I’ve been thinking about this show a bit more since the grosses started slipping. It’s not a bad musical — far from it — but it felt too static and earthbound for the story it tells.
NY Post had the winning description of Michaelson’s score in my mind: “A scented candle fusion of ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ and Pachelbel’s Canon.” The first song I heard from the show was “Forever” some time before the Chicago tryout, and I thought it was lovely but nothing special. The rest of the score followed suit.
The early lyric “Perfect imperfection / That’s the way we make it through” sums up this musical in a nutshell. It has its share of flaws but I was able to find fleeting moments of beauty inside the banality, the humor inside the drama, the “sadness and joy.”
The central couple gets more interesting as they age. Curious to see who they get for the elders next year.
The one thing they did absolutely right during their Broadway run, IMO, was donating a good portion of their Broadway Cares proceeds to the Alzheimer’s Association, and I hope this touring production does the same.
"Gitchie gitchie Betsy Aidem / Squibby Squibby Squibby June."
Updated On: 8/16/24 at 12:07 PM