In fifteen years, NYMF has presented 447 musicals. 106 of them have gone on to further productions in 50 states and 27 countries. These three offerings range from a small, intimate fantasy tale to a story of Alzheimer’s impact on a family to the lives of the emojis that live in your telephone.
Held: A Musical Fantasy (Reading)
Three people are trapped for sixty days in the prison of the Blood Wizard when Held begins. They cannot find any way out. Their bodies remain healthy despite not eating and not being hungry. In this darkness and in this situation, the opening song creates an effective sense of moodiness and mystery. This intimate three character drama proceeds to fill in the blanks. Why are they trapped? How do these three know each other? One is the Dreamer with magical conjuring skills and the other two are Non-Dreamers. Like many fantasy stories, war is looming in the background. Held considers one’s genetic makeup and the generations that came before as predictors for life’s choices. While the book has some odd transitions, there is dialogue to savor: “inside the tent smells like sawdust and fresh bread.” The threesome’s group dynamic and growth is clear and logical, as is the story arc. Written by Kelly Maxwell and Meghan Rose, this musical may need a few more songs to allow the audience to get further inside each character’s head individually. I wanted to know more backstory. Held feels like a slice of a larger epic which makes this small scale piece especially effective (notably for fans of fantasy).
If Sand Were Stone (Production)
Near the end of If Sand Were Stone, there is an intimate moment between a husband and his wife, Billie. She has been suffering from Alzheimer’s for years and the disease has taken its toll. This musical finally stops for a second to let a real emotional moment happen. It is far too late. We’ve already had to endure the Spirits, four doppelgangers (?) who dance, move chairs around and add nothing except distraction to the stage. They do occasionally spout fun facts about Alzheimer’s, often smiling when doing so. At one point, Billie and her assistant sing If It Was A Dream facing the dancers not the audience. Who is this story being told to? The show was written by Carly Brooke Feinman and Cassie Willson. I had trouble deciding about the songs, they often seemed discordant. Admittedly, my appreciation might be affected by the staging. How far has Billie’s memory loss deteriorated? She keeps watering plants not remembering how often. This is performed in an interminable scene where the Spirits dance with watering cans between four houseplants, back and forth. At one point, a movie is turned on for Billie to keep her occupied. A film starring the Three Stooges is projected on the screen for far too long. Not a great idea since that’s what I was watching. I can’t say whether If Sand Were Stone is fixable but killing the Spirits and letting the characters tell this story might be a fairly obvious start.
Emojiland (Production)
What really happens inside your telephone when a system update is about to occur to emojis? That is the conflict successfully explored and hilariously exploited by Keith and Laura Nicole Harrison in their textistential new musical, Emojiland. Princess (Lesli Margherita, always funny) currently rules the world inside your phone and we quickly learn that “Princess Is A Bitch.” Many emoji favorites are characters here including Sunny, Skull, Smize (smiling face and smiling eyes) and Pile of Poo. While it may seem obvious that characters like Weary and Worry have negative emotions, there is tension even inside the sunniest pals. Skull, for example, sings “Cross My Bones and hope to die.” When the update happens, one of the new emojis is Nerd Face, the catalyst for the plot. The score is catchy and delicious Broadway pop, with a number of songs reaching classic character song greatness. Angela Wildflower sings the exquisite “A Thousand More Words” beautifully (with welcome hints of the great Stephanie Mills). Musical theater songwriters to put on your radar, the Harrison’s have written Nerd Guy and Smize for themselves. Both are perfectly cast. Emojiland is ready for prime time and I expect the built in fanbase to be large. One plea: can we add dancing lady in red dress emoji? Please?
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