SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Aug. 23, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — There’s a long tradition of musicals about making a musical, but “[title of show]” has been described as the ultimate meta-musical, as the main characters write a show about the show they’re writing for a theater festival.
Just in case your brain is exploding a little at that last sentence, let’s break it down a bit. According to Wikipedia, meta-theater is theater that “comments on itself, drawing attention to the literal circumstances of its own production, such as the presence of the audience or the fact that the actors are actors, and/or the making explicit the literary artifice behind the production.” A meta-musical is one that goes beyond (the Greek meaning of meta) the normal confines and rules of the stage to comment more broadly on the experience of theater itself.
Got that? So, this particular meta-musical was conceived when one of the script’s authors received an email announcement that the New York Musical Theatre Festival was accepting submissions. Best friends Jeff Bowen and Hunter Bell (their real names and also the names of the characters in the script), made a commitment to write something and mail it within the three-week submission deadline. Along with a couple of pals, Heidi and Susan, the duo wrote a script which was about them writing the script. The music and lyrics are by Bowen, with a book by Bell.
“[title of show]” was accepted for production and during the summer of 2004, the quartet, along with a piano player who also has lines, presented the show at the musical theater festival, then in its first year. Then five new songs were written, and a limited off-Broadway run followed. There was then a Broadway production in 2008 which ran 102 performances, and the show won the 2009 Broadway.com Audience Award for Favorite Ensemble Cast. In August of 2013, the piece opened in London, and numerous equity and non-equity local performances have followed.
The Grand Theatre is opening its 2023/2024 season with “[title of show],” which goes through Sept. 9.
The plot is structured as a series of vignettes and montages from the writing and production process. “We could put this exact conversation in the show,” suggests Hunter (Caleb Collier) at one point. But, he wonders, “would other people want to watch something like that?” And that’s really the million dollar question. “[title of show]” is full to bursting with references to sometimes obscure musicals and actors, so musical theater buffs will be in a sparkly-hued heaven. But I will say, I’m not a massive musical theater fan, and I still got some of the references (I LOVE Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Aspects of Love,” for example), plus the pace of the show is so rapid it doesn’t really matter if some go right over your head. Also, the piece is a pretty interesting exploration of what it takes to put on a musical, whether you love the genre or not.
With a stripped-back piece like this, the stage director, Latoya Cameron and designers had a choice with the staging; do you go full Brechtian, using conventions such as costume racks on stage and exposed theater walls, or do you veer more towards realism, so for example we see Hunter and Jeff’s apartments? Well, the answer here is a bit of both, which I felt worked extremely well.
The show is presented as a “Backstage at The Grand” production, which means the audience sits in raked seating on stage and we are nice and close to the action. In this case, the audience also enters through the door that the actors use and you can see the walls of the theater stage left and right. There are indeed clothing racks on stage and a taped out prop table with props that of course would usually be backstage.
But some of the production values are also quite fancy and adventurous, and this made for a nice juxtaposition, I thought. The scenic design, by Sam Dalton, consists of four large panels with bricks and windows with numerous empty panes. The panels are then lit and so is the scrim behind them. The lighting design, by William Peterson, features various washes that sometimes are subtle and other times are quite boldly colored and noticeable. At one point, there is a disco ball that lowers from the ceiling with projections that look like small disco balls that surround the audience. The colors and effects used are not always realistic, which of course in turn does cause us to be reminded again that we are in a theater and watching a lighting plot.
The actors are costumed in casual ensembles by Shannon McCullock; they wear the same outfits for the duration with a few additions such as gold sparkly top hats. This is truly an ensemble piece in that the four actors along with the pianist must work together seamlessly and truly listen to each other. Every actor has a lot to do in the show and across the board Collier as Hunter, Jacob Barnes as Jeff, Vee Vargas as Susan and Michelle Lynn Thompson as Heidi deliver. All four have the tricky task of nailing the dialogue to make it seem conversational and laid back, but also having the total focus to deliver complex two and four-part harmonies and rapid-fire lines. At a couple of points, for example, the pianist, Larry, played by Jonathan McDonald, (who’s also the musical director) corrects a note the characters are singing (this is part of the script), and I would imagine it actually takes more concentration to sing a note incorrectly than correctly.
All four seem comfortable with the casual-but-energized style, and have the acting chops to create each character’s arc that takes them from quirky yet relatable banter at the beginning of the show to the angst that ensues as the Broadway opening gets closer. Tensions build, and everything finally boils over at a publicity photo shoot.
The clever thing about “[title of show]” is that at its core, it’s a simple story about pursuing your dreams and realizing your goals with the help of friends. Songs from “Two Nobodies in New York” to “Change It, Don’t Change It,” of course are totally relatable for artists, but also explore universal themes that anyone who creates anything can appreciate; self-doubt, frustration, perseverance, and ultimately, through both failure and success, finding one’s place in the world.
The show runs through Sept. 9 at the Grand Theatre at 1575 S. State St. There are shows Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. with Saturday matinees at 2 p.m. Tickets range from $28 to $35 and are available here or by calling 801-957-3322.
