My overall impression
First of all this is a workshop production. At least I hope it is otherwise they are woefully under prepared. The songs were clever and performed well enough but I would have liked to see more of the book.
Steve Altman has managed to avoid most of the pitfalls of modern musicals but did give us the obligatory soaring “believe in yourself” song that every musical apparently must have. His libretto moves from period appropriate styles to more modern pop numbers. Mr. Altman I hope you don’t take offense when I say I don’t really think you’ve made a rock musical. If anything it is a pop musical and could in fact be a great one down the line.
My biggest complaint is the addition of political commentary into a pro 99% story when the source material was almost the opposite. Also they felt the need to inject not one but two love stories. I hope that in future productions Mr. Altman would choose to trust Mr. Well’s novella and produce a more faithful version. As it stands it’s a fun diversion less for what it is than what it could become.
