Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Talkin' Broadway Off-Broadway - With Glee - 9/28/07

Talkinbroadway.com article about With Glee

With Glee

Theatre Review by Matthew Murray

Boys in a boarding school. Latin lessons. Two actors cycling playing all the adults. And, most telling of all, a program full of bios stuffed with credits that hardly extend beyond a university’s walls. These ingredients, incorporated into a musical about young people, threaten you with the certainty that what you’re about to see will either attempt to twist retro into something approximating hipness (at least as seen through trifocals) or be willing to settle for square.

Yet With Glee, the endlessly winsome musical that just opened at the 45th Street Theatre as part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival, manages to avoid both by embracing traditional musical-writing know-how unapologetically and honestly. Those who believe every musical must innovate, or that classic construction is more worthy of mocking than replicating, won’t understand a musical this open-hearted. But it’s got the capacity to speak loving volumes to anyone for whom the old ways aren’t worth discarding merely because they’re old.

The opening number, wryly titled “Bad Kids School,” needs only 30 seconds to reveal itself, and the show, as the real deal. A magical montage depicting five boys being shipped off for a year at the Westbrook Academy in Maine, it rotates rapidly between cars and living rooms and between anger, disappointment, and surprise. It may be the first brush strokes of an idealized world far removed from most of today’s young people, but its musical, dramatic, and theatrical values are so firmly in place, and the seven people singing through it are so likeable, it's an irresistible beginning.

The rest of the show is at least as good. It not only introduces the formidable showman abilities of its single author, John Gregor, but is also the best advertisement imaginable for New York University's theatre program: Everyone involved, from Gregor and director Ryan Mekenian on down, has either recently graduated from it or is currently working to do so. These talents, developed and developing alike, have coalesced into one of the most ingratiating shows of the year, at NYMF or anywhere else in New York.

Granted, much of this success comes from its keeping its ambitions small and its choices safe. Nathaniel (Greg Kenna) is a fireworks-loving attention-seeker , Sam (Ryan Speakman) is very poor while Scott (Justin Bellero) is unspeakably rich, Clay (Dan Lawler) loses himself in model-boat building during his parents' frequent fights, and the Broadway-loving Kip (Kevin Michael Murphy) is at Westbrook because his father fears he's gay. They're placed with unacceptable roommates, bicker uncontrollably, and eventually come to realize they're more alike than different, and... you know the rest.

But told without irony and performed without affectation, the story moves and engages just on general principles. You can't help but believe and accept these as young people singing above, below, through, and around their turbulent adolescent years, and that forces you to disarm most of your usual defense mechanisms. One major plot twist elicited audible gasps at the performance I attended, for example, and I'd be lying if I claimed I wasn’t fighting back tears as the newly bonded boys' year together drew to a close. The show feels so genuine on so many levels, the regular rules don't apply.

As for Gregor's score, it's a marvel of unadorned simplicity, recasting all the usually boring young-adult angst in cheerful-yet-respectful musical-comedy terms. Highlights include "Gaul Was Divided Into Three Parts," as the boys struggle through their first day; "If You Want to Be a Vanderberg," a frantic and fully American Gilbert & Sullivan take-off about the tribulations of being rich; the group therapy showstopper "Normal"; and the addictive road-trip song "Worcester." Kip's one-act musical, "Tomas," about a German soldier who massacres a bunch of English children, is a comic triumph because of its essential innocence.

The show is far from perfect: Billy Griffin's choreography is sometimes too chorus-line cheesy for its own good; the performers - who also include Michael J. Miller and Elizabeth Kerins as the adults - lack polish and the ability to consistently project over the piano-percussion accompaniment. But nothing can dampen With Glee's charm, or its curious knack for making high school and old-fashioned musicals the most happening places on Earth.


Venue: 45th Street Theater, 354 West 45th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues, 1st Floor.
Schedule:
Wednesday, Oct 3rd at 8:00 pm
Friday, Oct 5th at 4:30 pm
Saturday, Oct 6th at 1:00 pm
Sunday, Oct 7th at 4:30 pm
Tickets online NYMF.org

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http://www.talkinbroadway.com/ob/09_28_07.html

With Glee Review (NYMF) EDGE New York City

Edgenewyork.com article about With Glee

With Glee (NYMF)
by Rob Lester
EDGE New York City Contributor
Sunday Oct 7, 2007


Since the musical With Glee is all about school, here is a review in report card form:

NAME: With Glee, labeled "a new, old-fashioned musical comedy"

GRADE LEVEL: 5 adult actors play students who are about 13 years old, stuck at a boarding school they mostly hate, with other boys they often hate and "where the teachers suck." (Two other actors play all the adult characters)

ATTENDANCE: You really should attend. It’s laugh out loud funny, devilishly so.

