BWW Reviews: 'john and jen' at Chaffin's Backstage at the Barn

There may be actors who could give better performances as john and jen than Patrick Waller and Martha Wilkinson but they would have to be some sort of imaginary, dream-like apparitions to even come close to the stunningly brave and thoroughly focused interpretations given by these two exemplary Nashville artists. Consider it an ideal marriage of actors and characters, the perfect confluence of artists at their creative best coming together to breathe life and renewed vitality into their fictional counterparts, who are so richly drawn and evocatively written by Andrew Lippa and Tom Greenwald in their chamber musical now onstage at Chaffin's Backstage at the Barn in the debut production of Johnny Peppers' 3Ps Productions.

Lippa and Greenwald's work is almost completely sung-through, which is challenging for any actor/singer, but the characters they have written render john and jen even more challenging for actors taking up the roles. Those characters are so masterfully crafted that they almost instantly find their way into the audience's collective heart, developing a bond that makes the play's action all the more compelling and affecting. In the wrong hands, the result could be stultifyingly dull and plodding.

Waller and Wilkinson - lauded by critics, adored by audiences and respected by their peers - take an artistic leap of faith in the challenging two-act musical during which they tell the stories of John and Jen Tracy, siblings separated by the six years of their births yet drawn together in a lifelong struggle to survive their hellish, abusive father and to come to terms with the differences that pull them apart and the abiding love and devotion that binds them together forever.

Kudos to Wilkinson for shepherding this production to the stage for Nashville audiences; it was she who first played "Jen" almost seven years ago at Tibbitts Opera House in Michigan, falling in love with Lippa's work and steadfastly awaiting the perfect time to stage the musical in Music City. She might also have been waiting for Waller to gain the age and experience that give his startlingly frank characterization the weighty mantle of his accumulated successes which, remarkably, allow him to more than hold his own onstage with Wilkinson, the actress who personifies "musical theatre" in this town.

The performances of the two are nothing short of stellar: Wilkinson shows her mettle from the start, playing the six-year-old Jen welcoming her baby brother into the world; Waller, charming and self-assured from his very first moment onstage, effectively plays John at every stage of life. Certainly, the pair's chemistry is palpable, drawing the audience into their shared intimacies. When Act One comes to its cataclysmic and expected denouement (for this story to succeed on so many emotional levels, the first stanza could only end as written by Lippa and Greenwald - unfortunately, it's telegraphed to you in the early going which might be disconcerting to some theatre-goers), you find yourself fighting back the emotions you're feeling, tears stinging your eyes. Clearly, the script is somewhat manipulative in this respect, but more likely your emotional investment is because of the beautiful interactions of Waller and Wilkinson.

Act Two finds Jen welcoming her own baby boy, named for her beloved brother John. Much of the action in the second stanza closely mirrors that of Act One and it allows the audience to become accustomed to Waller playing another character who is very much like his uncle, yet somehow completely different. The end of the second act, which closes the play, ultimately is as moving as the end of the first act - but for obviously different reasons.

Wilkinson directs the piece thoughtfully, casting a discerning eye toward the staging of the piece to create a world in which the three characters can come fully to life. The music direction of her frequent collaborator and friend Tim Fudge is exceptional and the exquisitely expressed music played by Knox Ewing on piano and Melodie Morris on cello is pitch perfect in so many ways.

With just two weeks left in the show's abbreviated run at Chaffin's Backstage at the Barn, it's likely audiences will flock to witness this superbly realized and completely heartfelt production. You shouldn't miss it; quite frankly, we wish we had time to see it again.

- john and jen. Music by Andrew Lippa. Lyrics by Tom Greenwald. Book by Tom Greenwald and Andrew Lippa. Directed by Martha Wilkinson. Music direction by Tim Fudge. Produced by Johnny Peppers. Presented by 3Ps Productions at Chaffin's Backstage at the Barn, 8204 Highway 100, Nashville. For reservations, call (615) 646-9977. For further information, visit www.3PsProductions.com.

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