New World Comin’ At Encore is a Workshop of a Show in Progress with 60’s Tunes – The Sun Times News

By ronannarbor

 “New World Comin’” opened at the Encore Musical Theatre Company in Dexter last night, and I can’t write a review. Because the show isn’t ready for reviewing. But that’s a good thing, because the show is a work in progress which is presenting its first staged workshop with an audience and there is a specific goal in mind: see what audiences think. What do they like? What do they not like? What works, what doesn’t work? This is so that future workshop stagings will change based on what the creative team sees.

     That being said, this is a tuneful (mostly) musical about three women making a trek from Minnesota to NYC to go to a singing audition in the 60’s and it is filled with some well-known (and a handful of not well known) 60’s girl’s songs. The show looks fantastic on Sarah Tanner’s deceptively simple (though not) set, featuring Anne Donevan’s stage-crammed-with-props, a six-person cast that are all good, and a small-scale 3-person band under the direction of musical director/orchestrator/arranger Seth Farber. Written by Dayle Ann Hunt (Christmas Caroled), Directed by Terry Berliner and produced by New York-based Judith Manocherian and Joseph Romano (Brooklyn Heights Productions).

     So instead of a review of the show, what I offer are likes and dislikes, and a few random observations. I love workshops. At Encore, they can range from the near-Broadway-ready “Into the Wild” to earlier works in progress. Count this in the latter category.

     What I loved: The set and movement design of the show. Some of the songs. The cast overall. Mariah Colby in specific. 

     What I liked: the overall story and direction the show is heading (it’s not ready). The clever use of car-like movable platforms. The lighting. 

     What I did not like: Overall, too much is crammed into the 1:50 runtime of the show. Storylines develop then disappear, or don’t need to be there at all. The songs are generally well-integrated into the storyline but don’t always match the action. Some songs and scenes can be entirely cut. I am sure the creative team are well aware of these situations, but you have to “freeze” a show at some point for performance and then see what you get.

     I also did not like some of the arrangements (sorry Mr Farber) and the overall pacing of the show is slow. Cut 15 minutes, get rid of the intermission, and speed up the tempos and much of that can be solved. Some of the songs lost their melody line, and I don’t think that was the performers fault since their harmonies throughout are very good – “Downtown” for example does’t have the vibrant melody line and is somewhat dulled. “Make Your Own Kind of Music” is too slow and doesn’t have the peppy upbeat sound we all know (and which was recently very front-and-center in Ryan Reynolds “Free Guy”). The entire “Colour my World” sequence needs work and judicious cuts.

     But man, I loved seeing a new show. Yeah, it’s a work in progress. Yeah, it needs work as it progresses. But that is exactly what workshops are about. YOU as audience member get to step into the role of observing critic. You won’t be bored. You will probably talk about what you liked and didn’t like on the way home. And that is what makes a musical theater company vibrant and thrilling. (Oh, there were no bar codes on moon pies in the 60’s). 

     Do I recommend it? YES! But keep in mind this isn’t a well-polished “show” even if the wrappings look fantastic. It’s a workshop. And it’s fun to participate in that right in our backyard. I directed a workshop of author Dayle Ann Hunt’s Christmas Caroled some years back and it was so much fun! Music changed, scripts were changed even in between performances! FUN! And seeing a new show from the other side is also fun. Go check it out and see how new shows are put together and how difficult the whole thing is. The next time audiences see this show it will look very different. Because of workshops like this one.

     “New World Comin’ a 60’s Musical” runs through September 22nd at the Encore Musical Theatre Company, 7714 Ann Arbor Street, Dexter, MI — tickets at theencoretheatre.org or 734-268-6200.     Photo courtesy The Encore Theatre.