Mark Your Calendar for SAVE THE DATE

I can't say all that I want to about fellow Crazytown blogger Gregory Jacobs-Roseman's wedding-themed musical, Save the Date, because I need to wake up early tomorrow to embark on my own weekend wedding adventure, but I did need to express how wonderful this show is. While the premise is simple -- a story of almost-thirty somethings making their way through wedding season, which hits an especially rocky time when one of their exes announces his engagement -- there is a lot of heart and warmth here. Save the Date is not a parody of young people rejecting the traditions of love, rather it's an empathetic examination of the pressures felt to grow up and what that means when everyone else seems to be on a timeline of life milestones. The four central characters are really well drawn with a believable dynamic, and the plot twists manage to negotiate rom com territory with some real sincere moments.

 
Clips from first developmental reading presentation at the NYU GMTWP

The strength of the show definitely comes from the strong cast that embraces its roles with energy and feeling of cohesiveness. Greg's script and score are also wonderful, both infused with wit and humor. His lyrics especially soar in many of the numbers, drawing great parallels between characters and always moving the plot forward. I thought the direction also helped the production feel very full-bodied, transitioning rather seamlessly and balancing all the characters in any given scene.

Ultimately, something I really treasured about this show was how much it was a story about dreams and fantasies unfulfilled. There are a lot of great fantasy sequences that have real world impacts on the characters in how they view the world. Perhaps I also read into it my own feelings as I prepare for a wedding ceremony, but I thought a lot of the ideas it presented were accurate to the many emotions these traditions can bring about. Save the Date is a great show, and a wonderful value for a Fringe show. Catch the rest of their performances by buying tickets here.

Experiencing THE ORION EXPERIENCE

I'm not really one for audience participation, but the recent trend of really excellently integrated transmedia/immersive theatre experiences has gotten me to come out of my shell a little more. I let Macbeth cry on my shoulder at Sleep No More. I wanted to dance with Imelda at Here Lies Love. It's enough to lull someone into a false sense of interactive theatre security.

Still, I was a bit wary when I decided to dive in and experience The Orion Experience, an interactive dance party/theatrical experience at XL Nightclub. All I knew going in was there there would be aerial acrobatics, some space jams, and space vampires, whatever those were. Luckily, there was a bar and I had the perfect companion to enjoy the night with.

And even with some skepticism at first, The Orion Experience proved to be a fun night on the town. It's pure technicolor camp, a kind of PeeWee's Play House in space with whacky characters, low stakes, but really delightful atmosphere. There's very little by way of plot: the band basically takes you through space adventures, introducing a slew of beautiful and fierce creatures who parade through the stage in a series of acrobatic acts and dance numbers. There were ribbon dancers. There were lasers shooting out of an evil queen's fingers. There were trumpets and giant metal hearts and an infectious Gaga-esque music set that will get even the biggest grump's toes tapping.

The show fits into the space rather seamlessly. When all was said and done, I was surprised how easily the club slipped back into its lounge setting, simply moving from techno to pop hits. In that way, I would even say The Orion Experience is less of a show and more like an even more entertaining club experience, an elevated dance party with just the slightest hint of story to get you on your feet.

Get your tickets here.

Inside Out, Outside In: A look at Jeannette Bayardelle's SHIDA

The one-woman musical is an intriguing idea, if not nerve-wracking one. Solo shows are hard enough to pull off without a musical element, but when you consider that Jeannette Bayardelle not only performs all the parts in her new musical, Shida, but wrote the book, music and lyrics, you start to wonder how it will all come together.

Shida is the titular character of this harrowing journey, which details the tragedies of this young girl's past that lead her from a promising future as a writer to a cocaine addict on the streets on New York. Ultimately a redemption tale, this character-focused show gives Bayardelle lots of places to shine as she embodies heartfelt characters that allow Shida to eventually find her way back home.

