Can we only love in pieces? At American University, a new musical attempts to answer this question of young love, in the aptly named In Pieces. Directed by Carl Menninger with music and lyrics by Joey Contreras, In Pieces is a delightfully relatable journey through the hopes, fears, and desires of young people falling in and out of love.

The musical, which started as a song cycle and still follows the same structure in its current iteration, is entirely sung through. It follows a cast of characters that we follow seeing them sing their hearts out at different points in their relationships. While the story is not linear, we follow the emotional arcs of these people at different story-defining moments in pivotal relationships.

The score is ultra-contemporary and fits neatly into the current musical theater landscape. Any given song in the musical stands alone as a full story, but together the songs create a mosaic of stories and lives causing us the audience to love these characters the way they fear they love each other, in pieces.

Music-directed by Deborah Jacobson, student performers displayed some sensational vocal chops during this performance. Olivia Levin’s River opens the show with the first solo number following the opening song and immediately brings the audience to a place of joy and wonder. Her beautiful singing combined with her exuberant performance set the stage for a lovely evening.

Laurel Brown’s Sam and Jason Zuckerman’s Hunter complemented each other beautifully as two disgruntled lovers who break up and get back together. Easily the easiest thread to follow, they painted a bittersweet picture of a doomed relationship that finds a light at the end of the tunnel.

Another compelling storyline followed Sam Lewis and Ethan Kauffman as Charlie and Grey. While less straightforward than Sam and Hunter’s story, their arc followed the trials and tribulations of two high school boys reckoning with their sexuality and eventually coming to terms with each other later in life. Sam’s performance was wonderfully endearing, and Ethan’s heartbreaking number “This Is Not Me” was a standout piece.

Laura Dodge as Alex came through with a stunning belt and heart-wrenching storytelling. As the leader of a song featuring all the voices of women in the show who had been hurt by various men (“Singin’ the Same Line”), she wowed with her talent and compassion.

Kate Lurie’s Jael is an adorably awkward twentysomething reminiscent of a New Girl Zooey Deschanel. Easily one of the most relatable characters in the piece, Kate has the audience transfixed with her soothing and spellbinding voice from the moment she opens her mouth. Additionally, Gavin Schulman’s Austyn unleashes with a stunning and raw pop voice. The emotion in this character is palpable, and Schulman’s vocal prowess leaves you unable to look away (and brings the house to tears).

While these individual performances were stunning, the show shined in its ensemble moments. With empathetic direction from Menninger and captivating choreography from David Singleton, the moments of connecting in the show left the audience feeling fulfilled and inspired. Whenever the ensemble would enter, I would smile knowing that I was in store for some beautiful moments. I craved seeing the characters interact, and together they created a beautiful and full world. Some memorable group moments included “In Pieces” and “Fork in the Road.”

Thanks to the design team, the world of the play also felt real and lived in. With costume design from student Finn Fairfield, each character felt individualized and real, with their clothes alluding to a full life that the audience should be so lucky to see glimpses of. Additionally, the cardboard boxes lining the stage, courtesy of scenic designer August Henney, gave emphasis to the show’s themes of feeling fragmented and lost, with items representing the lives of these characters stacked inside of them.

Overall, the show was a beautiful depiction of young love and young loss depicted by a phenomenally talented group of young people.

Running Time: 90 minutes, no intermission.

In Pieces: A New Musical played October 24 to 26, 2024, presented by the American University Department of Performing Arts performing at the Katzen Arts Center, 4400 Massachusetts Ave NW. For tickets ($10–$15, free for AU students), call (202) 885-3634 or order online.

The program for In Pieces is online here.

