Swimming Upstream the next Urinetown?

[nevdavis]

Posted: 8/17/05 at 10:46am

Although I’ve lived in New York City a number of years, and consider myself quite the musical theatre fan, last weekend was my first ever experience with the Fringe Festival. All I knew about it before Friday was that it produced the show Urinetown (one of my favorites) so I decided to see a few musicals at the Fringe in order to scout for the next big hit.

I bought tickets to two shows, Swimming Upstream: A Musical Sex-Ed Escapade of Genetic Proportions, and Byzantium: The Musical.

I saw the Monday matinee of Byzantium. The show in general was mediocre. The dialogue was anachronistic, and the plot was unfocused. The music was unmemorable, and the lyrics were average. However, there were some chilling scenes, and one haunting ballad sung by the female protagonist. The performers, however, did the parts with conviction and dedication. All in all, not the next Urinetown.

Swimming Upstream I saw the night before, at 9:45 PM. The first thing I noticed at the nearly sold out show was the youthful crowd, not the typical theatre crowd, more of the type of people you would see standing on line to get tickets to Rent. The audience was ready to be pleased, and the show certainly delivered.

From the moment the show started, I felt like I was in good hands. The tone was fun, youthful, slightly goofy, and occasionally immature in a South Park sort of way. The book writer did an excellent job in having each character speak in a distinct voice, a task more daunting than it might seem (being a writer myself, I know.) The storytelling was crystal clear, each character’s motive was unquestionable, and the stakes were heightened.

The lyrics were extremely intelligent and clever. Some of my favorite came in a song titled “Sperm The Musical,” sporting rhymes like “Lucas” and “cervical mucus.” The lyric is an art form that I feel has been declining in musical theatre culture, so it’s very nice to see we still have talented lyricists in this city.

The music was exceptional. Sometimes, the focus was taken away from the music itself, due to the comedy, but being mainly a composer, I focused on the music more than most. Actually, I would have to say this is one of the better scores I’ve heard in a while. Rock-pop, with chilling harmonies and counterpoints and orchestrations, it’s much better than some of the scores on Broadway today. Certainly better than the other Off-Broadway-turned-Broadway shows: Spelling Bee, Avenue Q, and yes, I hate to say this, Urinetown.

The direction was also quite clever. The director managed to milk comedy out of almost every moment the actors were on stage. However, there was also a nice balance of dramatic, and touching moments. The director found the thin space between camp and drama, the way James Lapine did in Spelling Bee.

The actors were also quite stunning. Leading the show was Doug Kreeger from “Thrill Me” (I didn’t see Thrill Me, but heard good things.) Kreeger carried off his role as the goofy, slightly nerdy, romantic lead of Todd. His song “This Boy Here” was stuck in my head for a day or two.

Jessica-Snow-Wilson from “Little Shop” and “Good Vibrations” played opposite Kreeger. Her performance was magnificent as usual, except for the fact that some of the songs seemed to be a bit too high for her, no fault of hers.

Christopher Kale Jones played the character “Rod.” This actor is one of the funniest people I have ever seen on stage. He sings a song to the College of Cambridge, using its unfortunate acronym, that had me belly laughing for minutes afterwards.

Finishing up the cast is an ensemble of four boys who play every other character in the show. Their versatility was astounding, playing nerdy losers one second, making a quick change, and entering 10 seconds later as the bitchy girls on a chat room. Truly funny. One actor stood out in particular for me, Heath Calvert, who had me rolling with laughter, (a scene in which he’s secretly masterbating in health class made me laugh so hard, I missed a good chunk of exposition.)

In terms of negatives, I don’t have many. I would say that the band, although awesome, was a bit too loud for people like me who were sitting up front. Also, Kreeger played his character a bit over hyper at times, turning the audience off momentarily, (until he won us back with his voice.) Also, there were a few moments in which the punch lines fell slightly flat, but the rest of the show was so funny, the audience hardly thought about it.

This is one of the best shows I’ve seen in a while, and I consider myself quite the critic. I would say this show could easily become the next great production of the Fringe Festival. With outstanding music, lyrics, actors, it has the whole package. All it needs now is a few tweaks, a bigger budget, and a nicer theatre so it can reach it’s full potential. I guess I lucked out with my first Fringe experience.

[Corine2]

Posted: 8/17/05 at 10:48am

How was Heath?

[nevdavis]

Posted: 8/17/05 at 5:50pm

Heath Calvert? Amazing.

[Phantom2]

Posted: 8/17/05 at 6:07pm

It's a great show. I recommend it. Definite standouts are JSW, Doug Kreeger (incredible voice!) and Heath Calvert. It's hilarious. Sperm, the Musical! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[MissNY]

Posted: 8/25/05 at 2:18pm

Saw this on Tuesday and LOVED it! It would work perfectly off-broadway, I would not be surprised if it made the transfer. The music was fun and poppy with clever lyrics. Though not an original plot, the book had some great lines. The performances were really incredible, especially Doug who totally blew me away. And "Sally Jo's girls"? Hysterical. If I could fit it in I would definately see it again. It reminded me somewhat of Zanna Don't. The same kind of fun, colorful, witty, teen musical. I think this has the potential for a commercial run, I hope it gets it!

[Pippin]

Posted: 8/25/05 at 2:29pm

I really want to see this now from your review, plus I did Miss Saigon last year with Chris Jones. He really is a riot to work with. great on stage and an all-around good guy. thanx for the review. How long does it run, and what are the prices?

[MissNY]

Posted: 8/25/05 at 3:35pm

There is only 1 more performance, Sat @ 7. Tickets are $15 and running time is about an hour and 40 min.
http://www.fringenyc.org/basic_page.asp?ltr=s