In the middle of my recent Rocky Horror weekend at the Boston Conservatory, I made an afternoon trip down to Chester, CT to catch one of the final pre-Broadway performances of The Story of My Life at the Goodspeed's Norma Terris Theater. It was a bit of a hike, and I wasn't entirely sure my jalopy of a car would survive the four and a half hours of driving, but she held together, and I was really glad I made the trip.
This was my first exposure to the writing team of Neil Bartram (music and lyrics) and Brian Hill (book), but I'm predicting really great things for them. It's just that I have serious doubts that The Story of My Life will survive on Broadway, although I was greatly impressed by the strength of the score, as well as the two performers, Malcolm Gets and Will Chase.
The show is essentially about the intertwining lives of two childhood friends as they grow and make their way in the world. The story starts with Tom Weaver (Chase), a bestselling author, arriving to speak at the funeral of his friend Alvin Kelby (Gets). Tom's difficulty in writing the eulogy sets the stage for a series of flashbacks illuminating their long and complicated relationship.
The story itself is clichéd beyond belief, focusing on the emptiness of success and the people you leave behind. Brian Hill's book suffers from an over-reliance on a series of banal cultural signposts, including the butterfly effect, the movie "It's a Wonderful Life," the novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and making angels in the snow. (See the show's original logo, left) But the score is rich and literate, one of the best I've heard in
years, with melodic yet challenging music, and solid, erudite lyrics.
Overall, I was left with the sense that these were two really promising collaborators who were focusing their admittedly strong craft on some highly unoriginal ideas. Yet, somehow, the show transcends the bromides to evince genuine inspiration. No doubt the strength of to the two performers assist in this transformation, not to mention the strong directorial hand of Broadway veteran Richard Maltby, Jr.
According to Playbill.com, the show's producers are still actively planning to bring The Story of My Life to Broadway in the spring. A casting notice recently surfaced seeking understudies for the show's two roles. Although I'm definitely looking forward to the future work of Neil Bartram and Brian Hill, I predict that New York audiences and critics will tear this earnest but sweet show apart. I also can't see it capturing a significant audience in this economic environment. But I do see it catching on with theater queens and community groups much in the same way that The Last Five Years has developed a strong regional following.
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