HARMONY IN A FLAT Comes to the Triad

 

It's Saturday night and you're deciding whether to go to a rock concert or see a comedy. You love music. But you're in the mood for laughter. What do you choose?.

If you pick "Harmony in A Flat," a combination rock concert and comedy playing at the Triad, 158 W. 72nd St. June 19-23, you can see a rock concert and a comedy. In what is likely among the best deals in town, Tickets are $18 at www.TriadNYC.com or by clicking the Tix link for the venue that has a two-drink minimum.

The show - presented with one of New York City's better rock bands and a cast including numerous Equity actors- plays at 9:30 p.m. on June 19, 2; at 7 on June  22 and at 6:30 on June 23 at this sleek, Upper West Side venue, famous for music and the occasional play. Doors open a half hour before show time.

The Triad is the original home of Forbidden Broadway, Spamilton and Forever Plaid and the home of Celebrity Autobiography, now in its ninth year.

Martin Short, Kristen Wiig, Kevin Hart, Bob Weir, Gavin DeGraw, Air Supply, Ryan Reynolds, Matthew Broderick, Paul Rudd, Greg Allman, Tracey Morgan and Ben Vereen all performed here. And Lady Gaga made her professional debut at the venue.

Harmony in A Flat, based on The Bohemians, which debuted at Theater of the New City, in many ways is the perfect fit for the venue as a mix of a rock band and actors.

It tells the story of a rock musician's life, complete with songs and performances by New York City rocker Mike Borgia and his band The Problems.

In this melodic, entertaining hybrid play and concert, directed by Hamza Zaman with script by Claude Solnik and songs by Borgia, we watch a comedy about a musician (Scott, played by Brandon Fox) and a medical internist (Becka, played by Heather Burgess) who are engaged.

When their parents find out that the couple moved into a neighborhood with a high crime rate, the parents (Scott Zimmerman, Patricia Magno, Lucy McMichael and Timothy Roselle) go to extreme measures to scare them into moving.

John Carhart, the supercilious super, and Marco Matute, his almost always present assistant, along with Mark Montalbano, the charming, but sometimes misguided Detective Costa, sharpen the comedy.

The play, stage managed by Joanna Newman, takes a humorous look at how protective parents can impact children's lives and at the pleasures and pitfalls of music as a career.

And it does it with a strong score and songs that will leave you humming - and performances along with moments of hilarity that will leave you laughing - in a night mixing humor with harmony.

Periodically, the curtain peels back to show Borgia (http://mikeborgia.com), a very real New York City musician, and his band The Problems performing as if we're seeing gigs.

"It fits really well," Borgia said. "It just seems to all work. Because the songs I write are true to life material and it's a true to life play, to me, it was an obvious marriage of ideas."

Harmony in A Flat evolved from a play Solnik wrote entitled The Bohemians that debuted at Theater for the New City with recordings of Borgia's songs.

Audiences enjoyed the show and the music so much that Zaman decided to approach Borgia about tailoring more tunes even to the script, which he and his band would perform live.

Borgia has worked as a professional musician for 25 years, written more than 16 albums and continues to perform with his band The Problems (Thomas Haddad on drums and Matt Volpe on bass) across the nation and around the world.

"The idea for it was inspired by the work itself," Zaman said. "The main character is a musician. I knew a New York musician who's been doing this for 20 years. We built up soundtracks and the whole process."

Zaman called the show a variation on the time-honored musical complete with a dozen songs (with titles such as Leave in a Hurry, Help me, Life on reset, You woke, It's been a long time, It's my fault, Let Live, I know Better, Lose yourself and Bricks), played in full or in part.

"It's different from a musical, because the cast doesn't sing," Zaman said. "It's a mixed media concert mixed with a play. It's an immersive theater experience."

The play begins with Borgia's "Leave in a Hurry" as the parents arrive to evaluate the kind of Eden that Scott and Becka (at least in their eyes) have created in their apartment.

"That's about being uncomfortable in a social situation around people making you feel uncomfortable," Borgia said. "Everyone's talking about it, but they don't know how to react."

Borgia and the band perform his song "Lucky" when the couple decide to have a picnic on the roof of their apartment.

"Lucky is about being fortunate to have someone in your life that you have a mutual appreciation for," Borgia said. "That song fit into the narrative of those two wanting to spend some romantic time in their apartment in Flatbush."

The play ends with the last song called "Bricks" as the show and the concert draw to a close, giving audiences a comedy and a concert, good, heartfelt music and a charming night at the theater.

"I'm making mini music videos between each scene," Zaman said. "I like things moving from one to another. We're doing that with music that adds to the show and gives audiences a fuller experience."

Harmony in A Flat, Triad, 158 W. 72nd St., June 19 & June 21 at 9:30 p.m. June 22 @ 7 p.m. & June 23 @ 6:30  p.m. Tickets only $18 (venue has two drink minimum)by clicking Tix. or going to www.TriadNYC.com. Doors open a half hour before show time.

 

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