. Meanwhile, teens Harper and Lily are on a mission to sabotage Anna's wedding to Lily's dad Eric (Manny Jacinto), which adds another layer of chaos and comedy to the generational tension and family drama. But naturally, the heart of the film is about walking a mile in someone else's shoes — and learning something along the way. Parts that had the kids talking 👧🏻👧🏻👦🏻 Again, the trio of cousins preferred the cat videos to Freakier Friday. After the movie, they were talking about cats. And none of them begged to watch Freaky Friday when we got home. The real highlight for them? The snacks. And the mix-up. In what felt like our own Freakier Friday moment, our server kept bringing us food we hadn't ordered — and couldn't take back. A large popcorn somehow turned into three small ones. Three drinks multiplied to eight. The kids were giggling about it for half the movie. So if Madame Jen had a hand in that little magic trick, thanks. Parts that had the adults talking 👩🏻👩🏻👱🏻♀️🙎🏻♂️👵🏻 Curtis could do no wrong. Whether the therapist turned author Tess was playing pickleball, shopping for senior care items, gushing about her love of Parcheesi or getting her lips plumped, she had us laughing. It was all about the old-age jokes. When they first changed bodies, the zingers came fast: 'I'm bloody decomposing!' My 'butt is so high!' 'My face looks like a Birkin bag left out in the sun to rot.' What the film lacked in plot, it made up for in one-liners about adult diapers, Fixodent, toots, enemas and the giant letter virus that is older people using the oversize font setting on their iPhones, like grandma. The parents weren't spared, either. There were jokes about Coldplay and John Mayer — what we grew up on — as being dated. Not to mention Facebook being a 'database of old people.' (Hold on while I delete my account.) The women were the stars of the show, but the men held their own. Jacinto doing Dirty Dancing was a great moment. I also found myself staring at Chad Michael Murray's hair (he's back as Anna's ex, Jake) and wondered what he's doing to keep it so shiny. Meanwhile, Mark Harmon's return — with a full head of white hair — was shocking in the best way. Of course, the movie had its tropes — the future stepsisters who hate each other, the dead mom and the very soap opera way Eric called off the wedding in a room full of people vs. a side conversation with Anna. But the confetti-filled, crowd-surfing reconciliation scene? I ate it up. Dumb things I searched after the movie 💻 I don't surf. I don't live near the beach. But that didn't stop me from Googling how to get the floral wetsuit Lohan wore. (It's Cynthia Rowley. Yes, I still want it and, no, I don't need it.) Stay for the credits? 🎞️ Yes, it's cute with a lot of funny outtakes, like Curtis biting into 34 donuts to get a scene just right. There's also some cheeky fourth-wall breaking. Trailers 🎥 My daughter is counting down the days until Zootopia 2, but I also got, 'Can we see that?' for films targeting older audiences — A Big Bold Beautiful Journey and Regretting You. It made me wonder: Are we aging out of the kids' movies? Maybe, but I hope we never outgrow watching them together, especially as a family. Looking for more recs? Find your next watch on the Yahoo 100, our daily updating list of the most popular movies of the year.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
'Freaky Friday' director Mark Waters says he wanted to be involved in sequel but 'was not invited to the party'
The filmmaker also says he "heard from quite a few cast members" asking about his absence. Key Points Mark Waters, who directed the 2003 movie Freaky Friday, says he wanted to be a part of the sequel, Freakier Friday. According to a new interview, the filmmaker expressed his interest in serving as an executive producer or a more tertiary role. But Waters says he "was not invited to the party." Freakier Friday brought back most of the cast from its 2003 predecessor, Freaky Friday, including stars Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis — but the sequel didn't involve the original's director, Mark Waters. Waters, who also directed Lohan in Mean Girls, says that wasn't for lack of interest. "Unfortunately, I was not invited to the party," he said in a recent interview with Variety. "I did raise my hand and say I'd love to be involved somehow, even in a kind of godfather aspect or executive producer. But I was not extended an invitation." The new film was directed by Nisha Ganatra (Late Night) and has garnered positive reviews. Picking up two decades after Freaky Friday, it finds mother-daughter duo Tess (Curtis) and Anna (Lohan) once again swapping bodies, though not with each other this time. Waters said he's "very supportive of them making a great new movie," and added. "It would have been nice to be involved but now that I'm not, I sort of compartmentalize it for myself. I need to devote my energy to keep making new, original things that are going to be hits and people can remake them in 20 years. So that's what I'm doing now. You can't worry about the projects that you don't do." The director also said he "heard from quite a few cast members while they were shooting, saying, 'Where the hell are you, Waters?' I have not forsaken you! I'm sorry." Representatives for Disney, the studio behind Freaky Friday and its sequel, didn't immediately respond to Entertainment Weekly's request for comment. Elsewhere in the interview, Waters addressed the original film's depiction of Asian stereotypes and the sequel's efforts to course-correct there. "I was fully aware that it was over