In Transit

In Transit is a feel good show that makes New York City look like a squeaky clean place where everyone gets alone, smiles at one another, and finds their path in life. I wish this were true, but those who live here know differently. When is the last time you spoke to a random stranger on the subway? We don't look up from our phones long enough to make eye contact, let alone actually have a conversation.

In Transit is the first Broadway musical to feature a cappella music. The creative team features Kristen Anderson-Lopez of Frozen fame, though this piece doesn't soar nearly as high. One's opinion of this show will depend largely on their fondness for a cappella music. I honestly find it exhausting to listen to. For me it's overwhelming to hear all of that sound and try to take it in while also trying to decipher lyrics and a story. If you sang in one of those vocal groups with a quirky name in college, you may feel differently.

This one-act goes by at a feverish pace. The intention is to keep the energy flowing, like a rush hour express train, though it keeps any character or storyline from fully developing. The majority of characters are stereotypes: the out of work banker, the closeted gay man with a born-again mother, his eager to be married fiance, a recently dumped twenty-something, and because it's New York, a struggling actress. These roles are performed with vocal precision and palpable energy by James Snyder, Justin Guarini, Telly Leung, Erin Mackey, and Margo Seibert respectively. The one character who is written in three dimensions is Seibert's Jane. She shows genuine heartbreak when she finally wins a Broadway role, only to have it stolen by a star. The best scene in the show involves Jane riding the subway back and forth to JFK, unable to get on the plane to her high school reunion and face failure. Boxman, a subway performer with whom she often crosses paths, gives her a few inspirational words that help her to press onward in her pursuit of Broadway.

This piece should do very well touring and regionally, particularly in places without public transportation. In this world, the subway is a land of opportunity where all of your dreams can come true. But, New Yorkers...we know better.

ALLEGIANCE on Broadway

It has been quite some time since I've written a post just to share my love of a show, but ALLEGIANCE compelled me to do so. I make it my goal each season to see all of the musicals I suspect will receive the big TONY nominations, but when ALLEGIANCE announced a February 14th closing date, I crossed it off of my list. It was only after a dear friend told me that everyone he knew who saw the show wept, that I reluctantly bought a ticket on TDF...and I'm so thankful I did.

The piece penned by Lorenzo Thione, Marc Acito, and Jay Kuo opens in 2001 with Sam Kimura (George Takei) in his military uniform on Pearl Harbor Day. He is visited by a woman who announces that his sister Kei (Lea Salonga) has passed away. He hasn't seen her in over fifty years, but he is immediately visited by her spirit, reminding him that their family has unfinished business. We are then transported back to 1941 when a young Sam (Telly Leung) returns home from college to the family artichoke farm in Salinas, CA. The family's future is wrapped up in Sam, but then Pearl Harbor happens and everything changes. The events that ensue recount one of the darkest parts of America's history. Over 120,000 Japanese Americans were transported to labor camps, not unlike what was happening in Nazi Germany simultaneously. Japanese Americans, including the Kimura family, struggle with their own allegiances. Sam wants to prove just how American he is and eventually joins the Army, while their father refuses to pledge allegiance to a country that essentially disowns his family and finds himself in prison. After the war, Sam returns to a hero's welcome, but finds his dear Hannah (Katie Rose Clarke) gone and the entire Kimura family changed forever.

What struck me so much about this piece was not the music, normally my favorite entry point into the musical, but the storytelling. I certainly learned about Japanese American internment in school, but I never realized how eerily similar it was to Nazi Germany. As Americans, we were horrified to learn what was happening in Europe, yet we had no clue what was happening in our own backyard.

Even more than a history lesson, this piece is one about family and the bonds that unite us across generations or cultures. ALLEGIANCE is not dissimilar to hit shows like Fun Home, Fiddler on the Roof, The Color Purple, Les Miserables, or even The Lion King in its exploration of family. When you see how close this family once was and how America's horrific treatment of them tears them apart, it's nearly impossible not to tear up a little bit.

Adding to the emotion of the piece is actor George Take's real life experience. It was his own childhood, largely spent in internment camps, that inspired the show. Seeing his ability to live his character nightly without any resentment toward his past is the ultimate example of forgiveness. Telly Leung carries this show on his back with drive and conviction, showing us that he is one of Broadway's brightest young stars. This brings us to Lea Salonga, a revelation whose Broadway return is akin to Judy Kuhn's Broadway return in Fun Home. Salonga expertly holds the audience in the palm of her hand as she carries the vocal heft of the show. Every word and every note out of her mouth are so laden with emotion than you shouldn't be surprised if you find yourself sobbing through the piece. But, I'll let you decide for yourself because you must see this remarkable show. It is only here for two weeks and it will be one of those shows that if you miss it, you will regret it.