What I liked
The main theme of culture and inheritance. The cohesion created by this theme is what separates her life story from something to be interested in into something you could genuinely learn from.
Also, Melanie wasn’t lying about her musical passion, the tunes in this one are great.
What I didn't like
I felt as if a few story beats in the last third dragged somewhat but it’s hard to judge considering that the play establishes that Melanie’s legacy isn’t limited to what we know from just this portion of the story.
My overall impression
This story is a retrospection on culture and inheritance in its most honest form. Biographical plays always risk going too far in portraying mundane facts vs overly-fruitful fiction but this one retains a good balance of both. Tragedy strikes when it’s most unexpected, personal growth is uncoordinated, and passions don’t always stick. And in this story, it is genuinely unpredictable throughout on what extent Melanie is capable of retaining her Jewish heritage while balancing her separate artistic passions.
Yet out of a very non-linear narrative, there is a strong sense of identity and progression that the main character comes into and I very much appreciated the long days or weeks or years of retrospection it must’ve taken to create this interpretation.
