In NYMF’s history, 49 shows went on to mount off-Broadway productions. Averaging about three successes annually is a pretty good batting average. This year ten full productions are being staged with sets and costumes. There are eleven readings with scripts in a rehearsal studio. All works in various stages of progress, these musicals hope to continue their journey after this four week festival ends.
Hero: an Origin Story – Reading
HERO is an admitted nerd who runs a comic book store in Jersey City. That town is mercilessly mocked and begrudgingly labeled an affordable Brooklyn. He looks for a roommate and finds Herson Morales (Hector Lionel), an illegal immigrant from El Salvador. Both are gay. HERO is played by Mark Aaron James, the show’s writer. He introduces Herson to the neighborhood gay bar where the community hangs out eating burgers and drinking beer. HERO realizes that he looked for a roommate but “instead I got a sixteen year old daughter.”
Closeted Herson’s mom is a Seventh Day Adventist and she’s coming to visit! A Bodega Bandit is on the loose! The bar is located in a building which is being sold for more high rise development! (The real estate villain is cleverly named Archy Nemi.) With so many problems to fix, HERO fancies himself a super hero in the show’s theme song, “I’ve Got Super Powers.” Thank goodness Drag Queen is on hand to fix the ill fitting yellow spandex fashion disaster!
Hero feels like an extended maxi-challenge from RuPaul’s Drag Race. When the show works (and it often does), the laughs are plentiful. There’s the requisite shade, plenty of self-aware meta jokes and a heartfelt message to end it all. We can all be heroes in own little corners of the world. The cast did a fine job. They all looked like they were having fun which was contagious. Brian Charles Rooney (from this week’s Illuminati Lizards From Outer Space) once again showcases his gigantic comic chops playing five roles. A few edits here and there (the laundry song for one) and this little charmer might find a niche for #dragrace fans waiting for the next season.
Kafka’s Metamorphosis: The Musical! – Reading
A title can be misleading. In this new musical by Matt Chiorini, that is not the case. Two stories run simultaneously through this exceptional work. One is a presentation of the famous novella written by Franz Kafka. The other is the story of Kafka himself. The themes of isolation, guilt, family dysfunction and absurdity are all present. As this is musical comedy, all existential crises will be served up for maximum hilarity.
The Metamorphosis is about a young salesman who wakes up one morning to find himself transformed into a “monstrous vermin.” He considers his new physical form, noting “I think I’m going to need a lot more shoes.” The family is repulsed and concerned. In “We Are the Samsa Family” they sing “we are in a pickle of a dilemma/now that Gregor has an antenna.” This might sound silly – and the show is immensely so. The treatment of the absurdist source material and this musical’s riff on that tone is impressive. Audience members were noticeably smiling throughout.
The four member cast is excellent and has been beautifully directed by the composer who also plays Father Samsa. As sister Grete and Mother Samsa, Morgan Smith and Meghan Lees make the most of their compassion and revulsion. Jack Rento has the juicy double role of Gregor and Franz. The performance is terrific. I loved how he captured the physicality of a multi-limbed insect with controlled exaggeration and no costume. Mr. Rento is extremely amusing even during the spot-on meta moments. He shouts, “Oh no! It’s the future Kafka scholars.”
Kafka’s Metamorphosis is certainly ready for prime time. For nerdy wordy bookish people like me, this show is a medium rare T-Bone sizzling on a hot plate of butter. Right now it’s resting after removal from the grill (with scintillating cross-hatched grill marks) waiting to be devoured. A little editing on the joke list recitation section and you’ve got a perfect theater meal.
Black Hole Wedding – Production
Sometimes a performance in a show is so good that when the character is not on stage, there is a lull. That happens in Black Hole Wedding. Sean McDermott (Miss Saigon, Falsettos) plays Mr. Dean, the CEO of a large fossil fuel company located in the red state of Oildorado. He loves golf, harassing women and using money to eliminate competition. The epitome of Make America Great Again leads two showstopping songs, “Ancient & Honorable Game” and “Titan Love Theme.”
The plot revolves around engineers hired for the firm based on their alternative energy inventions. The evil corporation takes their ideas and buries them. No need to save the planet, profits come first. Raymond (Jonathan Miller) is the idealistic hero who falls for Mr. Dean’s new-agey office masseuse Summer (Mimi Robinson). There’s a muscular security guy (Jay Ellis) with #metoo issues. Speaking of inappropriate, Calista is head of marketing and the corporate cheerleader. She implores Raymond to “Show me your laptop. C’mon expose it.”
Everyone in this good cast works hard but too many jokes fail to land. “This is almost as bad as the time I forgot to bring my cable crimper to camp.” Quite a few scenes such as the massage meeting between Raymond and Summer are overlong. Paul Nelson and Katherine Fredicks’ musical is filled with fun ideas. The particulate sniffer and the black hole garbage disposal are goofy delights. If the entire show were as tight as Mr. Dean’s massage needing trapezoids, Black Hole Wedding might be “Something Undreamed Of.”
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