Review: JOHN & JEN Touches Hearts at Imagine Performing Arts

John & Jen is not a musical I had a lot of (re: any) familiarity with. It's a 1996 Off-Broadway musical from the mind of Andrew Lippa and Tom Greenwald that never quite reached the same notoriety as some of their other works. But, in the words of director Darryl Lindenbach, this show is a labor of love. 23 years after directing the Canadian Premiere of this two-hander musical, Lindenbach is back to bring these siblings to the modern Calgary stage.

With musical direction by Kathy Zaborsky and costume coordination by Kim Johnson, Imagine Performing Arts have converted their learning space into a room of imagination; filling the empty set with a few key props which are all hung on the walls for the audience to see. There is a sense of openness and anticipation that comes from seeing everything that will happen and yet not what will come next. From the moment you step into the theatre, you are in the world of John and Jen.

This two act musical spans four decades beginning in 1952 with the story of Jen, a very grown up six year old, greeting her newborn brother and promising to protect him from the world - and their abusive father. We see the siblings' relationship as it ebbs and flows through the years, cumulating in a 19-year-old John Going off to war and dying. That's Act One. After intermission, it's almost like time resets and once again, Jen is greeting a newborn named John but this time, it's her son; and she vows to never make the same mistakes she made with her brother. The relationship between Jen and both of her Johns is a driving force in telling the story of love, trust, and communication. And that sometimes, you can have the best intentions, and it still won't be enough.

Though this is a sung-through musical, taking very few pauses for dialogue, Lippa's music in this show seems to lack any memorable hooks. The notes were carriers of story from one plot to the next - a feature I rather enjoyed in an unfamiliar script. I was able to simply focus on the words and the actors and get carried away if I so desired.

Age-appropriate acting - especially with such a large range of time, I imagine - is quite challenging. Jen goes from 6-46 while John must represent two different people from birth to age 18 and 19. Sarah Irwin, playing the overly protective and yet wildly independent Jen brought her powerhouse belting to the performance. She is an incredibly talented singer but I missed some of the introspection in her performance. Especially in moments of high emotion and high notes, I wanted to see her interact with her environment more than audience. Although I didn't see a lot of childishness in Irwin, her adult self was very self-aware and closed off in a way that I thought was very appropriate.

Billy Brown, playing the forever-young John, made a good scene partner for Irwin, finding amazing opportunities to show off his singing abilities - however, I did find it distracting how often Brown looked around while performing. His eyes were constantly darting everywhere and in such a small space, it was unclear where his focus was. Brown did an excellent job of bouncing between different, very distinct ages but I wish there had been more precision in his movements. Because he's playing a boy who is growing into a "man's man" and a military character, I would have liked to see a little more strength in the way he carried himself.

John & Jen is a rather interesting but predictable story to me. You don't see siblings as leads as often as you see lovers, and exploring other forms of love and relationships is something that I believe is very important. The story - the plot - I think is fairly predictable but not in a way that left me bored. Seeing two actors on stage almost exclusively playing the same characters for two hours requires a lot of work from every element of the production. I think Imagine Performing Arts created a well put together production.

John & Jen is playing until March 24th at the Music and Play Studio and tickets can be purchased at: https://www.imagine-yyc.com/john-jen

To post a comment, you must register and login.