SUBJECTS...

LANGUAGE ARTS: Cleverly written, with witty lines ("My parents were afraid I was gay, so they sent me to an all-boys boarding school."; ""Sure, I blew up my school and it burned for half a day, but that’s no reason to send me away."

MUSIC: The songs are a real pleasure, with brimming energy, sarcasm and occasionally surprisingly touching moments. The standout is the boys’ group number called Normal in which the motley crew of outcasts revels in the possibility of being considered normal, and it’s a celebration performed to a tee-riffic conclusion.

SOCIAL STUDIES: The boys have social problems, angst, anti-social behavior and socially unacceptable desires like stealing, preferring the company of an inanimate object (a model boat), and are social outcasts before and after arriving (only one is not wealthy, but he lies well, sort of).

SCIENCE: This cast has mastered the science of portraying kids (and adults as kids see them). Goofy, loopy, pouting, raging, and yet under the surface quite vulnerable. Chemical reaction of humor plus talent equals explosive qualities. And that’s a good thing.

HISTORY: The show and its cast have all studied at NYU in the music/theatre programs, where John Gregor (music/lyrics/book) also got his Masters. The show was previously performed there. Director Ryan Mekenian began a workshop series in alliance with the school to premiere new work.

FOREIGN LANGUAGES: Another strong song lets the boys rant about having to study a dead language while singing witty words in modern English.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION: The lively choreography by Billy Griffin has the boys channeling that growing-boy energy and bursting with joy and frustrations, incorporating musical theatre vocabulary wonderfully.

MATH: Do the math! It all adds up to a sharp, sparkling show, with the skills Rob Hartmann’s orchestrations and diving-in enthusiasm of musical director Lindsay Weiner (on piano, joined just by one other person, Aravind Sreenivasan on drums and percussion). The 90-minute fast-moving intermissionless funfest is relatively problem-free, subtracting a few kinks that could be worked out and a few things rethought. Laughs and pleasures multiply and the credit is divided among the staff and the actors, all cited below individually.

ART: It’s an art to carry off this kind of material and extra credit goes to the fine, fine cast and director for making is work so well. It’s entertaining, snarky, cute, edgy, sweet, subversive, and winks at the styles of musical comedy while embracing them. At first, the gimmick of (albeit boyish-looking) adults playing boys on the cusp of adolescence and two actors (the versatile Michael J. Miller and Elizabeth Kerins) playing all the parents and school staff so broadly makes the show feel like a comedy sketch with gimmicks, just played for laughs. Oh, and there are plenty of those. But soon you begin to accept these five fellows as boys and even begin to care about them.

Greg Kenna as Nathaniel is the ever-friendly one who is relatively well adjusted and freest of exaggerated odd behaviors, so may be the first for an audience to find believable. Projecting vulnerability and goodwill, he sings especially well (the harmonies in this show are wonderful) and he shows a lot of heart in his characterization.

Kevin Michael Murphy as Kip, the boy who sends pre-gaydar alerts is a hoot and his animated, high-energy performance gets high marks all around. Avoiding extreme stereotypes, he keeps the campiness in check. His character’s theatricality, his eyes popping with pleasure, and his moments of self-satisfaction and sneering are expertly carried off. Kip’s real sexual desires (such as attraction to the other boys) are never explored. An extended musical sequence involves the presentation of a show Kip wrote (Tomas: A One-Act musical) with excesses and heavy, heavy influences of mega-musical melodrama styles that is magnificently executed and written.

More character development would be in order for the role of Clay, as he seems to be too much focused on the love of his model boat above all else. It’s stretched too thin, and deprives the obviously talented actor Dan Lawler of showing a broader range. But he is consistent and entertaining and unlike his character, interacts well.

Justin Bellero is the richest of the rich kids, Scott, and performs well all around, though it would be great to have moments where the neglect of the parents and the resulting gaps in confidence and loneliness were taken more seriously. The actor is a strong performer.

