By Brian Pope
In her ever increasingly maniacal efforts to cloister her son safely in the nest (or bubble, as it were), the conservatively hardwired Mrs. Livingston carefully curates (or rather cruelly censors) the culture he consumes. Jimmy grows up thinking that Highlights is the only magazine that exists. He is taught that one of the primary causes of the Great Depression was “the gays”. Every fairy tale is revised to feature a protagonist in a bubble who makes a choice that Mrs. Livingston deems reprehensible and ends up dying in the end.
In her remix of L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy is not able to return home after clicking her heels. She pays for striking out on her own with her life. Ironically, authors Cinco Paul (music, lyrics, and book) and Ken Daurio (book) have created their own reinterpretation of Oz with Bubble Boy: The Musical. Luckily, this unorthodox take on the material is much less traumatizing.
Instead of there being no place like home, here, there’s no place like stepping outside of your comfort zone to reach your full potential. Arcade Comedy Theater has clearly taken that lesson to heart with their first full production of a book musical. Their foray into traditional musical comedy not only delivers on the laughs that you would expect from one of the improv or stand-up acts regularly programmed at the venue but also on the brains, heart, and courage woven into this infectious confection of a show.
Like its main character Jimmy, it seems that the property of Bubble Boy itself was born without an immune system. Each time it has gone out into the world, it has been ravaged by the germ of negative critical reception and relegated to cult status. Bubble Boy began as a 2001 film written by Paul and Daurio and starring Jake Gylenhaal before being developed/workshopped as a musical all around the country including Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza’s Scherr Forum and Carnegie Mellon University.
Don Digiulio’s spirited direction along with the intimacy lent to the piece by Arcade’s space prove that Bubble Boy: The Musical’s relative obscurity is regrettable. Nathaniel Yost’s and Missy Moreno’s performances as Jimmy and Mrs. Livingston, respectively, make the case that it’s an outright travesty that more people don’t know the show. They had huge shoes to fill (Gylenhaal for Yost, and Tony winner Alice Ripley from the 2017 cast recording for Moreno), but both have succeeded in creating even bigger expectations for their successors in these roles.
Mr. Yost is positively adorkable in a turn that combines the wide-eyed curiosity of Dorothy with the sweet charisma (and bubble) of Glinda. It is a pleasure to follow Jimmy along his misadventures with Yost (literally at one point) in the driver’s seat and in such pure and charming voice.
Despite the title, there’s no doubt that this is Ms. Moreno’s show. Her delightfully demented Mrs. Livingston steals every scene she’s in. When the show drags in the last third, it’s because her presence is sorely missed. Moreno is like a cartoon character come to life when Mrs. Livingston’s Stepford facade bubbles over with rage and paranoia in “Stay Clean”. Most skillful is how she anchors her broad characterization with the earnest love she has for her child.
Despite Mrs. Livingston actively putting the “mother” in smother, Jimmy must have a good reason to risk his life venturing outside of everything he’s ever known. Look no further than the spitfire girl next door Chloe (Alex Manalo). He’s instantly infatuated with her, but she is surprised when her clinical fascination with the “bubble boy” turns to real affection for the man inside the bubble. Unable to see a future with Jimmy though, she agrees to marry aspiring rocker Mark (Noah Welter).
Manalo and Welter are excellent vocal and comedic matches for Yost as his spunky love interest and sexy, tattooed foil, respectively. Ricardo Vila-Roger (Slim), Maher S. Hoque (Pushpak), H. Davis Weaver (Todd), and Laura I. Young (Lorraine) also do great work as Jimmy’s de facto Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion that he meets on his cross-country journey to the wedding. They teach him valuable lessons via catchy, well-performed and choreographed songs.
The only thing you’ll be shipping harder than Jimmy and Chloe is Bubble Boy: The Musical and Arcade Comedy Theater. The latter union is a match made in heaven where both parties shine as brightly as possible. Even the most curmudgeonly among us couldn’t burst their bubble and, by the curtain call, any prospective grouch will be smiling from ear to ear, ashamed for ever considering it.
Bubble Boy: The Musical runs at Arcade Comedy Theater through September 21. For tickets and more information, click here.
Brian Pope is a playwright and pop culture obsessive who has been writing for Pittsburgh in the Round since February of 2016. His plays have been produced by his own theatre company, Non-State Actors, as well as Yinz Like Plays?!, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, and Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company. He’s also served as dramaturg for City Theatre’s 2018 Young Playwrights Festival and as both stage manager and actor for Alarum Theatre. When he’s not making or reviewing theatre, he’s actively pursuing his other passions, listening to showtunes and watching television.
Categories: Archived Reviews