The New York Musical Festival entries usually explore a wide variety of subjects and situations. This second batch of three covers the Old Testament Book of Esther, a serial killer romantic adventure and an ocean voyage for female prisoners sentenced to join the convicts in Australia.
Queen E: The Reluctant Royal – Reading
Esther’s story was the inspiration for Leola Floren Gee (book & lyrics) and Rick Lukianuk (music). The famous story is about a woman who wins a beauty pageant and becomes Queen to Xerxes. Her heritage is a closely guarded secret but she will save her people from genocide. The Jewish celebratory festival of Purim commemorates this event.
Family friendly in tone, this musical is an easy tutorial about the serious subject of religious persecution. Esteban Suero is a fine King Xerxes. His obnoxious self-absorbed dictator is also charming and quite likable. The drunken scene was particularly fun. Dan’yelle Williamson plays Esther as a sincere heroine with a brain and a heart. There was great chemistry between these two performers and the central storyline clicked.
The music is pleasant but a few songs were slightly awkward. The “Insomnia” scene uses lines like “where’s my Zoloft?” which got easy laughs but had little to do with the story. The evil Haman (Warren Curtis) is humiliated by Xerxes and sings the lightly rap influenced “You’ll Remember My Name.” That song is almost as out of place as the Executioner’s number. Darius Wright razzle dazzles “I’m a Guy Who Really Knows How to Swing” as a flamboyant ham while chewing the scenery mercilessly. The song, the character and the performance style is certainly funny. What does it have to do with the story other than some kooky comic relief? I guess family shows featuring murderous dictators need to laugh through the pain prior to the happy ending.
Buried – Production
Performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last year, Buried is a perfect example of the kind of surprise one can uncover at NYMF. The creative team and cast has brought this show from the University of Sheffield via the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Tom Williams directed this show while also writing the book and lyrics. This dark comedy has a lovely tuneful folksy score by Cordelia O’Driscoll. The team graduated from college in 2017. There is a rich connectivity between this material and the performances which are all dead on (forgive the pun).
Rose and Harry meet and bond quickly once they realize they are both serial killers. “Just like me but in another body.” We are not normally sympathetic to this type nor are we asked to be in this show despite their troubling backstories. Buried, however, presents two very flawed outsiders with this interesting mirror-image twist. Lindsay Manion is the tough and broken Rose. The performance is relaxed, riveting, understated and unnerving. She’s neurotic and disturbingly sexy, channeling a little Juliette Lewis in her physicality. Sebastian Belli’s Harry is every part her equal. He is perhaps the soul of the play. His song “Something Ordinary” is a high point.
Four very talented ensemble members play many roles including victims, potential victims, television psychologists, bartenders and other roles. Very few shows balance light moments and comedic breaks with emotional drama and intensity as effectively as Buried. Mr. Williams’ direction and attention to detail are to be praised. I expect this gem to be near or at the top of my Best of Fest list for this year’s NYMF. More importantly, I will see anything these remarkable young writers try next.
Ladyship – Production
A lead actress was ill for the performance I caught of Ladyship. One of the composers sat in for her and the cast did a hybrid reading/production in full costume. The presentation flowed seamlessly and each actor’s nicely developed characterizations were evident. Laura and Linda Good wrote this satisfying tale of female empowerment in a male dominated world.
Two hundred miscreants are sentenced to a seven year prison term in Australia. The male colonists need women. Ladyship is a musical about a handful of dubiously convicted ladies who embark on that ten month journey. Young girls and women are shipped off to receive whatever assignment they get once landed. The storytelling is strong and clear, especially in the first act. The latter stages of Act II cram too much resolution far too quickly. Without NYMF’s time constraints, that should be easily solvable.
There are good songs in Ladyship and the feminist anthem “I’m Done” could certainly find life outside this show. The cast seemed well directed by Samatha Saltzman (although I saw only minimal staging). Caitlin Cohn was outstanding as Mary Reed, the sixteen year old at the center of this story. The actress playing her sister was the one who was ill. Ms. Cohn’s ability to create a moving, heartfelt relationship with someone reading from a script on a chair was impressive.