GLORY DAYS
music and lyrics by Nick Blaemire
book by James Gardiner
Ghostlight Records
So much can happen in one night.
Such is the concept behind GLORY DAYS, which debuted and closed in one night in 2008. Listening to the CD, it is easy to appreciate why the producers were excited about launching the production on the Great White Way - the musical is the perfect antidote to the exhausting parade of both movies-turned-musicals and over-the-top visual extravaganzas.
Unfortunately, it is also easy to understand how a cavernous theatre could swallow the intimate production, portrayed with refreshing reality by its four actors - Steven Booth, Andrew C. Hall, Adam Halpin, and Jesse JP Johnson.
The score - penned with heartbreaking honesty by Nick Blaemire - introduces us to four best buddies who reunite after their freshman year in college. We hear them struggle as they resist or accept change and face maturating and accepting life as it is and not how they wish it to be.
Fortunately, this slice-of-life avoids stilted and forced dialogue as many musicals before it have suffered; the friends' verbal exchanges are credible and accessible.
Hopefully, this charming musical will be re-discovered so it can enjoy more than one night of glory. B