Ryan Speakman is Sam, the poor kid thrown into the mix. He’s an especially appealing performer, in a quieter way, somewhat the observer. Some of his reactions are particularly good, if you keep your eye on him (which is easy to do): a perfect moment is where he reacts in worried horror to a plot the others are hatching: "We could be expelled!!!" he cries in knee-jerk dismay. Then, remembering how much he hates the prison-like school, his face lights up ... with glee.

With Glee is how the audience reacts to this show, whether it’s in admiration for the skill of the performing, the material, or the shared experience of rooting for the underdogs. As the play goes on, you sense more and more of the audience connecting to the kids they once were, the kid we all carry inside us, and cheering for that, too. But there’s lots to cheer for here as these boys struggle to bond and grow up. I hope With Glee grows up to be a big, fat, long-running hit.

A for effort and a place on the Honor Roll.



At the 45th Street Theater, 354 West 45 St. Part of NYMF (see www.nymf.org or call 212-352-3101) Tickets are $20. Continues Oct. 5 at 4:30; October 6 at 1 pm; October 7 at 4:30 pm (the last day of the entire festival).

Rob Lester is a freelance writer living in New York City. He also the "Sound Advice" CD review column and other articles for www.TalkinBroadway.com, as well as pieces for www.CabaretExchange.com and is a judge for the annual Nightlife Awards. As far as music, he has a lifelong affection, collection and connection.


http://www.edgenewyork.com/index.php?ci=&ch=entertainment&sc=theatre&sc2=reviews&sc3=performance&id=7482

WITH GLEE - BACK STAGE, 10/4/2007

Backstage.com article about With Glee

With Glee
October 03, 2007
By Nancy Ellen Shore

John Gregor's winsome musical With Glee, about five highly likable 13-year-old "problem" boys, mostly from wealthy families, who are struggling to fit in at a Maine boarding school, is a charmer from start to finish. Developed at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, where all five young actors are either currently matriculating or recently graduated from, its current incarnation is a highly polished effort with never-a-dull-moment direction from Ryan Mekenian and spiffy, tongue-in-cheek choreography from Billy Griffin.

The quintet of misfits includes Nathaniel (Greg Kenna), a sweet, attention-deprived kid who set off fireworks in his school in a misguided bid for popularity; financial-aid-dependent Sam (Ryan Speakman), an incorrigible car thief; and suffocatingly formal Scott (Justin Bellero), the pampered son of an old-money New York family. Rounding out the group are Clay (Dan Lawler), who escapes from his perennially arguing parents into obsessive model-boat building, and theatre-loving Kip (Kevin Michael Murphy), whose effeminate tendencies have his high-powered-executive father worried.

Despite some problems projecting over the piano-percussion accompaniment, the five actors prove to be highly accomplished singers who handle the book's serious and comic elements with the ease of seasoned performers. And Michael J. Miller showcases high-energy comic versatility as the fathers and male teachers — his geriatric geography prof is a hoot — though Elizabeth Kerins is less nuanced as the mothers and female authority figures.

Eschewing the current rock-influenced teen-angst trend, Gregor relies on a tried-and-true musical-theatre model, mixing ballads with lively up-tempo numbers. Highlights include "Gaul Was Divided Into Three Parts," in which the boys struggle through their first day of classes and which is reminiscent of The Music Man's opening number; the hilarious Gilbert and Sullivan echo "If You Want to Be a Vanderberg" and the tender ballad "Clay's Song." There is beautiful harmonizing on the group-therapy wail "Normal" and the yearning, perfect-girlfriend vision "Amanda." And Kip's sophomoric "Tomas: A One-Act Musical," about a German soldier on English territory, is a comic showstopper.

Presented by Wiley Hausam as part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival

at the 45 Street Theatre, 354 W. 45th St., NYC.

Sept. 27-Oct. 7. Remaining performances: Wed., Oct. 3, 8 p.m.; Fri., Oct. 5, 4:30 p.m., Sat., Oct. 6, 1 p.m., Sun., Oct. 7, 4:30 p.m.

(212) 352-3101 or (866) 811-4111 or www.theatermania.com or www.nymf.org.

http://www.americantheaterweb.com/news/newsinframe.asp?id=179618
http://www.backstage.com/bso/news_reviews/nyc/review_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003651206