Review: Reboot's FLY BY NIGHT Charms but Mires Itself in Repetition

With their second production, Reboot Theatre Company hopes to charm its audience with this sweet little tuner "rebooted" by the company with its gender bent casting. Unfortunately, as talented and likable as the cast is, the show fails on two very important levels. It's certainly not little at 2 hours and 40 minutes and the casting does nothing to add to the story or the tone except to dilute the story in some places.

The show, conceived by Kim Rosenstock, and written by Will Connolly, Michael Mitnick, and Rosenstock tells a sweet little tale with a slight metaphysical twist. It's 1964 and Harold (Garrett Dill) has just lost his mother and after the funeral begins to retreat from his father (Jeff Church) who needs someone more than ever with his wife gone. Meanwhile Daphne (Janet McWilliams) has dreams to leaving her small South Dakota town to become a Broadway star in New York and so moves to the big city with her sister Miriam (Tara Nix). Things seem to be looking up for Harold and Daphne when they meet and fall in love and Daphne gets cast as the lead in a new musical. But things become complicated as Daphne is forced to spend more and more time rehearsing with the play's writer/producer/director Joey Storms (Kylee Gano) and Harold begins to develop feelings for Miriam. And it all culminates in one crazy night in 1965 where the city is thrust into darkness from a major blackout.

This odd little love triangle could be quite charming and serviceable if it were about an hour shorter. Instead the writers keep reintroducing songs, lines, and story points over and over again in an attempt to drive their point home. However the point isn't that complicated and the repetition feels self indulgent and a little insulting to the audience. So by the third time we're told what day it is and its significance or force fed the ear worm of a tune or shown what could be another ending to the play we're not so much charmed as annoyed.

The Reboot bent to the show follows suit with their first outing with their all female production of "1776". And while that recasting at least had some kind of point, the recasting here of all the supporting characters with women does not. Just like when productions choose to transplant a show to another time or place, if you're going to cross gender cast a show, you need to have a reason other than "just because". In this case it just continues to distract as we're reminded that the women are playing men and the sexual tension between Joey and Daphne becomes diluted with two women in the role. That's not to say two women can't have sexual tension but with the way it's written and the cross casting, the tension is decidedly not there with these two.

Director Harry Turpin does a fine job keeping the moments clipping along but without going back in time and forcing the writers to bring in an editor, there's really only so much he can do. And the cast each have their moments. The love triangle is sweet, the comedic bits from the supporting players are fun and touching and it's all tied nicely together by the ever present and somewhat ethereal narrator (Mandy Rose Nichols) but no one ever comes through with a big, blow them all away, breakout performance making the already long show plod along with moments that are good but never great.

As I said, this could have been a charming little show if the writers had learned when enough was enough but just like one of their own characters, they kept adding scene after scene to the piece making it drag. And so with my three letter rating system I give Reboot Theatre Company's "Fly By Night" a somewhat exasperated MEH+. It's never good when you're longing for the end of the show and even worse when they give you that end and then give it to you again ... and again ... and again.

"Fly By Night" from Reboot Theatre Company performs at the Slate Theatre through November 19th. For tickets or information visit them online at www.reboottheatre.org.

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