Review - Saved: Oh My God, You Guys!

Musical theatre, at least in the popular denominations practiced here in Gotham, has long been known to preach a message of gay rights to an eagerly accepting congregation, and those who would deny the natural occurrence or the legal acceptance of homosexuality have been generally depicted as hateful, ignorant or, at the very gentlest, misguided. Now we have Saved, a buoyant new musical that tackles issues of friendship, trust and adolescent homosexuality among students at a Christian high school. And while I wouldn't say its message of "love the judgmental, hate the judgment" would be completely appreciated by those who would fight for what they believe to be the sanctity of marriage, Saved removes the satirical fangs of its source 2004 movie and comes out a musical that can celebrate gay acceptance without making those who put their faith in a church that preaches otherwise look completely heartless or foolish. For all its snap and cleverness, Saved is refreshingly square in that, aside from a few spurts of adolescent nastiness, it depicts a community where everyone is truly concerned with what they believe to be the well-being of their neighbor.

Director Gary Griffin has a cast full of excellent musical theatre performers who are all in fine form, headed by Celia Keenan-Bolger, gleaming quirky vulnerability as Mary, a high school senior whose boyfriend Dean (Aaron Tveit) tells her he's gay and doesn't really know what to do about it. Promising secrecy she asks Jesus (a nicely personable Daniel Zaitchik) for guidance, and interprets his advice to be there for her friend to mean she must offer her previously abstinent body to him as a cure. You know where this is going, don'tcha? Yup, after just one time. Complicating matters is that Mary is starting to fall hard for the attentive Patrick (Van Hughes), the pastor's son who is back after years working in Africa, and that when word about Dean does hit the school, her best friend Hilary Faye (Mary Faber) leads a public crusade to love the sinner and hate the sin. Faber is just terrific as the popular girl who may be bossy and self-centered, but is also sincerely devoted to her faith and her friends, keeping the character from being seen as a villain.

Also standing out in the swirl of subplots are Curtis Holbrook as Hilary Faye's bitterly sarcastic wheelchair-bound brother Roland and Morgan Weed as the Jewish tough girl, Cassandra, who gets her kicks out of putting their acid tongues to good use in order to disgust his devout sister. Choreographer Sergio Trujillo does a great job of integrating wheelchair movement for Holbrook, a fine dancer, into the ensemble numbers and in a fantasy sequence where Hillary Faye imagines her heavenly perfect world, he gets to ditch the ride and show off his stuff.

In the adult word John Dossett gives solid support as the pastor and principal trying to be the cool spiritual leader to the kids while, with his wife away at an extended mission in Africa, controlling his growing feeling for Mary's widowed mom (Julia Murney providing her usual vocal and comic dazzle).

Composer Michael Friedman's score is attractively bouncy energetic pop, and while it can stand for a bit more contrast at times the lyrics he co-wrote with bookwriters John Dempsey and Rinne Groff are nicely conversational and often very clever, especially when the characters communicate, as they frequently do, through text messaging.

Spirited, heartfelt and witty, with just the right touch of oddball, Saved get the new musical season off to an inspiring start.