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THE BENEFIT OF HINDSIGHT

Musicals & Operas · New Musicals Inc. · Ages 16+ · United States of America

world premiere
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the benefit of hindsight

Review by CHARLES ZIARKO

June 18, 2022 certified reviewer

What I liked

Ingratiating two-person cast gives it their all, and struggles mightily to make sense of muddled maerial! Christopher Robert Smith makes an especially strong impression.

What I didn't like

Two people, no matter how talented, can’t carry 85-minutes of arguing with themselves in contrasting voices. A troupe of other, similar-looking actors was an absolute necessity to put this muddled material across!

My overall impression

Wayne Self, the lyricist/librettist, died just a few days ago, early in June, just as two talented youngsters—-Christopher Robert Smith and Megan Dees—-were preparing to shoulder the burden of playing and singing ALL the characters for 85 minutes of script involving a couple who are kept apart by several Alter Egos who come Back from the Future to discourage them. Muddled, to say the very least, by having two actors playing lengthy scenes with themselves when it should have been obvious to the production team that additional, similar-looking actors were 100% necessary! The music = not very helpful, either!

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the benefit of hindsight