BWW Reviews: New Musical FOUND is a Real Find

Artist comes up with something unique and interesting... Artist's work develops a niche underground following... Artist gets a chance to make a lot of money exposing the work to a national audience... Artist must choose between becoming rich by compromising the art for popular consumption or staying obscure and being faithful to original vision.

The story of Eli Bolin (score), Hunter Bell (book) and Lee Overtree's (book and direction) Found may be a familiar one, but the new musical at the Atlantic bursts with crazy, youthful energy in a clever and hip premiere production.

The show is based on the true story of Davy Rothbart, who, while struggling through a low point in life, discovered an angry note attached to his car's windshield wiper that was meant for somebody else. This brief glimpse into a stranger's life made him wonder about other scraps of paper he might find lying around. His collection of letters, notes, lists, reminders, flyers and other scribblings started amounting into the hundreds, and in June of 2001, the first issue of his indie magazine Found was published.

In its musical comedy form, Found has the terrifically fun Nick Blaemire playing Davy as a go-getting nerd living life by the skin of his teeth. With a lot of help from his friends Denise (Barrett Wilbert Weed playing acerbic indie type with killer pipes), with whom he shares a lot of unspoken sexual and romantic tension, and good guy Mikey D (Daniel Everidge in loveable slacker mode), he builds up popularity for his 'zine by touring dive bars where he gives readings and invites audience members to share their found treasures.

When Kate (Betsy Morgan), who works in the television industry, enters the picture, she finagles a way to help get Found adapted into a network program if Davy is willing to give up artistic control of the way his work is presented and sit back and endure a dumbed down version of his vision while the large checks clear.

With a funny book, a bouncy rock score and a healthy shot of sincerity, Found scores on the basic elements of a fun and entertaining musical, but what give the evening an extra boost of cleverness is the way dozens of actual findings from the Rothbart collection are presented.

A Greek chorus of talented triple-threats (Christina Anthony, Andrew Call, Orville Mendoza, Molly Pope, Danny Pudi and Sandy Rustin) not only play small roles but offer commentary on the action by reading aloud excerpts from items that have been published in Found, which are also projected onto the stage wall.

They range from the obvious ("Be right back. - Godot") to the odd ("Dear Mom, Summer camp is not fun anymore. Everyone is dying.") to the unexpected (a flyer promoting a gay social club just for men who are bears), but by being juxtaposed with the thoughts and emotions of the characters, they bring home the message that the appeal of the magazine is that it reminds readers that there are other people going through the same experiences they are.

Some letters are used as song lyrics and a teacher's note to parents, making a brief reference to an unfortunate occurrence at performance of Johnny Tremaine, prompts a very funny sketch that imagines what the heck might have happened.

Found may not seem like a good idea for a musical on paper, but on stage at the Atlantic, it's a marvelously imaginative and spirited delight. A real find.

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Photo Credit: Kevin Thomas Garcia