the top," he said, "and not in the way that I was trying to insult or make fun of any group. We're doing this just to be absurd." Waters added that actress Rosalind Chao, who plays Chinese restaurant owner Pei-Pei in the two movies, "is a friend and she was in on the joke. But stepping back from it, of course it's absolutely absurd but not in a way that is mean-spirited. Not from my perspective, nor do I think most people who watch the movie think of as being mean-spirited."Waters also said he acknowledged the criticism when it arose. "I remember there was a great reviewer who loved the movie but of course called that s‑‑‑ out," he said. "[Said it] was tone deaf and a little bit over the top. But also noted it wasn't in a way that ruined their enjoyment of the movie. I definitely didn't go, 'How would you ever come up with that?' I'm like, 'They have a point.'" Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly Solve the daily Crossword
New York Post
2 days ago
- New York Post
‘Freaky Friday' director reveals he wasn't invited back for sequel: ‘I did raise my hand'
Even the filmmakers got swapped. Mark Waters, who directed the 2003 film 'Freaky Friday' starring Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis, has revealed that he was never even approached to return for this year's sequel. 10 Mark Waters attends the Netflix premiere of 'He's All That' at the NeueHouse in Hollywood, California, on August 25, 2021. Getty Images Advertisement 10 Mark Waters and Lindsay Lohan behind the scenes of 2003's 'Freaky Friday.' ©Buena Vista Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection 'Yeah, unfortunately, I was not invited to the party,' Waters, 61, told Variety of the sequel in an interview published Friday, Aug. 15. 'I did raise my hand and say I'd love to be involved somehow, even in a kind of godfather aspect or executive producer.' 'But I was not extended an invitation,' he added. Advertisement Despite directing Lohan, 39, and Curtis, 66, in the 2003 'Freaky Friday' remake, the director role ultimately went to Nisha Ganatra when 'Freakier Friday' began production in 2024. 10 Mark Waters attends the special screening of 'Mother of the Bride' at the Bay Theater in Pacific Palisades, California, on May 8, 2024. Getty Images for Netflix 10 Mark Waters and Jamie Lee Curtis behind the scenes of 2003's 'Freaky Friday.' ©Buena Vista Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection However, the 'Mean Girls' director was not disappointed about not being asked to return, and he even supported Lohan, Curtis and the other cast members who returned for the sequel after more than 20 years. Advertisement 'I'm very supportive of them making a great new movie,' he told the outlet. 'It would have been nice to be involved, but now that I'm not, I sort of compartmentalize it for myself.' 'I need to devote my energy to keep making new, original things that are going to be hits, and people can remake them in 20 years,' Waters continued. 'So that's what I'm doing now. You can't worry about the projects that you don't do.' 10 Jamie Lee Curtis as Tess Coleman and Lindsay Lohan as Anna Coleman in 2003's 'Freaky Friday.' ©Buena Vista Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection 10 Jamie Lee Curtis as Tess Coleman and Lindsay Lohan as Anna Coleman in 'Freakier Friday.' ©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection Advertisement The 'Mr. Popper's Penguins' director also revealed that some members of the cast wondered where he was when the sequel began filming. 'It certainly would have been fun, and I heard from quite a few cast members while they were shooting, saying, 'Where the hell are you, Waters?'' he shared. 'I have not forsaken you! I'm sorry.' Picking up 22 years after Anna Coleman (Lohan) and her mother Tess (Curtis) magically swapped bodies in 'Freaky Friday,' 'Freakier Friday' follows Anna and Tess after they swap bodies once again – but this time with Anna's daughter Harper (Julia Butters) and soon-to-be stepdaughter Lily (Sophia Hammons). 10 Jamie Lee Curtis as Tess Coleman and Lindsay Lohan as Anna Coleman in 'Freaky Friday' (2003). ©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection 10 Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan reprising their roles as Tess and Anna Coleman in 'Freakier Friday' (2025). ©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection The cast is rounded out by several returning characters, including Anna's ex-boyfriend Jake (Chad Michael Murray), teacher Mr. Elton (Stephen Tobolowsky) and Anna's little brother Harry (Ryan Malgarini). After the body-swapping sequel's release on Aug. 8, it received mixed reviews – including a particularly 'harsh' write-up from Time magazine. 'No one, as far as we know, actually asked Disney for a sequel to 2003's buoyant, surprisingly unsyrupy generation-gap comedy 'Freaky Friday,'' the outlet wrote. Advertisement 10 Chad Michael Murray as Jake and Lindsay Lohan as Anna in 'Freaky Friday.' ©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection 10 Chad Michael Murray, Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan during the premiere of 'Freakier Friday' at the Hudson Square Theater in New York City. Johns PKI / 'This is a sequel with the sole purpose of cashing in on the fondness people have for the original movie and nothing more,' it added. Advertisement Curtis later took to the comments section of the review to defend her and Lohan's new movie. 'SEEMS a TAD HARSH,' the 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' Oscar winner wrote. 'SOME people LOVE it. Me being one.'