In Pieces: A New Musical
Music and Lyrics by Joey Contreras
Directed by Carl Menninger
Music Direction by Deborah Jacobson
Choreographed by David Singleton

CAST
Sam: LAUREL BROWN
Alex, Dance Captain: LAURA DODGE
Grey: ETHAN KAUFFMAN
River: OLIVIA LEVIN
Charlie: SAM LEWIS
Jael: KATE LURIE
Austyn: GAVIN SCHULMAN
Hunter: JASON ZUCKERMAN
Ensemble, Alex u/s, Austyn u/s: LIZ AYRES BROWN
Ensemble: LIV DELORENZO
Ensemble: DIANA FREEZE
Ensemble, Sam u/s, River u/s: MADISON GOUGH
Ensemble, Jael u/s: JANE PALLADINO
Ensemble: JACK ELIZABETH SAGE PETERSON
Ensemble, Hunter u/s, Charlie u/s: DYLAN TOLL
Swing: SOPHIE INDIANA FISHER
Swing: MADELYN RUYLE

PRODUCTION TEAM
Director: CARL MENNINGER
Music Director: DEBORAH JACOBSON
Choreographer: DAVID SINGLETON
Vocal Coach: ETHAN WATERMEIER
Lighting Designer: MICHAEL RIGGS
Scenic Designer: AUGUST HENNEY
Sound Designer: DELANEY BRAY
Props Master: OLIVIA LUZQUINOS
Costume Design Mentor: MEGHAN RAHAM
Intimacy Director: SIERRA YOUNG
Audio Technology Instructor: MATT TWIFORD
Costume Shop Manager: SYDNEY MOORE

STUDENT PRODUCTION TEAM
Costume Designer: FINN FAIRFIELD
Assistant Music Director: ROBIN KANE
Stage Manager: SARINA GOVINDAIAH
Assistant Stage Manager: LILIA MYERS
Assistant Stage Manager: GRACE REESE
Lead Electrician: JAKE BRENNAN
Sound Mixer: SERI CHANG
Sound Mixer: ALEXANDRIA DUNKLEY
Sound Mixer: WILL MARLEY
Wardrobe and Microphone Techician: MARGARET LYDA

MUSICIANS
Bass: ROBIN KANE
Drums: JARED KIRSHENBAUM
Guitar: JAMES MCRAE
Cello: AJ UMUNNA
Violin: AVA YAP

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There’s always a special kind of magic created when a group of passionate young people come together to make a piece of art. Theatre Lab’s Footloose: The Musical captured this phenomenon and used it to enchant its audience completely. Directed by Tracy Lynn Olivera, the Theatre Lab’s Musical Theatre Institute for Teens 2024 production was a joyous celebration of music, dance, art, and the triumphs of being a young person.

Based on the classic ’80s film written by Dean Pitchford, this Footloose was adapted for the stage by Pitchford and Walter Bobbie. The show contains music by Tom Snow, and lyrics by Pitchford, with additional music from music legends Eric Carmen, Sammy Hagar, Kenny Loggins, and Jim Steinman. Set in the 1980s in Bomont, a fictional southern U.S. town, Footloose follows young Chicago transplant Ren McCormack (Micah Thomas) as he navigates the deeply religious town with an odd rule: dancing is illegal. Ren quickly meets Ariel More (Beatrice McNabb), the daughter of Reverend Shaw Moore (Evan Williams), an extremely influential pastor in the town and arbiter of the dancing ban. Together, Ren and Ariel, along with the other teens of Bomont, set out to prove that dancing is not a crime.

Micah Thomas as Ren McCormack shines. He displays the ease and charisma necessary for Ren in spades and has the audience firmly on his side from start to finish. In addition to his phenomenal acting, Thomas has wonderful singing and dancing chops, which shine especially in “I Can’t Stand Still.” Thomas also has fantastic chemistry with fellow standout Beatrice McNabb as Ariel Moore. Moore is a spunky and optimistic Ariel, lighting up the house in numbers such as “I Need a Hero.”

Other standouts include Jeremy Cronenberg as Willard Hewitt and Carrie Johnson as Rusty Pizzolo. Cronenberg provides impeccably timed comedic relief and crafts a lovably dorky Willard. Johnson, who was impressively on as an understudy, was undoubtedly a highlight of the production. Her energy was infectious, her connection with Cronenberg’s Willard was hilariously endearing, and her vocal chops stunned in numbers like “Let’s Hear It for the Boy.”

