New York Review: “Good Morning New York: A New Musical” at The Players Theatre
Natalie Rine, Associate New York Critic
Move over Kardashians, there’s a new comedic bit in town about the struggle to “rise and shine.” Real life news and media guru Jacklyn Thrapp’s original musical “Good Morning New York” traces an office of seven on the morning news crew, each vying for happiness, love, and fulfilment in the Big Apple. Thrapp (book writer, creator, and producer) is joined writing the toe-tapping music by Jackson Bell and Dylan Adler who, combined, create a hilarious and earnest portrait of the trials and tribulations of a rough-and-tumble industry.
There’s Val Gates, a world-weary reporter capable of so much more than she’s currently given. Played with heart by Christae Evanson, Val has the unfortunate task of handling song after song and line after line of repetitious one-noted discontentment that doesn’t move her very far down the football field so to speak. In the same boat as her character, Evanson displays a mastery of making the most of underwhelming material, capable of a soaring, nuanced performance amid chaos. Unfortunately, this struggle to pace out character development pans out with others in the newsroom as well; Jon, the cliché difficult boss, vacillates between kindness and rudeness, love scenes and threat scenes, faster than any key change actor Bobby Allan masters. Do we want a self-declared “pervert” to get the girl? A girl the book also mocks for being just one in a long history of traffic reporter blondes who “do traffic, get a man, get pregnant and quit”? Despite stellar performances filled with a sparkle in their eyes and pep in their dance steps, neither Allan nor Jacqueline Keeley as Baby Boo/Amy Blue/Amy Loo can overcome this incomprehensible queasiness. The cast of characters ultimately end not far off from where you found them at the beginning of the musical, with the stakes simply not high enough for any of them to find motivation other than the exasperation of everyday New York workplace strife. If they do find a sliver of hope or acceptance by the feel-good finale, their minor victories are so sudden it’s impossible to appreciate or applaud, and I found myself incessantly longing for complexity or arcs in the inter-newsroom relations, rife with untapped possibility especially in a #MeToo dynamics era.
Where “Good Morning New York” shines is in trusting this tightrope walk with reality, crossing away from the hokey and into the honesty of these characters’ experiences. A strong duet is one highlight between Evanson and Morgan Detogne’s forlorn Betty, who has a job that’s somehow never touched upon, yet she functions to pine after the new intern and “struggle to know her own self-worth” or something. Regardless, the two unite in these two minutes to expound upon their struggles, a genuinely perfect example of the musical theatre mantra that characters must sing when the emotion is too strong that spoken words fail them. The women croon and detonate “playing nice” to get what they want, and it feels good to see in these seemingly opposite personalities the side-by-side importance of love and career that a woman’s life can have.
Similarly, another highlight of the musical is found in another underexplored crevasse of the industry: interns. Intern Yaz (a hilarious, scene-stealing Lexi Rosenblum) bursts the self-aggrandizing bubble of the media industry they’re all trapped in and chooses instead to lift the other women up, declaring they’re stronger and smarter than any deriding self-help books or job descriptions. An outburst from the comedic relief character is to be expected, but Rosenblum skillfully uses her character’s lowly station to trampoline from fresh, vulnerable, and wide-eyed to backboned, snappy, and self-assured, easily endearing us as the clear audience favorite.
While there’s countless moments to wink and nod at a New York and media-insider audience, “Good Morning New York” succeeds when it slows down long enough to smell the coffee and let the characters connect. Zach Holden, as the new PA on the block Steve, breaks the fourth wall at one surprising moment, actually stirring the audience with a rousing point about intern labor and treatment, and the negative cyclical life support this crutches the industry on. This draw into reality, while still humorously in character, added a spark to the conversation, a hint of what the whole musical could be if it dared to fully choose the message it wanted to tell. The music assuages and distracts from this possibility though, peppering in a crowd-pleasing tap number in a dive bar, a song wholly dedicated to the underappreciated Staten Island, and a side-splitting road trip number by other intern Billy (Andrew Cuccaro) that will have you enjoying the musical in your comfort zone without having to question the harsh realities that lurk underneath your cheap laughs. For me, I’d rather delve deeper, excavate the complexities of their power dynamics (which can still be funny!), and personally— I’ll stick to the night show.
“Good Morning New York” by Jacklyn Thrapp
“Good Morning New York: A New Musical” is produced by Thrapp Theatrics in association with Michael Sgouros. Creative team includes Jacklyn Thrapp (book and lyrics), Thrapp, Jackson Bell and Dylan Adler (music), Jackson Bell (orchestrations), Amanda Enriquez (Costume Design), Olivia Loverde (Lighting Design), Denise Pfau Demby & Nicole Gex (Scenic Design), Reise Hooper (Vocal Director) and is directed by Bridget Greaney. The cast includes Alison Frasier (voice overs only), Zach Holden, Christae Evanson, Morgan DeTogne, Bobby Allan, Jacqueline Keeley, Andrew Cuccaro & Lexi Rosenblum. Run time is approximately two hours, with one intermission.
“Good Morning New York: A New Musical” runs at the Players Theatre Mainstage (115 Macdougal St, New York, NY 10012) until February 9. Tickets range from $42 - $62. Ticket information can be found at GoodMorningNewYorkMusical.com