There are few forms of art more self-referential than theater. There have been countless shows about the stage over the years. Equal parts mess and miracle, the brief musical [title of show] manages originality in theater-about-theater that feels refreshingly fluid and breathtakingly organic.
The tiny show concerns a group of four struggling to put together an original musical on a deadline. Greendale Community Theatre stages the musical in an intimate studio theater atmosphere with all the audience onstage. Matt Zeman and Doug Clemons are entertaining as Jeff and Hunter, a couple of nobodies from New York who have decided to write a show about the two of them writing a show. Zeman and Clemons render a compellingly complicated working and personal relationship between the two central characters.
In the process of developing the show, they enlist the aid of successful Broadway cog Heidi (played with beautifully confident energy by Rachael Zientek) and fallen artist/corporate slave Susan (played with razor sharp wit and charming neurosis by Amber Smith).
The show winds quite deftly between writing, rehearsing and performing the piece. All of the aspects of writing and performing a show bleed together in a dreamy haze. Jeff and Hunter have repeated difficulty finding the right transition between scenes. At one point, someone mentions to Susan that she’s been quiet and she casually mentions that she hasn’t had a line until that moment. It’s clever stuff that can get a bit repetitious once the show is finished and it starts its journey to Broadway, but overall this is great fun from beginning to end.
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Through Jan. 20 at Greendale High School’s Henry Ross Auditorium, 6801 Southway, Greendale. For tickets, visit greendaletheatre.org.
