BWW Reviews: Quirky and Creative SOON Premieres at Signature Theatre

The Tony Award-winning Signature Theatre has a long history of providing a platform for established and emerging writers to premiere new works. This season in particular offers a solid example of that commitment because it features world premieres by John Kander and his new writing partner Greg Pierce as well as wunderkind Nick Blaemire's return to Signature (Blaemire, of course, wrote GLORY DAYS with James Gardiner, which transferred to Broadway following a run at Signature and closed on opening night). On the heels of Kander and Pierce's KID VICTORY comes Blaemire's SOON. Much like KID VICTORY, this premiere production is bit quirky, wholly original, daring, and seeks to advance our understanding of what we know musical theatre to be.

Certainly, if one looks at the history of musical theatre in America one does not come across many musical theatre pieces that achieved commercial success and/or widespread critical acclaim when one individual has performed all three writing duties (book, music, lyrics) though many have tried. In fact, some of these efforts - even locally - have been all but dismal failures. In this case, Blaemire - who has also had much success as an actor - is most certainly not the man behind a dismal failure. While there are ample opportunities for improvement, SOON is blessed with a unique concept, a creative approach to implementing it (thanks in part to Matthew Gardiner's skillful direction), ideas/characters that are likely to resonate with theatregoers both young and old, and some catchy keyboard and guitar-driven songs that fit quite well with the book. All provide a solid foundation from which to refine and grow if the musical is to have a future life. At Signature, four Washington, DC and New York-based actors (Alex Brightman, Natascia Diaz, Jessica Hershberg, and Joshua Morgan) provide equally compelling performances that capture Blaemire's quirky sensibility and interest in exploring the fundamental question of "what to do now in the face of seemingly insurmountable circumstances?" Do we move on? What's the point? Do dreams even matter?

To provide a full plot synopsis of the apocalyptic story would be an injustice. The many twists and turns and temporal changes make this one, in particular, best experienced live. However, suffice it to say that we meet budding baker Charlie (Jessica Hershberg). She lives in a cluttered, small apartment (well-designed by Dan Conway) with her good friend but definitely-not-boyfriend, the lovable but quirky, Steven (Joshua Morgan) in the East Village. She has an affinity for watching Wolf Blitzer speak about climate change and its impacts on television nearly around the clock and is seemingly not interested in venturing out to face the world. The world around her is chaotic, but she's safe and sound in her apartment resigned to her bleak - but at least predictable - future. Jonah (played by Alex Brightman) delivers Steven's groceries to the apartment and prompts her to question how she looks at life, her own challenging circumstances, and hopes and dreams for the future - including if they're even necessary - and the world in general. Through a series of time-shifting scenes (Brian Tovar's lighting designs and Matthew Haber's projection designs make the shifts somewhat clearer than they'd otherwise be) we get partial insights into her world, but never the complete picture. It increasingly becomes apparent that what's plaguing Charlie and keeping her up at night is not necessarily what we might think initially (visits from her mother Adrienne, played by Natascia Diaz, factor into this). Yet, the broader questions she has remain the same.

Book-wise, Blaemire continues to keep us guessing while including clues along the way as to how all of the pieces he presents might fit together. Through Charlie, Jonah, and Steven, he captures the voice of the 20-somethings. Occasionally, the dialogue treads far too into the cutesy territory for my taste, but it's not grating and certainly is conducive to establishing character and moving the story back or forward, as it were. Music-wise, the musical opens strong ("When the World Ends"). Its eerie tones set the stage for the perplexing story we're about to witness and it's by far the strongest number Blaemire has penned. What follows, musically, is akin to what you'd hear from many contemporary musical theatre writers from Salzman and Cunningham to Pasek and Paul to a little bit (perhaps) of another man with experience wearing several hats on a production - Jason Robert Brown. Examples include "Bohemia Paradiso" (allowing Diaz to showcase her tremendous vocal and song interpretation abilities) and "Hasn't Happened." Although Charlie Rosen's orchestrations and arrangements are well done, occasionally Blaemire's melody lines begin to sound the same, particularly on some of the more quirky numbers like "Peanut Butter." (Yes, Blaemire wrote a song about peanut butter, and although it doesn't necessarily add anything to the story or Charlie's character development that could not be accomplished another way, it shows that he's pretty much open to doing anything). However, almost all of the musical moments are pleasant.

Lyrically, we have songs that are fun and well-executed, but meaningless like "Peanut Butter" and "Bar Mitzvah for the First Jewish Fish." The latter, however, provides delightful opportunities for Morgan to showcase his comedic chops and ability to play that quirky guy, standing in contrast to the other characters. While the fish mentioned in the song is heavily featured in Blaemire's story and the song comes at a turning point in the relationship between some of our central characters, it is quite silly and unnecessary. Perhaps that is intentional however, to serve as a counterbalance to the more philosophical questions the work considers. Others, however, like "How Do You Know?" and the aforementioned opener, offer more sophisticated and meaningful lyrics that provide insights necessary for character/story development.

Like the small four-piece band, under the direction of Darius Smith, the four performers we see onstage are accomplished musicians. While none - or at least most of - the songs allow for the performers to showcase much vocal range - they are all well-performed from a technical standpoint. As an individual, Diaz makes the best impression vocally, but she has more to work with musically in "Bohemia Paradiso." The actor-singers make the audience pay attention to the lyrics, which is a definite plus in an era where belting higher and higher is a replacement for song interpretation.

To put it succinctly, the music, lyrics, and book Blaemire has written offer a vast amount of potential as does the piece as a whole. As usual, I commend Signature for taking a chance. If only more theatres would be willing to present musicals that are a little out of the box, new, and different.

Running Time: 1 hour and 40 minutes.

Pictured: Joshua Morgan, Natascia Diaz, Jessica Hershberg, and Alex Brightman. Photo by Teresa Wood.

SOON plays through April 26, 2015 at Signature Theatre - 4200 Campbell Avenue, in Arlington, Virginia. For tickets, call the box office at (703) 820-9771, or purchase them online.

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