Review: BAND GEEKS at Faust Theatre

Zach Faust's second year community theater company opened its new show, "Band Geeks" May 19th at the Black Box Theatre inside The Johnson County Heritage Center for a three day run. A young cast tells the story of the forlorn, stereotypical members of a marginalized high school marching band from Ohio.

"Band Geeks," which debuted in 2010, is a two-hour explosion of teenage angst from the kids who are not members of the in-crowd. The band is limited by a lack of financial and administrative support from their school administration. Band efforts are often marginalized in favor of more popular activities. The members of the tiny Cuyahoga (Ohio) High School Beavers marching band seek acceptance, romance, pride, and a sense of accomplishment. They are forced to deal with bullying, budget cuts, and normal teen insecurities along with the pain of being the outsiders.

Despite some generally pretty good voices and the obvious drill and rigor applied to large-scale song/ dance sequences, the book by Tommy Newman and Gordon Greenberg presents mostly unfocused stereotypes. There is the tuba player who has desparately campaigned to be the band captain, the valley girl who prances back and forth with her twirling baton, the Goth chick who doesn't fit in pretty much anywhere, the principal's kid who is the object of the cool kids' bullying, the exchange student from eastern Europe who is somehow resentful to be in America, the talented musician girl who is generally overlooked but could be the real heart of the team, and the disaffected jock who gets dumped into the band because he has nowhere else to go.

"Band Geeks" grabs onto some of the easy jokes, and lists the terrors suffered by these kids, but somehow skips over the sharing a focused storyline with one or two tangential subplots. The libretto swings for the fences but somehow lands outside the foul lines.

There are hints of sexual-social pressure, a screed against the state of funding in secondary education, young struggles for acceptance, teen neurotics, sexual awarkenings, hints of race, outsider syndrome, bullying, and more.

The audience can see hints of more popular and developed shows throughout, but a lack of character development leaves the overall impression wanting. According to reviews posted of other productions, "The story lacks a certain level of spark or intensity which would turn it into a great musical. The best shows are about big characters or big situations." These authors are trying to serve too many masters and too many characters. The audience gets the idea by osmosis, but it is unsure who to root for.

The actors, who are a combination of recent college graduates and current high schoolers, work hard, and will surely be heard from again.

Faust Theater is a game attempt to provide a new platform for younger performers. As a newer group, they cannot quite yet attract the level of financial resources needed to help them stand out in a busy theater town. They should, however, be applauded for their sprit and for their effort.

"Band Geeks" continues this weekend through April 22. Tickets can be purchased at the door or www.geekoutfause.eventbrite.com. More information can be found on www.fausttheatre.com.

Photo courtesy of Faust Theatre

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