REVIEW: Realizing a musical dream with a dream Moline cast
By Ava Barnes
Why hadn’t I heard of the quirky, delightful one-act musical “title of show” before it made its area premiere last week at the Black Box Theatre in downtown Moline?
And why didn’t this unpretentious, thoroughly enjoyable piece of musical theater heaven have a longer run on Broadway?
“title of show” – a musical about “two nobodies” writing a musical, penned by and starring Jeff Bowen and Hunter Bell — was chosen for production by the Musical Theatre Festival and premiered there, in September 2004, in New York City. It later ran off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre in 2006, and played at Broadway’s Lyceum Theatre in 2008 for 13 previews and 102 regular performances.
Writer/stars Bowen and Bell, as well as director Michael Berresse all won Obie Awards for their work on the off-Broadway production, and Bell was nominated for a Tony for Best Book of a Musical.
The musical spawned a recurring video blog about the show’s journey to Broadway called The ‘title of show’ Show.
Perfect for the intimate Black Box (with a 60-seat capacity), the hilarious, heartfelt four-person cast is comprised of Ryan J. Hurdle (Jeff), who played the title role in Spotlight Theatre’s “The SpongeBob Musical” last month; Noah Hill (Hunter), who directed it; Katie Griswold (Heidi), who was the show’s music director, and Rebecca Casad (Susan), who also was in the cast.
The terrifically talented quartet are all Augustana College alums (Griswold from 2020 and the rest 2022), and Augie piano professor Rob Elfline is the “title of show” pianist named Larry. It’s clear that they’re all having an absolute ball, and — as a direct result — we in the audience do as well.
In the relatable story, Jeff and Hunter — two self-confessed nobodies in New York — make a pact: They’ll write an original musical and submit it to a festival. The only catch? The deadline is in three weeks. Hurdle and Hill (who are close friends in real life) are basically playing themselves and we totally identify with their Broadway dreams and frustrations.
They gather their two actress friends, Susan and Heidi (super sympathetic Casad and Griswold), and their accompanist and music director, Larry, on the keys. With the full team assembled, Jeff and Hunter hit another roadblock — what should they write about?
The guys decide to follow the old adage, “write what you know,” and everything they talk and sing about becomes part of the show, which they simply call “title of show.”
One of the songs is literally about filling out the form for the theater festival. “title of show” is, above all, a love letter to the musical theatre — a uniquely American art form — and to the joy of collaboration. What a joy it is.
The Black Box show is directed by Casad (who directed an Augie “Medea” production) and Hill (who directed “Pirates of Penzance” at Augie), with musical direction by Griswold and Hurdle under the watchful eye of BBT artistic director Lora Adams, who designed the set and costumes. Hill also designed the lights for the show.
Hill as Hunter is the de-facto leader of the cast and wrestles with compromises as their journey progresses. The musical and its adorable characters are self-deprecating, admitting that the show is quite “insider-y” with loads of references to other musicals, including Sondheim’s “Merrily We Roll Along” (itself about songwriter best friends), Kander and Ebb’s “The Rink” and Bock and Harnick’s “Tenderloin.”
One of my favorite name drops is the group’s celebrating the show’s off-Broadway premiere at New York’s Vineyard Theatre in 2006, three years after the sensational, equally fun and touching “Avenue Q” opened there in 2003. “title of show” shares that Tony winner’s winning combination of idealism, innocence, prodigious sense of humor and good, gleeful doses of profanity.
But “Avenue Q” (co-written by EGOT winner Robert Lopez, who also co-wrote “Book of Mormon”) went on to play 2,534 performances on Broadway and win six Tonys, including Best Musical.
If simply based on the stupendous success of the Black Box production, the smart, witty “title of show” deserves at least a fraction of that acclaim. The performers (including a dazzling Elfline on keys) are super passionate; the harmonies are great and we get an impressive, inspiring reflection of friendship and artistic creation.
Casad and Griswold especially showcase their strong voices in the “Secondary Characters” duet, where they get a rare chance to steal the spotlight (while the men are off stage) and Griswold shines solo soon after, with the poignant, nostalgic “A Way Back To Then.”
“title of show” will conclude its run here at 1623 5th Ave., Moline, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday (July 13-15). Tickets are $16, available HERE.
