Review: BABY THE MUSICAL at Revolution Stage Company

Baby the Musical opened Thursday night at Revolution Stage Company. Here’s the story it is telling:

Three couples find out they’re pregnant. One 30-something-ish couple, Pam (Heather Joy) & Nick (Jacob Samples) has been trying; one older couple, Arlene (Sonia Reavis) & Alan (Michael Pacas) had an oops; and a couple of college juniors, songwriters Lizzy (Candace Coe) & Danny (Joseph Portoles) are our main characters The story follows each couple’s reactions, and wouldn’t you know it, the girls are all connected by an obstetrician (Jason Ayestas) and his nurse (Katrina Dixon) and the boys by …little league? I don’t know - some sports thing.

RANT: It’s set in the 1980s when women all over America actually had choices. Since the overturning of Roe v Wade I would consider this a particularly tone deaf choice when many women in America no longer have the right to make these choices. It stayed on my mind the entire night. END OF RANT

Rant notwithstanding - it also feels incredibly outdated in so many other ways, and one story line is a bit on the ridiculous side. Danny joins a touring band (that he doesn’t like) to make money for the baby. I sang in a band into the 80s and it was not “we can raise a baby now” money. At all.

There is, however, a lot of talent up on that stage, all of it local, and there were a few absolutely lovely moments - like Sonia Reavis singing Patterns, and Joseph Portoles in Fatherhood Blues but the production as a whole is not what I expected after their powerhouse production of Avenue Q  followed by Spelling Bee.  I was hoping  for more of that. This show is under-baked.

Outside of not being a fan of the musical, my biggest complaint is the blend - or lack thereof, of the oft pitchy vocals. The opening number - I’m not really sure everyone had the same score in the same key, and that includes the band. The solos are bright and for the most part well-executed, but anytime they sing together it just doesn’t jive. Not sure what happened there - if no one is listening to each other or it wasn’t well-rehearsed.

I will admit that I had never seen Baby before, and now this musical is firmly in Cats territory. I do not like Cats. And while I appreciated the songs in Closer Than Ever, I kinda felt like I was watching a more elegant The Lawrence Welk Show so clearly sung-through musicals aren’t my cup of tea. There’s no catchy number to play in my head on the drive home, no melody I’ll hum getting ready for bed (I’ll give you Memory from Cats, but that’s it.) This isn’t exactly a sung-through musical but it felt like it during act one.

A very bright spot was any character portrayed by Jason Ayestas. His comic timing reminds me of Tim Monsion as the doctor in Marvin’s Room at The Goodman - one of my favorite comic performances to date. Nice work.

Also, new to me, is the gorgeous voice of Jason Samples (Nick). Hearing him sing was truly a treat. More of that please.

Although Rebecca McWilliams has played some memorable characters on the stage, as a director, this is a miss. There were little things that just felt amateurish, including the incredibly on-the-nose projection during Coe’s heartfelt The Story Goes On.

Now, I will say some of my friends, who know every damn musical ever, really love this musical. Maybe you’ll be like them. And perhaps during its run it will come together - that can happen. In fact, why don’t you go see it? I am notoriously hard to please when it comes to my entertainment, and I am holding this company (hear me out) to the same standards as the equity waiver theatres in town.  But the thing is, I’ve seen them do it.

And maybe you’ll have an entirely different take. I mean, some of you might prefer coffee ice cream to caramel cone (mental!) but the bottom line is everyone is different.

It’s only year one for this theatre company, and I am looking forward to their season announcement for 24/25 as well as what they have planned for us this summer. I hope it’s more of the former, and less of the latter.

Production

Producer….Gary Powers

Producer….James Owens

Director……Rebecca McWilliams

Musical Director: Douglas Wilson

Design

Lighting and Sound: Mariah Pryor

Sound: Kelly McGuire

Costumes: Emma Bibo

Set: Miguel Lauro

Tech

Sound Operator: Fred Thompson

Stage Manager/Projections: Nathan Cox

BABY Orchestra: 

Piano: Alex Danson on piano

Drums: Bob Forte 

Bass: Emiliano Villareal 

 

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