Sunday Showtunes

THERA “P.U.”

Later I saw a show which I had to slot in at the last minute to replace the closure of “The Pirate Queen.”  It’s a brand-new off-Broadway musical called “Sessions,” about a therapist and his group of patients.  It too was off in the boonies  but not as far as “In the Heights” (“Sessions” is on 42^nd between 9^th and 10^th).  Everybody in Group sings about their problems and about people we don’t get to meet.  Meanwhile, the psychiatrist has his own demons, which he relates in periodic monologues to HIS therapist, who is an unseen voice at the back of the house, like Zach in “A Chorus Line.”  I think we are supposed to wonder if the “voice” isn’t really his own conscience, or perhaps God, but believe me the musical never gets that deep.  The music is modern pop-rock by a 5-piece band and the show sometimes reminds me of “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” (which is playing one block away) except that it’s a thru-story, not skits like that show.  It’s also reminiscent of “Beyond Therapy” and probably every other modern small-scale musical written about therapy!  Some of the songs were OK (don’t think I wouldn’t be interested in getting the score!) but I didn’t much care for it – it was all right and all but quality-wise it wasn’t up to the high standards I would expect (I even noticed a couple of light cue and line delivery errors).  It was no better than stuff I can see in San Francisco or by the local companies at the Regional Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek.  It’s in a small house (only about 100 seats) and 8% of the audience left at intermission.   The second act was better (one reason why I never leave) but on the whole this was no big deal.  However I wish I’d scheduled a 3^rd viewing of “Mary Poppins” instead!  Note - It’s not that I automatically “poo poo” off-Broadway:  remember that last nights show, one of the best things I have seen in a long time (“In the Heights”), is also off-Broadway!   But in the case of “Sessions” the quality difference is significant  and “In the Heights” deserves to transfer to Broadway - which it is doing in the Fall.

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Among the communities served are Albany, Corvallis, and Lebanon.