Review: FLY BY NIGHT at Tapestry Theater Collective

What a thrill to be able to promote the first musical from Tapestry Theatre Collective! This brand new company, whose mission is to “share stories that highlight the beautiful intricacies of human connection,” couldn’t have picked a better debut than FLY BY NIGHT. Though modest in scale, this musical packs an emotional wallop. It’s one of my favorite shows, and this production, directed by Abigail Torres, was everything I wanted it to be.

FLY BY NIGHT, by Kim Rosenstock, Michael Mitnick, and Will Connolly, weaves together the lives of several people over the course of a year in the mid-1960s. At the center are two sisters, Daphne (played by Marin Donohue) and Miriam (Ellie Barbuto), who travel from a small town in South Dakota to New York City – Daphne to pursue her dream of being on stage, Miriam to support her. Donohue captures Daphne's starry-eyed ambition with both charm and vulnerability, while Barbuto imbues Miriam with a quiet strength and luminous presence that makes her journey especially moving.

In the city, the sisters meet an eclectic group of people, all of whom are also pursuing dreams in some way or another – Harold McClam (Graham Buyagawan), a sandwich maker and aspiring singer-songwriter who becomes caught between the two sisters; his father, Mr. McClam (Benjamin Bell), who is grieving the loss of his wife; Crabble (Jeremy Buxton), a deli owner living in the past; and Joey Storms (Sawyer Buyagawan), a playwright in need of inspiration. Rounding out the cast is Noah Benson, who plays the narrator and a handful of other characters.

There’s so much to say about this show, but I don’t want to give anything away because a big part of its impact is in the way it unfolds – moving back and forth in time, revealing layers of complexity and making connections across people, time, and place.

FLY BY NIGHT is a small musical – it requires nothing more than a few chairs, a table, and a clothes rack. But don’t let the lack of a set fool you – this simplicity allows the show's greatest strengths – its exquisitely crafted story and transcendent score – to shine. Overall, this is a beautiful show, beautifully performed. I started crying barely two minutes in. 

Whether you’re already a FLY BY NIGHT fan or just love musicals that fill your heart, this production won’t disappoint. And if this debut is any indication of what's to come, I can’t wait to see what stories Tapestry Theater Collective will share with us next.

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