The piece is a great platform for Bayardelle, as her voice takes on difficult notes without abandon. She's got some powerful pipes, for sure, and total commitment in tackling the show's tougher scenes. The lyrics to the songs have some really poignant moments with some nice motifs weaved throughout. The characters also have distinct voices and populate the story with lovable people.

Perhaps most of all, one thing I've noticed with a lot of new musical theatre is that there's not a lot of diversity in the types of stories it tells, especially if it's not a period piece. Watching Jeannette Bayardelle do her thing, I couldn't help remembering a friend talking about how often you just have to create the parts for yourself if they're not out there. Bayardelle has certainly done that and given herself a meaty role to tackle. She definitely has a voice, both in performance and on the page, and it's worth checking out if you want to explore something new.

Shida plays at Ars Nova until the end of August-- buy your tickets here.

Writing A Book for Cirque Du Soleil's QUIDAM

I've written before about my experiences seeing Cirque Du Soleil and how I am very curious about the shows' musical theatre tendencies without strongly committing to it. I get it-- the show is, at the end of the day, a circus. But as this latest revival of Pippin has proven, a circus can have a story, and a story can take place within a circus.

Last night, a friend and I had the privilege of being invited to see Cirque Du Soleil's latest tour in New York, Quidam. The acrobatics and physical performances were incredible, to be sure, but the story was hard to comprehend. I would say this doesn't matter, but even as people were building pyramids and unraveling from a sheet many feet in the air, there were always characters about, chasing one another in the background or descending from the ceiling as others performed. Clearly, there's enough of a story element there that they wanted to connect the scenes with, but what it tells is a mystery.

The only thing we can determine for sure is that there is a young girl who is ignored by her parents, so she dons a hat given to her by a headless stranger and enters a strange world of acrobats (Is that Quidam? Is Quidam a place? A state of mind? It certainly was sung several times over the stage bows). Beyond that premise, who knows what was happening half the time. Here are some theories to try to explain the book that tied together some of the things we saw:

• My friend hypothesized that the imaginative world was hell in the first act, heaven in the second. Or I could argue that there was a Dante 9 circles-esque thing going throughout most of it, with the Mom, Dad and daughter calmly emerging on the other side at the end. Still, they seemed pretty chummy with all the cast members at the end so maybe it was more of a Labyrinth-type situation.
• A group of minions dressed all in white (who also strangely act like seals) decide to separate the parents from the little girl so they can teach them the importance of acknowledging their child. 
• A white cat-like creature that tumbles in and out of the scenes is a Cheshire Cat archetype meant to lead and simultaneously confuse everyone (most of all, me). 
• A purple character named John is a creepy host figure. My friend hypothesizes he's the devil. I read somewhere he might be a father figure since he literally steals the dad's shoes and steps into them. 
• Balloons symbolize innocence? There sure were a lot of them in there, and they were always held by the little girl. At one point someone tries to catch one in a cage? So maybe all these strange characters are trying to preserve her sense of wonder? 
• At one point during the statue routine, where two acrobats were meticulously balancing on one another, some strange figures descended from the ceiling. Both wore white robes. One looked like it was crying blood. I'd like to say I have a theory on this one. Nope, I got nothing. That just happened. 
• The last act of the night was the Banquine routine, with everyone dressed up like especially destitute Newsies. Newsies, in Quidam, don't just soak the competition. They throw young girls at them, and then subsequently catch them on their shoulders.

All joking aside, I will say that the physical feats and great production values of a Cirque Du Soleil show never fails to impress. Not to get all heavy, but especially in light of the performer who died in Ka in Las Vegas not too long ago, it's important that we not take for granted the immense talents people bring to these shows and the risks they take to share them. For those who can make it, enjoy Quidam and all the great stunts it has to offer. Just don't try too hard to decode why a girl in antlers might be chasing a guy with twig-woven wings around the stage during the interludes.