Additionally, Naia Albert’s Vi Moore performs a heartwrenchingly emotional “Can You Find It in Your Heart,” which is yet another highlight of the show. She captures an impressive emotional range paired with beautiful vocals, captivating the audience with her deeply empathetic performance.

Furthermore, the show excels in its ensemble moments. With creative and wonderfully inclusive choreography by Maya Nellum, the whole cast lifts each other up and exudes an infectious joyful energy. From the first number of “Footloose,” the ensemble enters and immediately electrifies the audience with their exuberant dancing and vocals.

Nellum utilizes enthusiastic line dancing in numbers such as “Holding Out for a Hero,” “Let’s Make Believe We’re in Love,” and “Let’s Hear It for the Boy,” which pay homage to the original movie while also capturing the essence of the buoyant movement that these teens work so hard to reclaim the right to.

The iconic “Holding Out for a Hero” is especially fun, starting with moody and dramatic blockography before exploding into a boisterous celebration of dance and teenage femininity. “Hero” feels exactly like what it is like to be a melodramatic teenage girl full of emotion and verve, and it uplifts these young women in a beautiful and fun fashion.

These teens not only put on a fantastic production, but they did it in a commendable three-and-a-half weeks. Special recognition should be shown to the three understudies (Carrie Johnson as Rusty Pizzolo, Anise Colbert as Urleen, and assistant director Sayaka Yamamoto as Lulu Warnicker), who were revealed in director Tracy Lynn Olivera’s curtain speech to have only been assigned earlier in the week due to illness in the cast. They took over these roles with professionalism, grace, and top-tier performance quality.

Footloose proves itself time and time again to be a poignant and perfect pick to do with young adults. Not only does it contain age-appropriate roles and themes, but the uniquely teenage perspectives displayed in the musical are elevated and made delightfully truthful by the use of actual young people. The optimism, light, drive, and passion of the young cast provide a compelling argument for the show’s thesis of art being a necessary outlet for the youth.

Running Time: One Hour and 50 Minutes including one 15-minute intermission.

Footloose: The Musical played August 8 to 10, 2024, presented by The Theatre Lab School of the Dramatic Arts’ Musical Theatre Institute for Teens performing at Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St NE, Washington, DC.

Footloose: The Musical
Stage Adaptation by Dean Pitchford and Walter Bobbie
Based on the original screenplay by Dean Pitchford
Music by Tom Snow
Lyrics by Dean Pitchford
Additional Music by Eric Carmen, Sammy Hagar, Kenny Loggins, and Jim Steinman

Musical Direction by Lucia LaNave; Lighting Design by Marianne Meadows; Costume Design by Maria Bissex; Production Management/Sound Design by Angelo Merenda

Cast: Micah Thomas, Paola Winston-Vasquez, Beatrice McNabb, Evan Williams, Naia Albert, Jeremy Cronenberg, Maddie Belenoff, Carrie Johnson, Zephyr Winkler, Basleel Dinessa, Sev Conley, Porter Bertman, Anise Colbert, Santiago De Leon Pereira, Adroit Kamat, Helen Albert, Deacon Crenshaw, Kathryn Batitto, Michael Houle, Cameron Best, Sunny Call, Sofia Warfield, Anais Stackel, Naiah Weetjens, Annika Haney, Eliana Chajon, Amaya Biderman Gomez, Connor Hobbs, Annabelle Yeh

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What do you do when you lose a son? In Manuel Oliver’s GUAC, performed at 1st Stage’s Logan Festival, Oliver attempts to answer this question and raise awareness for gun violence protection. In this heart-wrenching one-man show, Oliver, father of 2018 Parkland shooting victim Joaquin Oliver, celebrates, grieves, loves, remembers, and ultimately delivers a powerful call to action.

