Review: OCTET at Raven Theatre

Though it’s a musical about a support group for internet addicts, Dave Molloy’s Octet is delightfully analog. And that’s precisely the point — Molloy’s musical invites audiences to look away from their screens and lean into this intimate, inventive, and fully a cappella show. Molloy (perhaps best known for Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812) has written the kind of show that gives me hope for the future of new musicals. Octet is timely, creative, often funny — and truly, wholly original. And based on the recent news about the forthcoming movie musical directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, it has commercial legs.

If you’ve read my reviews for a while, you know I love musicals more than any other form of theater — and I particularly adore new musicals. A show like Octet, now in its Chicago premiere at Raven Theatre, is exactly the kind of work that reminds me why I love musicals. It’s the kind of show we need more of.

And if you don’t think you’re an internet addict before you see this musical, you’ll walk out of the theater convinced. It’s why Molloy’s concept is so brilliant; it seems quirky and niche, but it ends up so relatable. The musical is so named because it has eight — and exactly eight — characters who gather in a church basement for a meeting of Friends of Saul. The irony that Saul himself never appears — and seems to be a cult-like figment of the internet — wasn’t lost on me. Saul is Octet’s Godot — a mythical figure that the characters cling to as they aim to combat the “monster” that is internet addiction.

While an a cappella musical might sound cringey, rest assured Molloy guarantees it’s not. Instead, the effect is altogether charming. The only “instruments” used onstage are pipettes to ensure the actors harmonize in tune. 

Director Keira Fromm leads a phenomenal ensemble through the journey of this Friends of Saul meeting. Fromm’s meeting makes use of the sparse set and props, and she’s smartly staged the show so audiences seated on all three sides of the theater will feel immersed. Music director Nick Sula also ensures the harmonies are pitch perfect (yes, pun intended).

Molloy has smartly constructed the musical so that a large portion of the meeting involves sharing, so we can see inside the characters’ heads. It also involves a Fugue State session, Friends of Saul hymns, and a concluding Tower Tea Ceremony (with a wacky twist).

Jessica (Neala Barron, who I’m always thrilled to see on any Chicago stage) opens the sharing first with a frenzied number about her obsession with watching a viral online video that had her canceled. As usual, Barron is a captivating and entrancing performer. Her voice is simultaneously angelic and deeply powerful. I could listen to her sing a 90-minute show all on her own. 

She’s followed by Henry (Sam Shankman), who sings an uproariously funny number about his addiction to online games featuring candy...and who’s promptly called out by fellow attendee Marvin (Jordan Golding) for coming too close to saying a trigger word (Friends of Saul aren’t allowed to name specific sites, games, or other internet terms in the meetings). Shankman has a frenetic and endearing energy that well suits the character. Meeting leader Paula (Teressa LaGamba) closes out the first sharing portion with a paen about how she and her husband are addicted to the “stale, pale glow” of their phone screens.

Molloy has assembled a deliciously quirky cast of characters, each with their own various predilections — but who all seem united by the fact that the internet can provide comfort and a sense of connection (though it may often be false) — while also being an enormous time suck and source of isolation. I was especially delighted by a duet between Karly (Grace Steckler) and Ed (Ryder Dean McDaniel) about the slot machine rush of dating apps and the horrors they contain. Molloy’s specific use of internet jargon throughout his lyrics is absolutely brilliant. This show feels fascinating and urgent and of this moment, insightful in making plain how often we succumb to our devices and screens without thinking...and the show, of course, makes you step back and think.

Elliot Esquivel is a welcome addition as Toby, a soft-spoken tech nerd, and Joryhebel Ginorio shows off her crystalline sweet soprano as newcomer Velma. Jordan Golding was engaging and went big as scientist Marvin — but Molloy lost me a bit with his solo number. It involves Marvin having an experience with “Little God,” a God-like figure. Thematically, it seemed left of center for the show’s otherwise laser focus on internet addiction. While Golding handles the song’s simultaneous breakneck pace and lengthiness expertly, the number itself is a head scratcher.

I encourage all musical theater lovers to put down their phones for 90 minutes and appreciate the simultaneous creativity, wonder, humor, and sadness of Octet. Molloy has written a show that’s truly unique and truly rooted in 2026, and Fromm’s ensemble sings this score gorgeously at Raven. 

Octet plays at Raven Theatre, 6157 North Clark Street, through June 7, 2026. Tickets are $45 for general admission with $20 student, military, and industry tickets available. 

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