It's a few years past college, and Jordan is still close with his best girlfriends Laura, Vanessa, and Kiki. The play begins with Kiki's bachelorette party, followed closely by her wedding. One by one, all of his friends find a man and get married, while Jordan is still looking for Mr. Right. Jordan's other best friend is his grandma, whom he tells about each successive wedding. Grandma then asks about his social life, and assures him that he will be the next to find someone special. But he's beginning to doubt that, when his crushes on work colleagues and old friends amount to nothing. His existential crisis culminates when BFF Laura, with whom he talked about starting a family, gets married, which he views almost as a betrayal or break up. But some wise advice from a grandma, and continued support from his friends, although in a different way, just might get him through.*
I really can't think of a better choice to play our dear Jordan that last year's TCTB Award winner for Favorite Emerging Artist, Noah Hynick. In the last few years he's showed his comedy chops in multiple shows on the Lyric Arts stage (and others), but this is his best performance yet. He's hilarious, in unique and physical ways, but also plays the full range of emotions that Jordan goes through, his hopes and frustrations and heartbreaks. Noah is in every scene, rarely leaving the stage, and makes us fall in love with this beautifully flawed and very human character. He ends the show crying real tears, and so do we. The supporting cast is just as strong. Eva Gemlo is warm and funny as Jordan's BFF Laura, with a genuine chemistry between them. Lyreshia Ghostlon-Green is the fun-loving Kiko, Emily Hensley is the charmingly dour Vanessa, and the four really create a feeling of friendship amongst them. James Grace and Dale O'Dell pull triple-duty, each playing three very different husbands/boyfriends/love interests, managing to make each a distinct and full character sometimes with just a few lines. Last but definitely not least, Miriam Monasch creates the most wonderful portrait of a loving and supportive grandma.
If you've seen #TCTheater artist Max Wojtanowicz's auto-biographical musical Fruit Fly, chronicling his lifelong best-friendship with fellow #TCTheater artist Sheena Janson Kelly, you'll understand why Max was the perfect choice to direct this show. The joys and complications of a close friendship between a gay man and a straight woman are the focus of both shows. Not only does Max treat the subject matter with respect, humor, and heart, but he also adeptly navigates the tricky structure of the script, with scenes flowing from one to the next with nary a breath in between. These smooth transitions are aided by the design of the show. The simple and versatile set design support the multiple locations that include various homes, bars, gyms, and offices. A warm multi-level wooden stage, with four tall columns of windows hung across the back of the stage and plot-specific pictures and paintings hung subtly on the back wall, and two benches, one of which transforms into a bar and the other into a flat surface that can be a bed or a table, serve as the backdrop to these locations that are created by the dialogue and our imaginations, as we swiftly move from one to the next, sometimes in the same scene. The lighting design helps direct our attention from one scene to the next, and sound design adds atmosphere and plot-specified songs. (Scenic design by Michaela Lochen, lighting design by Lucas Granholm, and sound design by Katie Korpi.)
The dizzying array of costumes deserve a paragraph of their own. Since Jordan rarely leaves the stage he's pretty much in the same business casual look for the whole show, with a few minor changes. But the women wear too many cute party dresses and casual chic outfits to count, Laura and Kiko in full-skirted feminine designs, Vanessa the queen of jumpsuits. Since we see three weddings, we see three wedding dresses (make that two wedding dresses and one wedding jumpsuit), and each one is so uniquely beautiful and flattering for each character/actor that brides should think about hiring costume designer Samantha Fromm Haddow to clothe them for their weddings,
Let's face it, weddings are kind of stupid, with all of the archaic patriarchal traditions and societal expectations. Not to mention the way the wedding industry bilks who knows how many millions or billions of dollars out of couples who feel pressured to do things in just the "right" way, whatever the current wedding trends are. To put that much focus and money on one day is a little silly. If you're sitting on the sidelines watching, like Jordan, it can be perplexing and exhausting. But this show celebrates the friendship and love at the heart of those celebrations, as well as the endless optimism and never-ending heartbreak of the search for a Significant Other.