When Oliver enters the stage, wearing a shirt proclaiming “Just F***ing Vote,” it’s obvious from the get-go that it’s about to get political. What follows is a piece of political theater with the power to change hearts, minds, and policy. Oliver introduces his family, represented as lifesize pictures of their likenesses, one by one until he gets to his late son, Joaquin. Guac, he explains, is the nickname his son was bestowed by his friends when they immigrated from Venezuela to Parkland, Florida. Heartbreakingly, Oliver proclaims that this is “the closest he can [now] get to a family picture.”

Oliver continues to explore all of the “magic moments” he experienced with his son before he passed. He explains their experiences as immigrants in America, how Guac loved the country so very much, and how the Olivers moved because they would do anything for their children. While the audience knows that this piece will ultimately end in tragedy, Oliver conveys the love and pure joy he felt as a father. Oliver commands the audience to fall hopelessly in love with Guac, despite never knowing him, and masterfully builds a full portrait of the young man he loves. He delivers a beautiful anecdote about his and his son’s shared love of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird,” particularly its guitar solo, a joyous moment that comes back to haunt the piece in a bittersweet way.

The show is aided by Oliver’s artwork, as he paints a mural around the photograph of his son throughout the play. He starts abstractly, painting with Frank Ocean’s rendition of “Moon River” crooning in the background, and at first, it is not clear what he is painting. However, as the rest of the story unfolds, Oliver adds to the painting, finishing it in the very last moments of the piece. While I do not want to spoil this final image, I will say that it is a painting that will not soon leave me. The artwork not only acts as an expression of Oliver’s grief but keeps the audience hooked and hungry to see what will next be unveiled.

Michael Cotey’s direction is well-paced and impactful. A standout moment is when Oliver describes the shooting itself, transforming himself into his son at this moment. Here, the space changes, sirens blare, the lights dim, and we are transported to this place of pure terror as Oliver attempts to imagine what his son must’ve been feeling in this fateful moment. Here, Cotey and Oliver were able to create a moment of impressive immersion for a one-man play — they create a space that is so much bigger and more full than Oliver himself.

Additionally, the script is a beautiful mix of joy, love, light, tragedy, and inspiration. Co-written by Oliver and James Clements, it hooks the audience with the promise of political discussion, endears us to the family at the center of it all, and then crushes our hearts into a million pieces. At the end of all of this, it does not simply let go either but rather explains to the audience, without being preachy or condescending, what they can do if they feel moved by this.

The play is always a conversation with the audience and encourages them to participate. At one particularly powerful part in the show, Oliver stops his performance and asks the audience to take out their phones and call a loved one. Here Oliver compels the audience to think about their loved ones and place themselves in his shoes, a powerful move that will leave audiences remembering to tell people they love them long after the show’s run time.

GUAC is an important and powerful piece of political theater, a testament to joy and life, and a beautiful portrait of a father’s love transcending the boundaries of a lifetime.

Running Time: 90 minutes.

The Logan Festival of Solo Performance runs through July 28, 2024, at 1st Stage, 1524 Spring Hill Road, Tysons, VA, with the remaining performances of each show as follows:

Fly Me to the Sun: Tuesday, July 23 at 7:30pm, Saturday, July 27 at 5:00pm, Sunday, July 28 at 8:00pm
Too Fat for China: Wednesday, July 24 at 7:30pm, Saturday, July 27 at 8:00pm, Sunday, July 28 at 2:00pm
GUAC: Thursday, July 25 at 7:30pm, Friday, July 26 at 7:30pm, Saturday, July 27 at 2:00pm, Sunday, July 28 at 5:00pm

General admission tickets are $20 per show and $10 per show for students with valid ID.
Individual tickets can be purchased online at www.1stStage.org or by calling the 1st Stage box office at 703-854-1856 or by emailing the box office at boxoffice@1ststage.org.

SEE ALSO: 
1st Stage announces 2024/25 season (July 4, 2024 news story, includes overview of 2024 Logan Festival of Solo Performance)

The post ‘GUAC’ at the Logan Festival of Solo Performance at 1st Stage appeared first on DC Theater Arts.

