Gavin Creel's WALK ON THROUGH at MCC Theater

https://www.playbill.com/article/gavin-creel-musical-walk-on-through-gets-final-extension-as-previews-begin-off-broadway-november-13

MCC Theater's world premiere run of Gavin Creel's Walk On Through: Confessions of a Museum Novice begins at the Off-Broadway company's Susan & Ronald Frankel Theater November 13. A new and "final" extension will see performances continue through January 7, 2024. Opening night is November 27.

Developed and previously presented at The O’Neill National Musical Theatre Conference, the work is inspired by Creel's time wandering the collections at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which commissioned the work. The musical features 17 original songs written by Creel, who makes his theatrical songwriting debut with the production. Creel has previously released albums featuring his pop songwriting, including 2006's Goodtimenation and 2012's Get Out.

Creel is also starring in the musical, alongside Sasha Allen (Camp, Hair), Madeline Benson (SIX), Chris Peters, Ryan Vasquez (The Wrong Man), and Scott Wasserman (Hamilton). Casting is by The Telsey Company's Rachel Hoffman.

Linda Goodrich is directing the world premiere, leading a creative team that includes scenic designer I. Javier Ameijeiras, costume designer Jeff Mahshie, lighting designer Jiyoun Chang, sound designer Alex Neumann, and projection designer David Bengali. The score features orchestrations and arrangements by Madeline Benson, Chris Peters, and Scott Wasserman; Benson is also music director, and Wasserman is the electronic music designer. Laura Hirschberg is production stage manager, with Nicole Johnson of Harriet Tubman Effect serving as diversity, equity, and inclusion consultant.

Saw this tonight after a day at The Met and thought it was fantastic. Sasha Allen was tremendous in her showstopping number! Unfortunately, she fell trying to come off the piano, but she bounced up and said to the crowd, “we’ll learn from this”. Ryan Vasquez was also very good and Gavin was full of energy and emotion.

1 hour 45 minutes. No intermission.

Seeing it tonight! (TT Rush was surprisingly easy for me - Orchestra F16) - Will report back

I actually ran into Gavin coming in on my way out of the theatre to grab some coffee. He’s so nice!

Is front row too close?

Honestly Sasha Allen just being in the building is enough for me. Purchasing.

quizking101 said: "Oh. My. God.

When I tell you that what I just witnessed was an utterly life-giving, life-affirming, life-changing experience, I am not giving myself over to hyperbole here.

Not knowing what to expect going in, and knowing Creel to be primarily a musical comedy performer, I figured this was going to be a tongue-in-cheek look at a trip through the museum with some emotional depth thrown in for balance. What I saw was Gavin Creel at full throttle as actor, singer, composer, performer and poet. Yes, there are plenty of musical comedy moments (including an entire number dedicated to sexualizing nude statues), but Creel also shows how his trip to the Met turned into how he saw art and the influence of it on his life, including dealing with religious trauma, failed relationships, and his internal struggle to want to be “remarkable”.

Ryan Vasquez is also fantastic as a multitude of characters, including a remarkably horny Jackson Pollock. Even in smaller parts, he has crackling chemistry with Gavin and definitely shows his versatility well here.

My only two quibbles:

1. The sound design for the first few songs needs some fine tuning because the band (while they sound fantastic) does tend to overpower Gavin at times and that caused me some initial worry because the space is small and can do harm with such little acoustic space.
2. Sasha Allen ATE IT UP…but for one song, as one character, in what is otherwise a glorified cameo. To be honest, whatever purpose she served in the show, I honestly couldn’t tell you and I thought it ground the flow to a halt. Talented as she is, her part should be cut.

Overall - GO NOW OR FOREVER WISH YOU HAD!

"



If it's as good as you say, then can we expect it to have more life somewhere?

If only the tickets weren't so expensive!

quizking101 said: "I mean, it’s really hard to gauge something like that. The way the show is set up might make a transfer to a traditional Broadway house a challenge without losing the intimate charm.

The only real place I can imagine this working without too much compromise to the production design would be the Booth, since their mezzanine isn’t a million miles away and there is potentially space for Creel to do his crowd work bits.

Also, while the off-Broadway run is in heavy demand, that doesn’t always translate to the Main Stem. He is easily selling out a 150-200 seat theatre, but tripling that (and by extension, increasing prices) may make this more likely a money pit (unless they want to license it - which I could TOTALLY see happening)"

I could see it do a limited run at CITS which only has 689 seats (and can be adjusted for each production)

Absolutely loved this show. Wishing them a happy opening. Go see this!!

buzz on the boards seem great which is so encouraging So happy for Gavin.

curious on critical reception before plunking down dollars as these seats are not exactly inexpensive. I am sure worthy but will wait until some more buzz and reviews break

Saw this last night and loved, loved, loved it. Would happily see it 10 more times if I could. Fingers crossed that there's an album, as I'd love to listen to these songs again and again.

Had tickets for this afternoon... am pretty devastated to miss this one.