BWW Reviews: IS THERE LIFE AFTER HIGH SCHOOL? At Susquehanna Stage Co.

Susquehanna Stage Company asks, IS THERE LIFE AFTER HIGH SCHOOL? The question was first asked back in 1982 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Jeffrey Kindley and Craig Carnella wrote the book and music based on Ralph Keyes' novel, which was a collection of stories based on people's thoughts about their lives. It was Keyes' conclusion that Kurt Vonnegut was right, that high school is "closer to the core of the American Experience than anything else I can think of."

That may be the reason that although the show's initial run on Broadway was brief, it managed a Theatre World award and then success on the West End - the English may have found that showing them Americans' high school experiences explains us to them better than anything else. Scots-born West End star John Barrowman was influenced enough to cover at least one of the songs, "The Kid Inside," on his albums. The best-remembered American production isn't the Broadway one, but the Ford's Theatre regional production in Washington, DC some time later, which was also excellent.

It's currently on stage at Susquehanna Stage Co. in Marietta, ably directed by Timothy Monaghan. Called a "memory musical", it's a series of vignettes of high school life and of high school reunion life among a crowd for whom high school was in some cases, but wasn't in many others, the best years of their lives.

An ensemble cast takes us through the life experiences of high school - classes, running for school government office, dating, and getting wasted. In the latter category, "Beer," performed by Benjamin Long, Anthony Geraci, and Randy Riggleman, is a standout piece of humor, while for dating, "Nothing Really Happened," sung by the women's ensemble, is a fine and nostalgic look at dates that seemed much more eventful and daring than they actually were - a state of romance now sorely lacking among teens, it seems.

Perhaps the standout moment of the entire show is "Diary of a Homecoming Queen," sung and acted by Tara Beitzel. Call it the first-person-singular of Billy Joel's classic number, "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant" - Beitzel tells the story, singing pages of a diary, of a woman whose life peaked as homecoming queen, and her marriage to and divorce from the football hero. She's a marvelous voice, and is just the right age to be the ensemble member going through the anonymous homecoming queen's life, and she makes the most of it.

Steven Sturgis and Rebecca Raymond are featured in one of the reunion numbers, "I'm Glad You Didn't Know Me Then," which is about exactly what the title suggests, that we're all so much better and more interesting now, whenever "now" is in our lives, than we were back in school. It's the number for everyone whose life was better after high school, and who has ever met, at reunion, someone they don't remember from back then, perhaps fortunately now.

It's a slight play, with only fourteen songs, but it's capable of an emotional punch for anyone who sees part of their younger life, or their post-high-school success or failure, on stage in front of them. High school may not have been the best years of your life, but it certainly left its mark, and you'll see that in front of you.

It's a worthwhile little piece that doesn't get around as much as it should, and it's to Susquehanna Stage's credit that they've got it on stage locally. On stage through October 13. Call 717-426-1277, or visit susquehannastageco.com.

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