Phoebe Potts wants a tiny little baby, and she’s going to stop at nothing to get one. A part of 1st Stage’s Logan Festival, Too Fat for China is a one-woman play about one woman’s quest to adopt a child. A hilarious and deeply heartfelt reflection on a particularly grueling time in Potts’ life, Too Fat for China is honest, brave, illuminating, and very entertaining.

Too Fat for China follows writer Phoebe Potts in her adoption journey. A Jewish Brooklynite, Potts begins by telling anecdotes about her middle-class American childhood and coming of age, and the subsequent weight gain that came with this coming of age. Throughout her exposition, Potts relies on a common theme: love. Whether that be how love was communicated to her as a child or the overwhelming love that resulted in her weight gain (and then resulted in the titular phenomenon of being “Too Fat for China,” more on this later), Potts makes it clear from the get-go that love will be the thematic heartbeat of the production.

After Potts falls in love and gets married, she faces unsuccessful attempts at pregnancy and similarly unsuccessful IVF treatments. In light of this, Potts decides to go down the adoption route. From here on out, Too Fat for China becomes something of a harrowing (yet hilarious) exposé of the structures of adoption. The first red flag in this whole affair is that of which the show is named, she is “too fat” to adopt a baby from China. Potts then faces adoption challenges in both the U.S. and Ethiopia, and we learn how truly inhumane the process of adopting a human can be.

Potts never lets herself off the hook in this affair, in a refreshing and illuminating way. Throughout her process of adopting a baby, no matter how hard it is on her, she is adamant that she is no victim. She reveals her inner thoughts that others may be too scared to share, and in the process, she humanizes herself beautifully. Potts accepts that what it is to be a woman in this world is an imperfect creature of bias, judgment, love, kindness, compassion, and complexity. She never shies away from the ugly parts of herself, and in doing so she creates a thing of beauty.

Throughout the show, Potts also treads the line of discussing racial inequality while acknowledging her privilege well. She never shies away from the nuances of interracial adoption and takes full responsibility for her complicity in the exploitative system. This lack of sugar-coating allows us as an audience to see the whole process for what it is, not a fictionalized fantasy of it.

These inner thoughts, the good the bad, and the ugly, are referred to by Potts as “the newsroom” and are represented by a series of illustrations that Potts reveals on a large scroll throughout the show. This addition of a visual aid adds excitement to this solo show and hilariously enhances Potts’ comedy.

Potts grabs the reigns of the show and drives it smoothly through the hour-long run with masterful pacing and comedic timing. Never once does Potts lose her grasp of the audience, and never once does the show feel like it is dragging or superfluous. The script is edited to a concise and perfect balance of anecdote, plot, and character, and Potts’ presence grips the viewer so firmly that it is impossible to look away. Beyond all this, she is capital H Hilarious.

Overall, Too Fat For China is an emotional and hilarious depiction of what it is to be a woman, a mother, a human, and above all else, what it is to experience and crave love.

Running Time: 60 minutes.

The Logan Festival of Solo Performance runs through July 28, 2024, at 1st Stage, 1524 Spring Hill Road, Tysons, VA, with the remaining performances of each show as follows:

Fly Me to the Sun: Tuesday, July 23 at 7:30pm, Saturday, July 27 at 5:00pm, Sunday, July 28 at 8:00pm
Too Fat for China: Wednesday, July 24 at 7:30pm, Saturday, July 27 at 8:00pm, Sunday, July 28 at 2:00pm
GUAC: Thursday, July 25 at 7:30pm, Friday, July 26 at 7:30pm, Saturday, July 27 at 2:00pm, Sunday, July 28 at 5:00pm

General admission tickets are $20 per show and $10 per show for students with valid ID.
Individual tickets can be purchased online at www.1stStage.org or by calling the 1st Stage box office at 703-854-1856 or by emailing the box office at boxoffice@1ststage.org.

