BWW Reviews: AWAKE ALL NIGHT Shows Musical Promise at Capital Fringe

Original, serious, contemporary musical theatre works are near and dear to my heart so it's always a pleasure when I have a painfully rare opportunity to get a first look at something in that genre at the Capital Fringe Festival. Itai Yasur's Awake All Night may not be quite ready for prime time, but the ambitious work has a few things going for it that would suggest there's promise in developing it further.

The work, as explained at the beginning of the show, explores a telephone conversation between Hermes, the messenger god (Garrett Matthews), and college student Ariadne (Bailey Drew Lehfeldt). They're separated by both time and place. Ariadne is a theatre student with a budding interest in costume design. She needs to stay up all night to finish a design and get the courage to take the next step. Hermes is dealing with his own creative (and must we say, familial) challenges. He tries to write her a song so that she can stay up all night to finish the dress.

In reality, however, although Mr. Yasur has a good handle on the thematic bases for the work (love, the creative struggle, the pressures of figuring out the future), he's still not there in writing a work of art that presents a story that's clear and well-structured, and is likely to resonate in one way or another with a broader audience. That being said, those with a working knowledge of and passion for Greek mythology, the creation of music or art in general, or contemporary musical theatre are likely to find some satisfaction in the production. An interest in two or more of these things would probably make it even more of a positive experience.

Putting these issues aside, the production certainly showcases Mr. Yasur's obvious talent as a musician - both as a pianist and as a writer. A few of the melodies are quite derivative of things that other contemporary musical theatre writers have written - among them Jason Robert Brown and Pasek and Paul, and even a bit of Stephen Sondheim - and some of the music moments can go on for what seems like an endless number of minutes ("It Starts"). Yet, there are many more moments in the show that indicate he has a promising future in writing for the musical theatre - at least as a composer - and is capable of writing in various styles. One of the strongest numbers is "Blue Night Sky," which has more of a singer-songwriter vibe than the other selections. The melody is quite beautiful and it showcases Ms. Lehfeldt's pleasing tone. Other numbers - particularly in the latter half - allow cellist Samantha Hegre to shine. Yasur writes well for both the piano and cello.

Lyrics-wise, Yasur has fewer stronger moments and struggles with saying too much, but I will say I've not quite heard Don Sebesky's name uttered in a song before. These and other moments where Yasur comments on the field he's passionate about allowed me to mostly forget about the negatives and focus on the fact that the work is, in essence, a love letter to the creative music pursuit. Likewise, he meets a challenge to write all in rhythmic verse, which is no small feat.

While some nervous moments plagued opening night and the performers weren't always singing on pitch, the musical did well to showcase some up-and-coming musical theatre performers. Like Lehfeldt, Matthews has a pleasing tone with a particularly strong upper range. Both are confident performers with solid stage presence and show good song interpretation skills. If this production is to have another life, I would encourage the use of an outside director to bring out the best in the performers and the production. No man - no matter how musically talented - can do it all, though I appreciate the ambition to take it all on.

No matter my quibbles, it's a joy to see a serious work of musical theatre in a festival such as this one, especially one that showcases some solid musicianship all the way around.

Running Time: 60 minutes with no intermission.

Awake All Night has four more performances in the Capital Fringe. For ticket, date, and venue information, click here. Additional information and sound clips can be found on the production website.

Photo: Bailey Drew Lehfeldt (Ariadne) and Garrett Matthews (Hermes) in Awake All Night. Credit: itai Yasur.

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