[title of show]

Isn't it invigorating when you meet people who's love for their work is literally exploding out of them? Where with every breath they take, whether a sigh of exhaustion or a preparation for their next move, is filled with such passion that you just want to bottle some of that energy to save for youself. That is how I felt last night when watching the touching new musical playing at the Vineyard Theater, [title of show].

This is a show written by two men (Hunter Bell on the left in picture and Jeff Bowen on the right) who when looking for an idea for a musical to submit to the NY Musical Theater Festival decided to write a musical about writing a musical. It's trippy in the way that the film "Adaptation" confuses you but touching in a way that only musical theater can be. It's a true underdog success story, as these two guys are finding themselves the Cinderella story of the summer as their show consistently sells out. The show itself begins and instantly gets the audience laughing but I worried at first that the musical theater references and "wink wink" mentality of it would grow old quickly. I was completely wrong though because these two men have put so much heart and every ounce of themselves into this project that by then end you are moved to a place you never expected to go.

At its root it is about struggling artists and the desire to "make it," but at what cost? For so long when you are sitting in your apartment you find yourself dreaming of your success as an adult and the praise that you will receive for all of your artistic effort. The trouble is that between your dreaming and the actuality of it, there are hundreds of hurdles to conquer and endless amounts of people both in your way and helping you get to the end product. With a full investment in anything, whether financial, artistic or emotional comes the chance that you will lose yourself or the vision of who you wanted to be. I know for myself it always seems easier to stand and dream than to actually do, because there is no pain in dreaming, but there is pain in taking the plunge.

These two men have taken those ideas and translated them into this very personal piece of theater. Michael Beresse (one of my personal favorite Broadway dancers) has staged it beautifully and the performers themselves are so present and attached to it that you root for them every step of the way. I hope that this show manages to find a life in the difficult world of musical theater. Like I said before, there are so many other factors than just having a good product. I, for one, would love to see it stay off-Broadway where I think it really belongs. I don't think that bigger (Broadway) is always better and I wouldn't want to see this show disappear just because it couldn't financially uphold a Broadway run.

After the show, the friends I was with and I got the chance to chat with the cast a little bit. You know when you meet people that you just wish you were friends with? Well that was last night for all of us. We stood around talking for about thirty minutes and they were probably the most humble, caring performers I had ever had the chance to talk to. It's always good to see that there are people out there doing what they love and REALLY loving it. Trying to navigate the world is hard enough, but trying to navigate the arts world is even harder.

So if you have a minute in the next month, you should run down and grab a ticket for this show. You might even catch a little celebrity sighting like we did. Joan Rivers, anyone?! Fancy face. And even without the celebrities you will get to see performers loving what they do and what could be better than that?

One last thing....check out the [title of show] blog! It's hilarious and I even get a tiny shout out in it today. Fun times.
[TOS] BLOG!