A little musical that’s about itself and how it comes into being by two guy friends and gets some help from two gals, [title of show] aims to win a Musical Theater Festival prize but goes all the way to Broadway. In its descent to an FSU/Asolo Conservatory show, it comes all blown up into a paramount production.
The first time I saw this musical (and loved it) was in a small, one-level, unadorned space that--via actors‘ movement, speech, and song--became a number of places where they could converse, meet, personally and interpersonally develop, create, perform. Charming. Here they’re on a wide platform stage with steps under an arch from which the gals have twirled in on multicolored swivel chairs to interact with the male composer and writer. Definitely big deal.
Opening night had been delayed due to one actor’s sickness, and one of the few intriguing things about the performance was trying to guess the identity of that actor. Neither seemed sickly, although Evan Reynolds White’s Hunter seemed to stress his character’s early lack of enthusiasm. Hunter stands out for his potty mouth rather than Broadway-type sophisticated talk. The most sympathetic actor plus character is Joe Knispel as the composer. He genuinely seems to keep seeking inspiration. His hard work pays off in music, script, and performance.
Kim Stephenson, as Heidi, who’s been on Broadway but always in the chorus or as an understudy, shows real talent as singer and actress in her try at being a star. She doesn’t need the lyrical “kick-ass” remark to draw attention and would be better off sans scatology altogether. Ally Farzetta catches the on again-off again enthusiasm and assurance of Susan. She tries to be sophisticated but shows fear of performing in front of an audience.
The director seems to draw out the proceedings needlessly. The whole thing is over-choreographed. Costumes could well be from any recent year. In toto, the tech work is well coordinated. I can’t believe, though, that this production had much to do with Broadway, though it might have been Off.
