Best Buddies: The Hip-Hop Musical

What I liked

The acting and interactions with both the special needs and the regular cast, the beatboxing was super cool, and the cast had such great comical timing.

What I didn't like

The storyline gets a little wishy washy at times, but this is a nitpick note. Its such a fun show that only the hardcore playwrights among us will score low marks for the writing on this one.

Also, i know this is fringe, but I wished the special needs cast was body mic’ed. They had some lines that got a laugh from the front but, from where I was sitting, I couldn’t hear them and couldn’t make out what they said. Minor note, but worth mentioning if they continue to do this show (which i hope they do).

My overall impression

When Connor did his first musical, Divorce, I thought “a musical with no band or orchestra, this can’t go well”. And, I was wrong, it was amazing. Now, he comes back with a musical where half the cast is a special needs actor or actress, and I thought he was kidding when I read the description. I thought “there’s no way this is gonna be good.” My god was I wrong. Sure enough, Best Buddies delivered the goods!

I was really taken aback at how on point the entire cast was, how funny and in the moment the entire cast was, and how compelling and real the character interactions were from top to bottom. It’s hard to write a show involving a special needs cast, about people with special needs, without making them feel like they were being put down, but they did it. And if this show proved anything, it proved people with special needs have such a great sense of humor and comedy timing, and the whole cast really portrayed things the way their lives actually happen, plus they found a lot of humor in what we are all thinking in those same moments, and talked about what it’s like in the best buddies program without being demeaning.

Plus, the show is super funny, and the cast across the board has show stealing moments that made me laugh out loud multiple times. Overall a tough show to write, produce, and perform, but they really nailed it. Great stuff, worth seeing!