SEE ALSO: 
1st Stage announces 2024/25 season (July 4, 2024 news story, includes overview of 2024 Logan Festival of Solo Performance)

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Working in retail can be a soul-stealing endeavor. Martin Thompson’s The Returned is a surrealist romp through the wonderful consumerist hell that is the American Mall and the inner lives of the people who sell dreams within it.

The Returned begins with Kohl’s cafe barista Dot (Sedona Salb) in a clandestine meeting with cake-buyer Nestor (Geovanni Felicier). During their mall-bound meet-cute, Nestor slips and falls (much like the man on the wet floor sign) and dies. After this, Dot embarks on a quest to bring Nestor back to life, although he is not really dead, but merely trapped in the shopping-center-bound body of a teddy bear.

The story explores the intersection between the instant gratification of consumerism and the bargaining that comes with grief. Martin Thompson masterfully explores themes of losing oneself and losing another while never losing The Returned’s wacky and playful energy.

Leslie Thompson’s direction epitomizes doing a lot with a little. Thompson creates a magical immersive world using only two clothing racks, a cloth, and a stool. Aided by Martin Thompson’s movement, the actors tread the ground between fantasy and reality with grace and awe-inspiring precision.

The actors balance the surreal and human elements of the show effortlessly. Sedona Salb takes the audience on a journey with Dot; starting as something of a manic pixie dream girl, she transforms Dot into an exhausted, relatable, and deeply human character through the run. Similarly, Geovanni Felicier shines. His comedic chops are outstanding and he harnesses the ability to draw the audience in and keep them there indefinitely.

A mesmerizing, fun, and emotional commentary on consumerism and the humans behind it, The Returned will surely be one of this year’s Fringe favorites.

Running Time: 60 minutes
Genre: Comedy
Dates and Times:

• July 19 at 7:00 PM
• July 20 at 2:50 PM

Venue: Goldman Theater – Theater J
Tickets: $15
More Info and Tickets: The Returned

The complete 2024 Capital Fringe Festival schedule is online here.

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Beautiful Indifference tells the story of three generations of beauties and three generations of their beholders. The one-act illustrates the fractured relationships of the René/Dulac family and the intergenerational trauma that plagues them. While the ambitious traumedy shows promise and poignant themes, its shortcomings make it feel like a work in progress.

Indifference follows Alice René (Dyllan Hutchinson), a 16-year-old ballerina, as she navigates the dynamics of her family and her grandmother Maxine DuLac’s (playwright April E. Brassard) quest for beauty. Alice interacts with her parents Wayne René (Bertem Demirtas) and Sophie DuLac-René (Shannon Rodgers, a standout performance) and their dysfunctional marriage, her health issues, and her relationship with her boyfriend Adam Vincent (Kai Yoffe). On the DuLac side of it all, matriarch Maxine rules over her household with a disturbingly iron fist while doting over her often slimy son “Max” (Peter Dasher) and neglecting her husband, PTSD-ridden Navy vet “Duke” (Michael Burgos, another standout performance), all while living firmly within her past and projecting her misgivings onto her granddaughter.

Often the play is poetic and cryptic, and when fully in this liminal space, which is visited about three times during the show’s runtime, Nathan Tilley’s direction shines. The script of Beautiful Indifference, often abstract and poetic, allows for beautiful performances and stunning stage pictures when it is untethered by attempting realism.

However, when the play attempts to depict grounded depictions of family gatherings it sometimes falls flat. The heightened language often used within the script creates dissonance when some of its characters speak in prosaic musings and others make colloquial quips all within the same conversation. The whiplash created between these two styles often makes it hard to follow the story.

Beautiful Indifference shows a remarkable yet confusing outline commenting on beauty standards and intergenerational trauma, and while it could benefit from rewrites, it is altogether a captivating watch.

Running Time: 60 minutes
Genre: Drama
Dates and Times:

• July 14 at 11:35 AM

Venue: Delirium, 1120 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 103
Tickets: $15
More Info and Tickets: Beautiful Indifference

The complete 2024 Capital Fringe Festival schedule is online here.

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