Tick, Tick... Boom!

In what I believe is the first off-Broadway revival since its original 2001 incarnation, Keen Company has brought back Jonathan Larson's pre-rent work, Tick, Tick...Boom! in a magnificent, relevant, and energetic production over at the Acorn Theater on Theatre Row.

Only a 3-hander, this production has cast an amazing trio of actors with tremendous chemistry both vocally and as a true ensemble.  Nick Blaemire (Jonathan), George Salazar (Michael), and Ciara Renee (Susan) bring the auto-biographical work of the late Mr. Larson roaring to life.  Mr. Blaemire is nebbishy enthusiastic about his uber geeky and artistic and anxiety filled role as Jonathan.  Mr. Salazar is cast as the foil to Jonathan's artistic life - a former self-described "good but not good enough" actor and best friend.  Ms. Renee bring powerful vocals, beauty, and general-sexy to the role of Susan. All 3 run the stage for just under 2 hours with nothing but a few sips of water wandering through Mr. Larson's part Broadway, part ballad, part rock and roll lyrics and musical performances.  Of special note, Mr. Blaemire actually plays the piano very well - (i just hate it when the actors fake it).

This show was written pre-Rent but is generally auto-biographical in terms of where Mr. Larson was in his life.  I almost wished Jonathan would have tinkered on the keyboard with a tune from Rent just to really tie the two shows together.  Rent, as well, was somewhat auto-biographical in terms of Mr. Larson's life but it was conceived with other people and after this show was written.

The show if not nearly as famous as the aforementioned Rent - nor is it as theatrical or heavy a story. There are not, as in Rent, people parading through New York City or crashing weddings.  This story is a bit smaller in scope and perhaps more personal in nature.  Mr. Larson died suddenly before Rent could be brought to the stage and it is such a shame as we will never know how much more we could have heard from this very talented man.  For now, we will just have to enjoy the beauty of his works such as this through the very talented cast that puts him back on the stage 8 shows a week.

Found

Just when you thought all the original ideas have dried up and creativity has gone the way of the Ford Packard, along comes Hunter Bell & Lee Overtree (Book) and Eli Bolin (Music and Lyrics) and a fantastic new work appropriately titled Found.  Yes, that's Mr. Bell from [Title of Show] fame.

Scraps of paper floating in the wind, discarded in the gutter, and left for dead.  Well, so we thought.  Mr. Bell and Overtree have constructed a musical entirely from real scraps of paper with musings, jottings, notes, and thoughts.  Literally thousands and thousands.   A virtual potpourri of material and endless shots entertaining and audience.  Indeed this is true.  What struck me most during this entire magnificent production was the sheer enormity of choices the writers had.  They built a basic love story for Generation X, Y, Z, millennials, or whatever we are calling the kids today and peppered it - strike that - iced it from tip to toe - with these little tid-bits.  Entire songs were written around some of the longer more meaningful scribbles - and virtually every 10 seconds or so another one was projected both aurally and visually to the audience.  

So that's what struck me most often - but dare I say - what struck me most deeply was the sheer modernity of the idea behind the musical itself.  It struck a chord of reality in our throw-away society.   In an age of digital our notes and musings often get relegated to post-its and scraps of paper.  Nobody writes longhand and at length anymore.

The always adorably handsome Nick Blaemire  (Davy) essentially helms the fun production and both he and his co-stars (a plethora of unique talent unto themselves) turn frowns from a busy day at the office into double-decker smiles by the time the evening is complete.

Featuring a a rocking on-stage band and racially and ethnically and culturally diverse Christina Anthony (Christina), the handsome and virtually dripping-with-sex Andrew Call, TV's funny man Danny Pudi (Danny), Betsy Morgan (Kate), and Cabaret diva Molly Pope (Molly), and Orville Mendiza (Orville),  I found myself leaving the theater thinking that I have never seen a show where the actors had so much fun entertaining me!

Dogfight

A coming of age story (that's what we used to call bullying) of both boys and girls.  Tough.  Brutal.  Honest.  Powerful.

Joe Mantello and Christopher Gattelli bring Peter Duchan's Book and Benj Pasek and Justin Paul's music and lyrics to a brilliant life at Second Stage.   Lindsay Mendez, Josh Segarra, and Nick Blaemire and a large supporting cast bring a youthful innocence and believability factor to the characters all the while exercising their acting chops on some very fine material.

A summer treat.  Sets and Costumes by David Zinn were as good as they could be - every inch of vertical space was cleverly used given the 4 close walls of the theatre.

Look for this one in years to come on a bigger stage.  There's more potential just waiting to be exploited.

Cry Baby

James Synder - you ROCK. Well, more importantly - the entire cast ROCKS! Cry Baby, the latest new musical to arrive on the scene at New York's Marriott Marquis Theater threatens to rock the town to the bedrock. Cry Baby is a musical (Book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, Songs by David Javerbaum and Adam Schlesinger) based on the film of the same name which was written and directed by John Waters. Needless to say, there are some boundaries to be pushed.

First and foremost - the entire cast simply rocks the house from the opening number to the final ultimo. No stage is better equipped to fly in and out the dazzling sets to support all the toe tappin' numbers. Dancing, dancing, and more dancing. That ensemble couldn't have kicked higher and tapped harder. Speaking of hard... those dancing boys had rock hard kick ass bods literally dripping with sweat and oozing sex. Someone bring me a glass of cold water! Wow-za!

I think the critics will say - it's a musical without it's own identity. It doesn't seem to have any memorable numbers - even though each of the numbers is a toe-tapping Broadway delight. It's sort of a mix between Grease and Oklahoma; between Hairspray and Spring Awakening; between The Music Man and Jersey Boys - - I think you get the idea. It's classically structured - two romantic leads, two comedic leads with a chorus of talented actors. The story itself is a contrast between the "good kids" and the "bad kids". So hence you get both worlds colliding on stage - A barber shop quartet followed by a James Brown-esque rock number followed by a West Side Story dance number. This one has it all. Time will only tell if it has the staying power to keep all those things alive under it's own unique brand.

All this typing and I have not gotten to one of the best parts - Harriet Harris! She's a delight as Mrs. Vernon-Wiliams and the proof of her love from the audience is her complete butchering of a musical number which still gets raucous applause! She's a comedic genius - ala Lucille Ball or Ethel Mertz!

Onto the young ones (most everyone else is!). Christopher Hanke makes the cute preppy boy, Baldwin, come alive - almost walking on air in those Sperry's. James Synder as Cry Baby, commands the stage in his Broadway debut. I'd love a pair of those painted on Jeans. Fierce! Dupree, a "what James Brown might have been like as a kid" character is played brilliantly by Chester Gregory II. Those shrill ooooh's and aaaahh's get you hootin' and hollerin' every time. Now there are too many ensemble names to mantion here, but this review would not be complete without a mention of the absolutely drop dead gorgeous, uber-talented dancing "bad boy" dancers - Marty Lawson, Charlie Sutton, and Spencer Liff!

Torrents of music - Lynne Shankel took command of the Orchestra from the pit right from the start. Plenty of toe-tapping, bob your head and clap your hands numbers, clever comedy, and no shortage of eye candy will keep the crowds entertained for a while. Swing on by and get your fill!