Driving to see Flowers for the Room on a chilly winter evening to the northwest Minneapolis suburb of Osseo, Siri got very confused and starting sending us in circles. Located in a small strip mall is the Yellow Tree Theatre, celebrating its eleventh season. This small professional company is housed in an expansive former furniture storage facility. The space is extremely welcoming. A large, cleverly designed lounge area with ample seating allows its patrons to relax and chat before the show. Hang your coat, grab a glass of wine and prepare to join the local community for an evening’s entertainment.
Through a large curtain is a nice black box type theater with noticeably comfortable seating. Flowers for the Room is a new musical written by Jessica Lind Peterson, the company’s co-founder along with her husband Jason. Inspiration for this piece was based on a story she read. A woman had a stroke in her first year of marriage and became confined to a wheelchair. The show explores the contrasting tensions between “I do, always and forever” against the harsh realities of difficult life choices and heartbreaking disappointment.
Ms. Peterson plays Allison who is marrying Jake (Zachary Stofer) as this story unfolds. Opposites attract. He’s a successful numbers guy and she’s a painter. At the wedding reception, Jake sings the wonderfully witty country-flavored “Color Me In Love” and his infatuation is infectious. Color is a recurring motif throughout. A tragedy soon follows and Allison winds up in ICU. Flowers for the Room proceeds to examine the relationships between her husband, his brother (Daniel S. Hines), her nurse (Kendall Anne Thompson) and a social worker (Norah Long). Despite her incapacitation, Allison remains a spectral presence, emotionally connecting with the orbit around her room.
Zachary Stofer was superb as Jake. Filled with passion and love, then grief and despair, his emotional journey was vivid and deeply wrought. The three supporting roles were all nicely played. The book gave them enough backstory to let us get to know them. Allison, the center of the story, was the more difficult one to embrace. The words Ms. Peterson wrote for herself are mystical and new age-y such as “I want to live more slowly.” These feelings sometimes felt incongruous with the comic lines that occasionally were plopped in.
I wanted to know Allison on a deeper level since every other character seemed more developed. Why is Jake so in love that he is willing to uproot his whole life for her? The flashback scene does not help in that regard. It pushes us away not towards her. Maybe a little more time spent getting to know Allison before the ICU would help illuminate the beauty Jake adores.
Blake Thomas and Matt Riehle have written some nice character songs and ballads. The wittiest ones were standouts. The talented actress and author Ms. Peterson amazingly makes the improbable yet amusing pastor/professional wrestler hybrid work. Directed by Mr. Peterson and featuring some intriguing stagecraft, Flowers for the Room impresses for its thoughtfully challenging material. Even more exciting is to see a thriving professional theater company producing original musicals with a community embracing its artistic risk taking and complex thematic explorations.