Review: Forge Light's HOWARD BARNES is More Than Just Noteworthy

As a theatre person, I can confidently say if my life were suddenly a musical, I'd be thrilled. Isn't the what many of us crave, anyway? The combo of having the world not only revolve around our story, but supplemented with harmonies and well-rehearsed choreography?

Well...maybe not all of us. Definitely not Howard Barnes, the subject of a musical life in which he never asked to be the star.

That's the premise of the inaugural production Forge Light Theatre (formerly Ignite Theatre, formerly Gravity Defied), and a regional premiere to boot. The Noteworthy Life of Howard Barnes takes a look at how an average thirtysomething life is turned into a heightened version of reality, one where his friends, coworkers, and neighbors all play a literal singing and dancing role.

When Howard (Brian Adams) wakes up to a life filled suddenly with uncontrollable musical outbursts, he partners up with his coworker/crush Maggie (Abigail Kochever)--who just happens to have a vast knowledge of the history of Broadway--to track down Stephen Lloyd Rodgers Von Schwartzenheim (Patrick Brownson), the "greatest composer, lyricist, librettist and hatmaker the musical theatre has ever known."

Yet along the way, Howard's journey is constantly derailed by his new world's attempts to him from stopping it, with nods to musicals like Chicago, Cats, Sweeney Todd...and pretty much any other popular musical you can come up with. Of course, this all leads him to confront his ex-girlfriend Grace (Lindsey Kinney), who once rejected his marriage proposal, leaving him broken.

A 2018 creation from the writing team Kooman & Dimond, The Noteworthy Life of Howard Barnes is a clever love letter to the musical theatre, weaving together jokes you might find a bit more enjoyable if you too have a love of the genre, but relatable nonetheless to those more Howard-like individuals who don't live and breathe the art form. While the show's brain is theatre-driven, its heart is about recognizing life's beautiful little details, the ones you might not notice until a chorus follows you telling you about them.

And that's the kind of approach taken by Forge Light, heart-driven. Director Keith Rabin brings the cast together as a true ensemble. Visually simple with mostly black ensemble costumes and a cardboard box city skyline as the set, you're led to pay attention to the talents the cast has to offer, and how they shine without the need for any flashy design elements.

Adams as Howard truly feels like an everyman. Even when he's singing (without the character's knowledge), he doesn't turn into a caricature or overly charismatic performer--he's still Howard, just with a nice voice and a knack for choreo. He grounds the show in the realism it needs.

Kochevar's Maggie is beautifully emotive, taking the small moments and really digging into their feels. She's performing, but it's in that really cozy place where you can tell she's listening to Howard and truly stoked about whatever she's saying to him. The role allows her to effortlessly stake her place as a triple threat.

Throughout the show, I continued to be enamored by Kinney's energy as Grace. She took a character that could easily be written off as an ensemble feature and developed it into the performance you leave the theatre still fixating about. She went from fierce and slightly terrifying (to puppet) to down-to-earth. Powerful vocals and unmistakable charisma, I loved that role.

Brownson fit perfectly as Von Schwartzenheim. He gave a naturally sharp wit that fed into the character's brash attitude. Think if the wizard (of Oz) was a little bitchier. Throughout the show, he also provided that energy into multiple other roles.

Howard Barnes is the perfect kind of show to welcome you back to the theatre. It reminds you why you love it in the first place, but it also lets you know that even when theatre is taking a bit of an intermission, there are so many noteworthy ways to bring what you love about it back into your life.

The Noteworthy Life of Howard Barnes runs through August 21 at the People's Building on Colfax in Aurora. Click here for tickets.

Photos by Brian Miller

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