By James V. Ruocco
Written by Jeff Bowen and Hunter Bell, "{title of show}" plots the valiant efforts of two best friends - i.e., Jeff and Hunter - who band together to pen a bold, new musical about two guys - Jeff and Hunter, naturally - writing a show about a show they're hoping to showcase at the New York Music Festival.
The catch, of course, it that they have to write it in three weeks - book, music, lyrics - cast it, rehearse it, stage it and hope that once it's submitted for performance, it can find life off-Broadway, on Broadway or both.
The theme - real-life people, real-life dialogue, real-life situations.
"We could put this exact conversation in the show," Hunter explains to Jeff. "But would other people want to watch something like that?"
Hell, yes.
Curtain up. Light the lights.
It's showtime.
Crafty.
Witty.
Conversational.
Breezy.
Appealing.
"{title of show}" aims high.
And succeed it does, as top form entertainment, as musical docudrama and as an observational, harmonic art form.
Finding life at New York's Vineyard Theatre in 2006 and then on Broadway two years later, the musical has been performed all over the world including stops in Melbourne, Sydney, Copenhagen, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Hamburg, London, Calgary, Los Angeles and St. Louis.
In Connecticut, "{title of show}" slips seamlessly into the cozy, immersive environs of "The Arts at Angeloria's," a popular, acclaimed Victorian-themed venue where players of all ages unite for potent dramatic works, engaging comedies, buzzy original productions and exhilarating, fun-filled musicals.
Here, the backstage drama of the story, its catchy wordplay, its tuneful ode to musical theatre and its gossipy playfulness come full circle with the fortissimo and major-key readiness of a spontaneous ensemble effort, a gleeful bond of rippling abandonment and a whooping and whirling investment riddled with inspiration, reflection and sparkling razzamatazz.
This is the kind of musical that basks in its own cheekiness and enjoys its own bite and sting, diced and spliced with cleverly orchestrated narrative sprout, affecting advancement and wonderful, tight-knit captivation.
As devised by Hunter and Bell, "{title of show}" documents the actual creation of a musical show with jokes, one-liners, songs, references and commentary that playfully attack the industry itself, its key players, its big breaks, its failed auditions, its Broadway flops, etc. There are amusing bits about Betty Buckley, Bernadette Peters, "Shogun - the Musical," "Carrie," "Your Arms Too Short to Box with God," "Henry Sweet Henry," "Into the Woods," "Mamma Mia!" "Golden Rainbow," "Merrily We Roll Along," "Rent" and "Avenue Q," among others.
It's all in jest - bitchy, sarcastic, icy-cool, nasty - and peppered with all the right trimmings, wit and humor designed to produce huge belly laughs, one after another, especially if your akin to the day-to-day machinations of the theatre world. If you're not, a crash course in musical theater should be mandatory the minute you get home.
The musical score, composed and written by Bowen, is an eclectic, catchy mix of exhilarating songs which complement the story, its progression, its shifts in time and place, its varying moods and the characters who sing them. They are: "Untitled Opening Number," "Two Nobodies in New York," "An Original Musical," "Monkeys and Playbills," "The Tony Award Song," "Part of It All," "I Am Playing Me," "What Kind of Girl Is She?" "Die, Vampire, Die!" "Filling Out the Form," "Montage Part 1: September Song," "Montage Part 2: Secondary Characters," "Montage Part 3: Development Medley," "Change It, Don't Change It/Awkward Photo Shoot," "A Way Back to Then," "Nine People's Favorite Thing" and "Finale."
One by one, these wonderfully placed musical numbers bring a tremendous sense of theatricality to the performance, molded and shaped with phrases, contours, lines and expressions completely in sync with the production's conceit, ingredients, humor, thrust and bubbly energy.
Viewed through the eyes of musical director Ed Rosenblatt, "{title of show}" is expertly unpacked with persuasive force, intimacy and achievement. Readying it for performance, Rosenblatt knows what he wants and how to achieve it, bringing with him immeasurable depths of landscape, gesture, emotion and theatricality.
There's edge and smoothness to his approach. There's tradition and adventure. There's accent and urgency. There's climax and gallop. There's harmony and balance.
All of this is reinforced by onstage accompanist Bill D'Andrea (he also plays the part of Larry in the musical), a musician, who like Rosenblatt, shares his enthusiasm for the musical score, its blending of sound and voice, its smooth orchestral dynamic, its lyrical appeal and its barge of acidic musical banter and interplay.
Staging "{title of show}," director Lori Katherine Holm provides a fascinating, multi-textured portrayal of backstage life, American musical theatre, the creative process itself and its one-on-one connection between actor and creator. An actress herself, she comes to the project with a knowledge and understanding of the subject matter, which, in turn, benefits greatly from both her onstage experience and directorial showmanship.
As the musical evolves, she has great fun with its satire, its humor, its catch phrases, its tilts and swagger, its in-house jokes, its celebrity name references, its musical theatre do's and don'ts, its powerplays and its eleventh-hour machinations.
There's motive. There's lampooning. There's revolution. There's backstage drama. There's ego-clashing. There's volcanic fury. There's vacillated put downs.
Regardless, this is Holm's show. There is fun to be had as the character's sing, converse and cut loose, all of which she deftly orchestrates with apt parody, razor-sharp skewering and tinted blather and flux.
"{title of show}" stars Kassiani Kontothanasis as Hunter, Jen Colella as Jeff, Nicole Zolad as Heidi, Sara Fabrizio as Susan and Bill D'Andrea as Larry.
For this production, the roles of Hunter and Jeff, normally played by men, are reinvented by Holm and portrayed by women. It's a casting coup that brings added resonance and dimension to the piece along with a strong sense of individualism and female camaraderie.
As Hunter, a struggling writer with an eye for the bigtime - Broadway that is - Kassiani Kontothanasis delivers a strong musical comedy performance minted in realness, shrewdness, power, vulnerability and theatrical flourish. She has great stage presence. She brings accent and clash to the character's vocal fireworks. She takes chances. She runs with them. And vocally, her emotion-filled voice brings a heightened sensitivity and luster to the meaning of each lyric, offset by a pitch, slide and glide that adds both charm and uniqueness to her already impressive musical delivery.
In the role of Heidi, an actress and singer who can't seem to catch a break, Nicole Zolad
puts an alluring, natural spin on her character which immediately draws you into her story, her songs, her evolution and her musical journey. It's a polished, entirely fresh performance of raw skill and determination, matched by full-power vocals that are smooth, strong, sultry and airy.
Jen Colella, who plays Jeff, the musical's fiercely determined composer and lyricist, matches the energy and charm of this backstage musical with nudge, promenade and inspiration. It's a joyful, driven portrayal that's grounded, resourceful and chock full of pleasurable projection and style that the actress invests with sure-fire musicality, realization and boundless rewards.
As Susan, an office worker who has sidestepped off-Broadway for an office job, Sarah Fabrizio effectively sells the plight of her perplexed character through both song and conversation that's delightfully intertwined with grace, polish and vocal giddyap. It's a captivating turn, chock full of warmth, earthy humor and emotion, which weaves and cajoles its way throughout the production with glorious sendup and showbiz satire that's stirred and served with oven-gloved twinkle and Broadway treat perfection.
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