Gotta Love NOBODY LOVES YOU

While one of my favorite aspects of modern chamber musicals is the ease with which smaller, more dramatic stories are translating themselves to the stage, there are still shows that celebrate the pure joy and escapism that musicals uniquely are able to do. A shiny example of this, in fact, is Nobody Loves You, a new musical by Gaby Alter and Itamar Moses that just opened at Second Stage in NYC. After all, considering this show is a parody of a fictional reality dating television show by the same moniker, what is more escapist than a musical/reality TV mashup?

Nobody Loves You tells the story of Jeff, a grad student whose girlfriend recently dumped him after an argument about his lack of interests in her interest (i.e. her favorite reality dating television show). Determined to get her back (or at least make sure no one else can have her), Jeff auditions for the show. His sarcastic and caustic tape catches the eyes of producers who immediately pick him, even though his ex-girlfriend is nowhere in sight. Intrigued about the idea of continuing on with the show more as moral commentary than actual contestant, Jeff finds himself among a cast of lovable whackos, a preening host, and a production assistant he might have an actual connection with.

The show is frothy and fun with a few particularly standout numbers and terrific performances all around. Heath Calvert is perfectly shiny as the show's vapid and golden-voiced host, and I am officially in love with Aleque Reid's voice, which should have every songwriter eager to give her their music (if I could do it, I would). A particularly genius structural decision was the character of Evan (played brilliantly by Rory O'Malley), a blogger who comments on the show through social media and eventually plays a larger role in the story when it's revealed that he is Jenny's roommate.

Overall, the story is campy fun-- less biting satire, and more playful delight in the ridiculousness of reality TV. Revel in the drama and absurd personalities, and soak up some clever songs with a bit of an electronic thump. This is a score I can especially see lending itself well to a cast album.

I've been a pretty big fan of Gaby Alter and Itamar Moses for a while, and this collaboration did not disappoint. Nobody Loves You runs at Second Stage until August 11. Grab your tickets here.

The Way You Move: A Q&A with VOLLEYGIRLS Book Writer Rob Ackerman

Usually when I get wind of a new musical in development, my first exposure to it comes from a song in the show. However, in the case of upcoming NYMF selection Volleygirls (book by Rob Ackerman, music by Eli Bolin, and lyrics by Sam Forman), I happened to read the text first.

When I was working at play publisher Playscripts, Inc., I had the distinct pleasure of reading/helping edit Rob Ackerman's Volleygirls, which at the time was a full-length straight play. Having played competitive high school volleyball all four years of high school on a team that was favorited to win our state championships (Spoiler alert: we didn't. And trust me, there were tears. Oh, were there tears), I found the inspirational story of an all-girls team especially memorable. Fast forward a couple of years to when I saw that a musical was coming out with music from one of my favorite songwriting teams-- I was thrilled to find out about this adaptation. You can catch the show (with a killer cast including Susan Blackwell) at NYMF next month by buying tickets here. In the meantime, I chatted with Rob Ackerman about what it was like adapting his own work:

Me: What was the inspiration for the original Volleygirls play? Competitive Volleyball in general isn't exactly the sport of choice in media/pop culture.

Rob Ackerman: ACT commissioned me to write the play. The producer had let me know he was considering several other artists, and they were all big cheeses, so I thought he'd pick one of them. But he didn't. He chose me. Craig Slaight (along with Carey Perloff and Melissa Smith) wanted a drama that would include both the high-school actors in their ACT Young Conservatory and the adult actors in their MFA acting program. My daughters were in high school at the time. They both played volleyball, and their coach, Annie Gravel, was a friend. My idea was: this generous and experienced athlete would trust me to sit in on her team's practices and games, and watching what went on there would keep me honest. The folks at ACT loved that plan.

But I panicked. How was a middle-aged man going to create this big compelling collection of female characters? I called back and suggested writing a play about a boys' military school. That seemed safer. But ACT told me they really liked the idea of the play about the volleyball team.

