What I liked
Such a well-written show. Jasmine, your singing is fantastic and I don’t want to hear that you didn’t have any vocal training because you were on point with hitting each note correctly (speaking from a choir background). You’re a natural, girlypop!! Also, big shout out to the audience because they were bustling with laughter and Jasmine’s comedic timing was spot on as well. Immediately after the show, another audience member stopped me and said something along the lines of, “Wow. Your words to Jasmine were so kind.” Definitely the combination of an interactive audience and an incredibly entertaining actor made ANXIETY! THE MUSICAL one of my favorite Hollywood Fringe shows to date. Thank you, Jasmine and company.
What I didn't like
Our collective mental health could be improved. Haha no but seriously… I think that if we all came to the musical to see a one-woman show talk about anxiety, then hypothetically we all suffer a bit of anxiety here and there. I’d like to believe that Jasmine had the courage to share her experiences with anxiety in order to help others alleviate some of their anxiety and vice versa. In turn, I would like to write a review for Jasmine to alleviate her anxiety on whether or not the show was good (IT WAS INDEED ONE OF THE MOST LIFE-CHANGING EXPERIENCES I’D EVER HAD). No notes. Just pure joy.
My overall impression
Fucking fantastic. What a great show!! Jasmine was incredibly heartwarming, extremely funny and thoughtfully serious when the scene called for it. She really utilized the space well and even took the liberty to invite the audience in to participate throughout the show. Spoiler: In fact, I was the lucky participant to give Jasmine a much needed pep talk (hey, girlypop!!) like I was one of her good friends in order to momentarily relieve her anxiety. While I was validating Jasmine’s anxiety, I shed a couple of tears because I felt slightly overwhelmed and anxious myself having been in a similar position many times before. I’ve struggled with mental health issues for the last 15+ years of my life and found this musical to be so cathartic and healing. Please go see Jasmine if you want to laugh, cry, and go see it multiple times to do that all over again!! Thank you, Jasmine. You really helped nourish a little part of my heart that night. With love, Amy
