BWW Reviews: Scheuer's THE LION Roars Back Into Town

When The Lion premiered Off-Broadway last June, it's doubtful many theatre-goers were familiar with the name of its writer/performer, Benjamin Scheuer, but after a slew of great notices and enthusiast word-of-mouth, his one-man autobiographical musical became the first must-see of the season.

After a stint in London, The Lion is back in town and Scheuer's obscurity is seriously endangered. There have been several outstanding and ambitious Off-Broadway musicals this season and The Lion ranks up there among the very best.

The fellow's irresistible charm tickles you right from the start, as the guitar playing vocalist sings a catchy folk tune about how, when he was a kid, his father instilled in him a life-long love of music by building him a "cookie-tin banjo" with rubber band strings and a strap made from an old necktie.

In the next song, he's ten years old and figuring out how he, his dad and his two brothers can be The Beatles (mom is Linda) and have a career where all the reviews are great and all the M&M's are brown.

And even though his 15-song, 70 minute performance never strays far from a child-like sense of optimistic buoyancy, there are some heavy topics to cover, including mental illness, being abandoned by a lover in a time of need and a bout with cancer. But Scheuer clings to music as his defense against sorrow and, as directed by Sean Daniels, presents himself to the audience as an unassuming, self-effacing troubadour.

Connected by short stretches of narration, the casual, conversational lyrics of his folk/rock score have an understated cleverness. Though they all keep the story moving, most of them can (and should) be enjoyed outside of their dramatic contexts.

Early on, Scheuer describes his father's angry reaction when, as a boy, he tells his dad he wants to learn to play just like him. At the end of the story he sings a reprise of "Cookie-Tin Banjo," but in a very different style from the one that was used at the opening, demonstrating that he has truly found his own voice.

If you're not too choked up to find your own voice at the end of The Lion, you'll want to use it to loudly cheer this heart-lifting musical theatre artist.

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