A NOHO ARTS THEATRE REVIEW OF “OUT OF THE BLUE – A MIRACULOUS MUSICAL.”
AND... OUT OF THE BLUE — A Miraculous MUSICAL
“Out of The Blue – A Miraculous Musical” is my first Hollywood Fringe Festival show this year! A beautifully balanced musical, set around Eli Hans’s own journey through life, childhood up to present day. Born in Mexico City, Eli is a gay Jewish man trying to understand his place in the world.
It’s a gorgeous performance from a very talented actor. Heartfelt, hilarious and beautifully sung.
The story of his life so far, is really quite something. Through finding himself as a gay man, finding love and losing him to suicide, navigating through the birth of the AIDS crisis in the 80s, and finding love again, triumphantly. And all this taking place before he hit 40. It’s a retrospective of a life lived with passion and honesty, lived out loud, as it were.
What struck me most about this show is the joyfulness. Through his darkest moments, Eli looks toward hope and the love that brought him there. He has a really tremendous musical theatre presence, all light and magic and sweetness. His wonderful voice carries beautifully the funny and often heartfelt songs written so honestly about his experiences, good and bad. He has a gentle way of connecting to the audience that’s really quite riveting.
He is confident and charming and thoughtful; as if each of us is the only one in the room. That’s the key to being a gifted performer, I think. To make us all feel special, as if this story is just for us.
Eli has an impressive background in musical theatre. He has 20+ year career as a voice-over actor. He has also worked in theatre at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, La Jolla Playhouse, The Fritz Theatre, and is the cofounder of San Miguel de Allende’s infamous improv troupe, The Improv People.
Eli cleverly navigates the 25 characters he plays, leaping nimbly from person to person. Funny, engaging, and always grateful for his truly unique life. This is an almost solo show, his husband of 20+ years, Joseph, makes a couple of guest appearances. As if this story needed any more magic!
Love this show! Eli is a genuinely fascinating person and his life as he tells it is full of poignant and compelling twists and turns, and some very tough mountains to climb. But everything he shares with us is in the spirit of a life adventure. He has overcome so much, but as we watch him on stage he makes it all seem so effortless, so full of reason and purpose.
We’ve all had a couple of dark years. So, Eli Hans’s “Out of The Blue – A Miraculous Musical” is the perfect reminder that the human story is worthwhile and that our future is what we choose to make it.
