Review: MILLENNIUM at Shadowbox Live!

After singing tunes of some other generations’ juke box, Ash Davis and the cast of the 30s and 40-somethings in Shadowbox Live’s MILLENNIUM have finally found a voice of their own.

MILLINNEUM, a two-act musical created by Davis and boyfriend Zach Tarantelli, follows the lives of Maria (Davis), Will (Jamie Barrow), and Millie (Riley Mak) as the trio navigate the path of chaotic coffee shops, careening careers and collapsing courtships in the early 21st century. The musical, which features a diverse catalogue of songs from the 2000s, opened June 5 and runs through Aug. 29 at Shadowbox Live’s theater (503 S. Front Street in downtown Columbus).

“I’m a huge music nerd. Anytime Shadowbox does a music tribute show, whether it's Prince, Aerosmith, or Queen, I'm already like, ‘This is the shit I grew up with!’” Davis said. “But this music is something my parents didn't introduce me to. It's something I found by myself. It is so nice to sing something that means something to me.

“One of the songs, ‘Breakaway,’ by Kelly Clarkson is a beautiful full circle moment for me. I sang ‘Breakaway’ in my very first talent show when I was 11 or 12 years old. Fast forward 20 years later, who knew I'd be using that song while writing a musical and then sing it in a professional theatre?”

Tarantelli and Davis’ opus hits on some of the sights and sounds of the 2000s. It opens with the crackle of a dial up modem and AOL’s greeting of “You’ve Got Mail.” A good chunk of the action takes place in a coffee shop. It makes references to Razor phones, iPod video (“I can’t believe you got an iPod video. Why do you want to watch things on a tiny little screen like that?”), and the Y2K scare. One of the best lines in the first act is when a producer (Tom Cardinal) berates his assistant (Brendan Barasch) for fumbling an oversized box of freshly arrived “Live Strong” wrist bands with a curt, “Hey, Lance Armstrong is counting on us.”

One of the subtler touches is the ne’er do well trio of Ed (Aidan Segna), Edd (Emily O’Regan), and Eddy (Luke Marconi) who make up the lyrically impaired band “The Eds.” It appears to be a shrewd homage to the Cartoon Network series “Ed, Edd, and Eddy,” which was created by Daniel Edward Antonucci and ran from 1999-2009.

The narrative centers mostly on the crumbling relationships of Maria and her self- absorbed boyfriend Tyler (Andy Ankrom), a chef who is forcing her to choose between her dream career as a performer on Broadway and his wants and needs. At the same time, her Best Friend Will (Jamie Barrow) and his wife Candice (Nyla Nyamweya) are struggling to keep their crumbling marriage bandaged together. Maria’s punky nerd sister Millie (Mak) maintains the mantra of “sworn to fun, loyal to none” as she swings from dating Dungeons and Dragons dungeon masters and guild leaders of her World of Warcraft alliance server.

By the end of the first act, however, one will be dumped, one will be betrayed, and one will be swept away.

Two ideas power MILLINNEUM. The first is what the show is not. It is not a karaoke confection that takes a bunch of chart-topping songs and plasters a story around it. In this musical, the playlist is a supporting role to the story and the characters in it. Tarantelli and Davis did not necessarily pick out the chart toppers of the era. The two took 2000s’ iconic songs (Britney Spears’ “Oops I Did It Again,” Katy Perry’s “Firework” and Outkast’s “Heya”) and mixes them in with a little less familiar songs such as “Cat and Mouse” by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, “I Write Sins, Not Tragedies” by Panic! At the Disco, and “God is a D.J.” by P!nk) to paint the picture.

Equally important is the show’s carefully coordinated bond between character and song. Davis brings out the multi-sided emotions of Maria with a fiery delivery of Christina Aguilera’s “Fighter,” an optimistic duet with Barrow on Owl City’s “Fireflies,” and a playful pairing with Mak on Katy Perry’s “Firework.” Ankrom, on the other hand, plays more than one character in the musical, going from being the brooding boyfriend in one scene and a quirky customer in the background of the coffee shop in the next. Ankrom can switch personalities as easily as (quite literally) putting on a hat.

When Maria and Tyler’s relationship spins out of control, there’s a clear hero and a clear villain. Yet as Will and Candice’s marriage falls into a death spiral, the line of who is at fault is far less defined. Barrow’s duets with Nyamweya on Three Days Grace’s “Never Too Late” and Blue October’s “Hate Me” are soul crushing ballads as the audience watches a marriage crumble. The staging of “Hate Me” is inspired with Barrow on one side of a door frame and Nyamweya on the other.

One of the few relationships in this play that starts and ends happily is Millie’s romance with Garrett (Braedon Tuttle), a friend from her past who has reemerged in town. Garrett can see behind the party girl persona Millie has created for herself and his take on Train’s “Hey Soul Sister” seems to be a celebration of that.

There are a couple of flaws with the show. One thing that is missing from the show is the band. Granted, guitarists Matthew Hahn and Jack Walbridge, bassist Buzz Crisafulli, keyboardists Alex Toth and Spencer Solberg, and drummer Brandon Smith make their presence known through their musicianship and deliver the sounds of the Millennium era. Unlike ROCK THIS WAY, Shadowbox Live’s recent tribute show to Van Halen and Aerosmith, they aren’t part of the action; they’re dressed in black and tucked away in a corner. I realize MILLENNIUM is a different kind of show than a tribute show, but I missed seeing the interaction between the band and the actors.

To have a show about the 2000s without a mention of Sept. 11 is equivalent to doing a retrospective on the 1960s without a mention of the Kennedy assassinations. On the other hand, the show thankfully leaves out some of the other low points of that period, like the Dot.com crash, the rise of the “famous for being famous” celebs like Paris Hilton, and Right Said Fred’s “I’m Too Sexy for My Shirt.”

However, this locally sourced show creates an enjoyable performance that should appeal to a far deeper audience than those born between 1980-1995. Okay Gen Z, the ball’s in your court, now.

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