"Foreverman" at the PTC Performance Space
“Foreverman”
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Brett Boles
Directed by Stephen Nachamie
Reviewed by David Roberts, Chief Critic
Theatre Reviews Limited
When one thinks of eternal life, one usually enters the morally ambiguous paths between a religious afterlife (reward-punishment based) and the other-than-religious afterlife of the undead. There have not been, until now, many other choices real or imagined. “Foreverman” provides an alternative to a wait at the pearly gates or a warm welcome at the gates of hell or the gates to Castle Dracula. Brett M. Boles’ “Foreverman” proffers time travel, power, magic, and something very human as a viable alternative.
Boles spins a musical tale that bends the mind, the meaning of time, place, humanity, mortality, and infinity. And this tale succeeds with brilliant wit and a poignant sub-plot that involves a doting gardener named Hawkins (Larry Cahn) and his great-great-great-grandfather’s journal. (Hopefully, your interest has been piqued!)
In 1676 friends Will (Omar Lopez-Cepero) and Jack (Adam Monley) stumble on the ingredient missing in their elixir that extends life forever. No more death; no more sorrow, or crying, or pain (allusion to Revelation 21:4). Will and Jack disagree about their discovery’s applicability for all of humankind. Although Will views their discovery a panacea for all that ails humanity, Jack disagrees, siding with what he sees as humanity’s right to life and its right to death. Both take the elixir (as does Mrs. Morgan, Will’s housekeeper and guardian).
Fast forward to the Timeson Estate (and Laboratory) in 1849. Will and Mrs. Morgan return home only to discover that Jack is nearby at Fairwright Manor where he cares for Anna Fairwright. Also now in the 1840’s is Fiona (Kelly McCormick) who received only half of the elixir’s contents and is dying.
The action of the musical travels smoothly back and forth between the two centuries to provide the exposition need by the audience to clarify the conflicts extant in both 1676 and 1849. The concept of the musical is engaging. Boles goes beyond Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker, even beyond 18th century alchemy, to create a passionate story of enduring friendship, jealousy, love, betrayal, confession, forgiveness, and redemption.
The cast of “Foreverman” forever blesses the audience not only with professionalism and outstanding voices, but also with the kind of understanding of character and the embodiment of character sorely missing on the stage in far too many current productions.
Omar Lopez-Cepero (Will Timeson) and Adam Monley (Jack Mercer) bring the sons of Adam to Cain-and Abel-strength altercation. Kelly McCormick (Fiona Fairwright) bridges the two-century time gap with grace. Larry Cahn (Hawkins) and Karen Elliott (Mrs. Morgan) succeed in portraying two lovers lost in space and time and generation: this is the beautiful sub-plot alluded to above). Glory Crampton’s Anna Fairwright commands the stage when she is present even though the audience sees her only bed-ridden and dying. And Nat Chandler (Lord Fairwright) skillfully portrays a grief-stricken husband who suddenly needs to deal with infidelity and betrayal.
Kudos to the orchestrators Stephen Ferri, Andrew Fox, and Adam Michael Kaufman and the six-piece band under the musical direction of Natalie Tenenbaum: together they bring Brett Boles’ score to glorious heights. Natalie Tenenbaum, Jon Balcourt, Rob Jacoby, Joseph Brent, Jordan Jancz, and Zac Coe provide a sound that matches a full pit orchestra.
There is a definite future for “Foreverman.” The creator and creative team have worked hard to bring the musical to this level of near-perfection and this important current production will give them the information they need to move this project forward. On the Broadway stage, there will be room for stock characters that can provide opportunities for more ensemble numbers (maybe even some ghosts). We will see more of “Foreverman.” For now, do not miss it before the Festival ends.
FOREVERMAN
Book. Music, and Lyrics by Brett M. Boles. Directed by Stephen Nachamie. Scenic Design by John McDermott; Costume Design by Anne Liberman and Barry Doss; Lighting Design by Susan Nicholson; Projection Design by Mark Costello; Orchestrations by Stephen Ferri, Andrew Fox, and Adam Michael Kaufman; Musical Direction by Natalie Tenenbaum.
WITH: Larry Cahn, Nat Chandler, Glory Crampton, Karen Elliott, Omar Lopez-Cepero, Kelly McCormick, and Adam Monley.
Presented by Foreverman, LLC and the New York Musical Theatre Festival at PTC Performance Space, 555 West 42nd Street, New York, NY. Performance Schedule: Wednesday July 25 at 1:00 p.m. and Saturday July 28 at 1:00 p.m. For ticket information call 212-352-3101 or visit www.nymf.org
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 | Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Thursday, July 26, 2012 |
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