Here's the thing. Fifteen years earlier, my friend Cathy, who'd been a varsity athlete in college, asked me to join her in a volleyball class at the Westside Y. And I mocked the idea. You don't have to take a class to play volleyball. It's a picnic game, right? Cathy gave me such a withering look my head nearly imploded. She signed us up, we took the class, and it changed my life. After several months in training with a guy named Jim who took the game as seriously as Cathy did, we formed a team called Tips Freedman that still thrives today.

The fact is: Volleyball is the greatest cooperative sport in the world. It absolutely forces players to work together. A team can only be as strong as its weakest player, so each person has to be ready, aware, watching, listening and communicating, tracking the ball by the microsecond. It's as if each participant were a cell in an organism, acting and reacting as one. The same can be said of theater, by the way. It takes devotion.

One last thing: popular sports like football and soccer don’t really fit on a stage, while there’s something perfectly theatrical about six women working in concert in the confines of a court.

"The Way You Move" sung by Allison Posner & Monica Raymund

Me: What made you decide to adapt the play into a musical? How did you end up working with Sam and Eli?

Rob: ACT flew me to San Francisco for a week of workshops of the play's first draft. The director, Dave Keith, worked with conservatory actors by day, and I rewrote the script by night. It was challenging, fun, and constructive, and by the end of the week, the story was starting to click.

When the show went into rehearsal, Dave emailed occasionally to ask for further rewrites, but the production evolved without my being in the room to see it. I saw some sketches and design ideas, but nothing prepared me for the beauty of the staging in a theater called The Zeum on the set by Liliana Duque-Piñeiro. All conventional accouterments were stripped away, the cinder block walls of the building became the walls of a high school gym, the actors were living the story of this struggling team, and it dawned on me, pretty much right away: This is a musical.

I didn't know many people in the musical theater world, but, as a sentimental dad, In the Heights had really spoken to me. I'd seen it three times and had met Tommy Kail, who had seen and liked my play Tabletop. So I sent Tommy the script, asked if he thought it was a musical, and he said yes. He also knew the perfect director.

Neil Patrick Stewart had worked with Tommy for years developing plays and musicals with a tiny troupe called Back House Productions. Neil had also played on a Texas high school volleyball team that won a tri-state championship. Neil didn't just like the story, he'd lived it, and he helped choose the ideal composer/lyricist team. Sam Forman and Eli Bolin went to Northwestern, the same school where I’d earned an MFA in Stage Directing. We'd studied with many of the same teachers and spoke the same language. The show took shape quickly because there was an unusual and instant level of trust.

Spread the Love with the Story Pirates

Mr. Dela Cruz's class was probably the first class where I realized I liked writing. My favorite activity was writing in my journal, letting my imagination roam and also chronicling what I believed to be my very stressful fourth grade life. He wrote generous responses to the tales of my triumphs and plights, and I always felt that writing in that journal was a safe space. In fact, I still own it, and while many entries make me cringe, it always reminds me of the experiences that made me the writer I am today.

Fostering young talent, musical writers included, is essential to the future of the arts. It is for this reason that the Story Pirates, who I have mentioned on this blog before, are a group near and dear to my heart. Turning kids' stories into live stage plays and musicals (and shorts on their Youtube channel), Story Pirates not only encourage children to write, but they also show them how their words can come to life.

Story Pirates are currently doing a campaign called Spread the Love, where they are asking for donations to serve schools in the name of life-changing teachers. In exchange for the donation, they will give your teacher of choice a shout out through social media or a personal letter/show.

There will also be a benefit at the Peter Norton Symphony Space on June 7th at 8:00 pm. Any donation to their Causevox campaign over $25 will come with a code for a ticket to the big benefit, or you can just get tickets here.

Help out a wonderful organization while paying tribute to wonderful teachers. And, in case you needed a reminder of the amazing this that can come from a child's imagination, I leave you with this: