Review: JOE ICONIS & FAMILY at 54/Below An Evening For Everyone

Joe Iconis & Family is the party you want to be invited to, and, luckily, it's running for 4 more nights at 54/Below. The space is decked out with signs, christmas lights, and posters of donkeys, and the night is an eclectic one, filled to the brim with an explosion of talent oozing from the performers and composer. Iconis may, well, be the most prolific contemporary composer and lyricist  produced on Broadway today. People love him, and it’s easy to understand why his ‘family’ of collaborators has grown so large. 

The first number, ‘Album’ is off his latest, and currently streaming, 40-track album, which will soon be available in a special collectible set with 5 vinyl records. The song is a story about the past and the way we hope to be remembered. Iconis started off the set solo as, slowly, the room filled with his entire ensemble and band, over 40 performers total. 

“Album” sets up the idea of permanent impermanence, that even when art exists and people can connect to it, it’s all temporary, it’s just the feelings that last. 

Feelings are what is universal: feelings of not belonging, longing to be loved, to be seen. Iconis taps into what is universal: everyone wants to be accepted. The takeaway: no one is alone. Songs about the loner in everyone somehow don’t feel lonely, they feel hopeful, funny and heartwarming. 

The evening was filled with memorable performances. Jeremy Morse is hilarious in “Andy’s Song” and even peppers in some comedic tap in a number that Iconis pitched to be part of the musical version of the film “40-Year Old Virgin.” It was never made. Lauren Marcus delivers a delectable version of a brand new ditty “Out of Sight/Out of Mind” that was sung in public for the first time. The performance was so polished, no one would have ever guessed it, had Iconis not mentioned it. Lorinda Lositza delivered a deadly version of “Helen Sharp” with deadly being the highest compliment one can get from a number inspired by the lead character in “Death Becomes Her.” 

Another brand-new number that will be featured in Iconis’ new “The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical” was “Song of the Brown Buffalo.” Get this: the singer, John El-Jor received the song only the night prior, when Iconis got the whim to have it performed. The actual cast member is in Los Angeles so El-Jor had to learn the song in less than a day. He was phenomenal, a star-in-the-making with comedic timing and story-telling gravitas that seems impossible to conjure up in that time period, and, yet, he did. 

There was even a Christmas song in the evening, and although it isn’t even July yet, it all made perfect sense. The evening aptly ended with “The Goodbye Song” but if you haven’t seen the show yet, they will have you at, ‘hello’. 

Joe Iconis Website HERE

Below Website HERE

“Joe Iconis & Family”  plays June 14-17th and stars: Joe Iconis, Jeannette Bayardelle, Nick Blaemire, Liz Lark Brown, Katrina Rose Dideiksen, John El-Jor, Seth Eliser, Badia Farha, Nick Frenay, Danielle Gimbal, Morgan Siobhan Green, Molly Hager, Marcy Harriell, Ian Kagey, Lorinda Lisitza, Lauren Marcus, Grace McLean, Devon Meddock, Vaibu Mohan, Eric William Morris, Jeremy Morse, Jimmy O'Connell, Josh Plotner, Mikaela Rada, Rob Rokicki, Mike Rosengarten, Lance Rubin, George Salazar, Brooke Shapiro, Brent Stranathan, Jared Weiss, Jason SweetTooth Williams

BAND: Nick Frenay (Trumpet), lan Kagey (Electric Bass), Vaibu Mohan (Violin), Devon Meddock (Trumpet), Jimmy O'Connell (Trombone), Josh Plotner (Woodwinds), Rob Rokicki (Synth), Mike Rosengarten (Electric Guitar), Brent Stranathan (Drums)

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