[title of show]

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[TITLE OF SHOW]

Photo: Carol Rosegg

Cititour.com Review
What’s the best way to describe [title of show], which opened at the Lyceum? It’s the “little show that could”? It’s the music festival golden boy that went on to an off-Broadway run and, when its creators plopped themselves onto YouTube, pronouncing that a Broadway run was imminent, the fantasy suddenly became a reality? All of this is true. It’s also clever and funny and intelligent and, here’s the rub — redundant even at 90 minutes.

Jeff Bowen (who wrote the music and lyrics) and Hunter Bell (who penned the book) along with their pals, Susan Blackwell and Heidi Blickenstaff, appear as themselves in the show. They discuss
what they’re doing in order to complete a musical for inclusion in the New York Music Theatre Festival. The premise is that everything that they’re living is now in the show. Every word, every worry, every activity — including the off-Broadway run and the current process of the transfer into the Lyceum — has become dialogue and song. It’s all packaged in the cutest, sweetest, most appealing way with snappy direction by Michael Berresse.

There’s no question that you root for these guys. Bell is charming and as loveable as your favorite teddy-bear. Bowen is funny and offbeat and unencumbered by pretense. Blackwell displays great comic timing and a commanding stage presence. Blickenstaff is warm and humorous and sings with a traditional Broadway belt. These are people that any theatre-lover would want to spend time with.

The sharp-witted script includes Bowen, the composer, consistently correcting the grammar of Bell, the writer. There are oblique theatrical references and a consistent satiric tone. The songs are
pleasantly amusing.

But with all of these attributes, the end result is that watching this feels like the show is still in workshop. The musical director, Larry Pressgrove is on stage playing a single keyboard. The one
weighty number, a brilliant ode to inner doubt, "Die Vampire Die!" is overwhelmed by 15 others with titles like, "Filling in the Form." While I applaud Bowen and Bell for sticking to their principles and not changing their original premise, a bit more in the way of substance is needed for the Broadway stage.

[title of show] is a very tender, likable musical. But as endearing as it is, the show never goes beyond the single premise that you should follow your dream. The problem remains of what to do with it once you’ve arrived.

By Lesley Alexander


Visit the Site
http://www.titleofshow.com

Cast
Hunter Bell, Susan Blackwell, Heidi Blickenstaff, Jeff Bowen

Open/Close Dates
Opening 7/5/2008
Closing 10/12/2008

Box Office
212-239-6200

Theatre Info
Lyceum Theatre
149 West 45th Street
New York, NY 10036
Map



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