Here are my full thoughts (there are some spoilers throughout):
I made the trip to D.C. to see the show on Saturday afternoon and, frankly, I thought it was in excellent shape. Especially for an out-of-town tryout. If this creative team could pull a 180 on the tonal issues in NEXT TO NORMAL, then they should absolutely be able to iron out the issues in this piece.
The first act
can, admittedly, get a bit confusing when it comes to the storytelling and delineation of which story is which, but I do think that caused me to pay closer attention and made me get pulled into the characters and the story more. When a musical forces you to think a bit, it's never a bad thing. The first act is exposition-heavy, which isn't necessarily a bad thing either. For me, Idina's character really blossomed in the second act, where I thought the show soared. The second act allows the characters and plotlines to breathe and gives them much more of an open and free ebb and flow, whereas the first act does feel very concerned with the logistics of the piece. It's a tricky, tricky conundrum to solve, to make the complicated and ambitious storyline(s) both feel real and clearly delineated for the audience. But more importantly than anything, the show has its heart in the right place. I genuinely got choked up multiple times throughout, and was very much invested in these characters and their outcomes.
At 2ST, NEXT TO NORMAL's dramatic twists and turns felt provocative, but never really felt like they were fully explored. And I think some of IF/THEN's twists and turns are mostly fall into a similar category; the plane crash scene
does feel a bit underdeveloped and Josh's death did happen a bit too quickly to fully register in the moment. But, as with N2N, I have faith that by time the show comes to Broadway, the writing team will have made these moments feel even more impactful and fleshed-out. I also really appreciated that the show never took the easy way out of any of the situations it created for itself; it never really felt like a "career vs family" show to me, and it never felt offensive towards women
at all. In fact, it's pretty empowering when it comes to its female characters. There's an entire song praising the unsung strong, heroic, hard-working woman. And as far as people claiming that it's a show that poses the question "can women have it all?," I don't think that assumption could be more off. It's not like she's playing Sandra Bullock in THE PROPOSAL in one storyline and a Stepford Wife in the other. I don't think the show even poses that question, which as I said, would be the "easy" route. Instead, it tackles a larger question about being too cautious in life and too concerned with making that "right" choice. But the show, again, never says "family was the right choice!" or "work was the right choice!" Instead, it basically says that there
is no "right" choice in life. And the decisions you make are going to be unpredictable and imperfect no matter
what you choose. And that's okay.
Now, as for the cast, Idina is truly fantastic. I don't think she's ever sounded as good as she does now, and she brings a warmth, quirkiness, and charm to the role that is undeniably endearing. I didn't find her character "unlikeable" at all. I'm not sure if anyone's mentioned it on here, but she's got an 11:00 number ("Always Starting Over") that's going to rip the roof off of the Richard Rodgers. It was explosive...one of those thrilling theatrical moments that makes you want to jump up and scream. LaChanze is hilarious and in excellent voice, Anthony Rapp is reliably strong, and James Snyder is really great, especially in delivering a lovely song to his future child. The ensemble members pretty much all get moments to shine, and they're each very good.
The music is wonderful. It's got a different, more "folksy" sound than the N2N score, but I absolutely loved it. Surprising, smart lyrics as well. Even in the first act, where most problems are, the score is so good that it allows you to just kinda go with it. There were only a couple of songs I wasn't
wild about, and I could definitely see some work being done on tinkering with them/rewriting them. The book is where most of the structural issues lie, but that's mostly an inherent issue with an out of town run of an original, ambitious musical like this. It's still in perfectly good shape. It's full of genuinely funny jokes though, some really beautiful moments, and manages to flip between humor and heartbreak very well. The characters all seem completely tangible, layered, and developed as well. I thought Michael Greif's direction was pretty seamless and kept the show humming along at a breezy pace (it's running about 2 hours and 45 minutes, as of now...about ten minutes too long for my taste).
I loved the set, which functions in an entirely different way than N2N's did, for whoever is comparing the two. The lighting design is also very nice, as is the stilted Blankenbuhler-esque choreography.
All in all, I honestly thought the show was very special. It's refreshing to see a show that will hopefully appeal to the 35-55 age range; most shows nowadays seem to be either appealing to kids/teens or old, rich people. As I mentioned, it's ambitious, which is going to lead to some bumps along the way in terms of how to tell the parallel story lines in a way that's smart without being confusing and accessible without being dumb. And right now, it's certainly nowhere near dumb (that adjective belongs strictly to FIRST DATE so far this year). It's a very smartly-constructed show, which in and of itself is worth cheering for. It may not deal with hot-button issues like N2N did with mental illness, but I dare you to not see some reflection of your life and your life choices in this show. It makes you not only care about the characters onstage, but it makes you care a little more about your own life and your own relationships, which is a pretty powerful feat to pull off. I'd much rather see a show like IF/THEN that aims high to tell a challenging story (and more often than not, succeeds) than one that aims looooow and just barely fits the bill for mindless entertainment any day of the week. I truly think IF/THEN is, at this point, a strong entry into the canon of wholly original musical theater. I can't wait to see it in its next developmental stage!
Sorry if any of that was repetitive or long-winded; if anyone has any questions, I'd be happy to answer! :)
Updated On: 11/29/13 at 12:29 PM
