BWW Reviews: LOVE AGAIN Premieres at Group Rep

Love Again, a new musical/book by Doug Haverty/music by Adryan Russ/lyrics by Adryan Russ & Doug Haverty/directed by Kay Cole/Group rep/through June 28

It is refreshing in this day and age to see an attempt to create a new musical. With few exceptions, it appears to be a dying art. If not, we would not be witnessing a raft of old steady revivals on Broadway, off-Broadway and in regional venues across the globe. Doug Haverty and Adryan Russ, no strangers to successful musical ventures, have taken the topic of love and have created Love Again, a bold effort at showing the intermingling of different aspects of love with a semi-large cast. Under the steady hand of Kay Cole all manage to shine in one form or another and a lot of it works delightfully. There's much potential with some more work and readjustments to the book. Many of the songs are quite lovely, and love, in all of its shades and colors, is always a treat to experience. Love Again has its niche at Group rep in NoHo through June 28.

Paul Cady and Janet Wood

The show is divided into three playlets In a Different Light, set in Paris, France; Two Lives in Chicago, Illinois, and Forget-Me-Not in Sacramento, Ca. A delicious opening "One, Two, Three" puts the entire ensemble together to set the tone for the evening. The song "One Life" says it best about seizing love when it comes along... before it is too late.

In playlet one, two couples spend quality time in Paris, France. Craig (Paul Cady) and Bonnie (Amy Gillette) casually run into Maxwell (Lloyd Pedersen) and Jane (Janet Wood) while on a tour. Craig and Jane were sweethearts in an earlier life and perhaps should never have broken up. Both marriages have become stale, and Bonnie and Max are left to wonder what's happening as Craig and Jane casually reunite. "Funny What the Mind Does" is a song in which the characters ruminate about fate and react to how things happen unexpectedly. Can two old flames rekindle or is it too late? The fault in this one is its excessive exposition. The audience can see quite obviously the flame burning in Craig and Jane, so maybe it would be better to pair off Max and Bonnie as well to add some edge. As is, the ending is ambiguous. Do Craig and Jane reunite in happiness or do the couples stay unhappily together?

Michele Bernath and Debi Tinsley

Playlet two Two Lives, my very favorite, is edgy and oh so playful. Two BFFs have an auto accident and are left comotosed in the hospital. Sound dreary? Well, it isn't, as the spirits of the two Loretta (Debi Tinsley) and Fanny (Michele Bernath) are up and about as in Ghost trying to make the machines showing their vitals work effectively and meddling in the lives of their relatives. Fanny has a son Hal (Andrew Curtis) who is too shy to express his attraction to his mother's nurse LeWanda (Kathleen Chen), so Fanny tries to get the ball rolling. Loretta's husband (Lloyd Pedersen) is slowly, sadly giving up on her, so it is up to her to reassure his hopes. Married love, mother/son devotion, young love and the love between friends are all explored in an unpredictable manner, really putting the emphasis on seizing the moment and living life to the fullest.

Playlet three is about two grandparents (Lloyd Pedersen and Michele Bernath) who have separated but come back together in old age, through the efforts of their children to find the best way of caring for them (Janet Wood and Paul Cady) and their grandson Derrick (Elijah Tomlinson). It's fairly predictable with a few little surprises, but does fulfill the evening's meaning of coming full circle and keeping love alive.

Under Kay Cole's fine staging and movement, the actors all have terrific moments. Wood is a real standout in playlet one. Renee Gorsey has some funny wisecracking moments as Fiona, Craig's boss and mentor, and Gillette does excellent work with Bonnie's dilemma. In playlet two, Bernath and Tinsley have such fun with the best buddy roles. Pedersen is wonderful as the caring husband and Lauren Peterson is strong as Dr. Hillier. Chen has a most beautiful singing voice that is amply used. In the final playlet, again both Pedersen and Bernath steal the hour as the frail and failing grandparents.

Adryan Russ and Doug Haverty have written some lovely music & lyrics especially "One Life", "When the Man Comes" and the title "Love Again". Chris Winfield's set design is pretty and sets the right romantic mood universally. If you like sweet, simple odes to love, then Love Again will surely satisfy.

www.thegrouprep.com

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