Review: JOHN & JEN at Berkshire Theatre Group

Berkshire Theatre Group (BTG) and Artistic Director, CEO Kate Maguire are pleased to kick-off their season with the current production of JOHN & JEN, an intimate and moving musical with music by Andrew Lippa, lyrics by Tom Greenwald, and a book by Lippa and Greenwald. It is a two-person show about the relationships, first between a brother and sister, John and Jen, and then, after John is killed, between Jen and her son, also named John. 

The musical opened at The Goodspeed Opera House in 1995.  It was revived Off-Broadway in 2015.  JOHN & JEN traces evolving bonds across three decades. Told through a contemporary score that blends pop, folk and musical theatre influences, the story follows Jen as she reflects on her childhood with her younger brother John. Their connection, shaped by youthful rebellion, family expectations and unspoken love, is marked by small but powerful touchstones—including a well-worn baseball glove that becomes a quiet symbol of memory, loss and enduring devotion. As Jen grows into adulthood and raises her own son, the echoes of her past shape her hopes, fears and fierce love as a parent.   

The production features Samantha Gershman as Jen and Jake Bentley Young as John, both of whom display admirable vocal skill in delivering Lippa's score.  Like much of Lippa's work, we are presented with complex multilayered individuals driven as much by angst and challenges, as by serendipitous joy and pleasantries, the stuff of more traditionally based musical theatre offerings. The musical selections do a great job of detailing the realities of those raised in single parent households so prevalent during the latter half of the twentieth century. Few and far between are the up-tempo numbers or those you'll find yourself humming on the way home.  

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