Theater Online - New York Theater Reviews

Lovers begins with a funeral and ends with a suicide. This circular storytelling dresses up an otherwise familiar tale of Chip (Will Taylor) and Jolie (Courtney Hammond), who meet at NYU, fall in love, fall out of love, and one moves on while the other can’t. More specifically, it is the story of young love, when two people love each other through the good times and fantasies but not through the realities.

Chris Massimine, who wrote the book, music, and lyrics, has skills and potential as a writer. His music sounds lovely at times, especially in its quieter moments, and some of the melodic lines in the up-tempo numbers soar beautifully. He has some quite clever and interesting numbers, such as one in which the two characters play phone tag after they first meet and Jolie’s song about how she’d rather live in Manhattan than Brooklyn (many can relate to this sentiment). The story is told crisply and solidly, with the suicide note filling in the gaps of what is not covered dramatically in song.

The music often becomes repetitive, however, and all of Jolie’s songs especially begin to sound the same.  Massimine could use more variety in his orchestration, with breaks from the driving beat of the drums. There are a few respites, but they are not long enough. Aside from the suicide note, the story is sung-through, but it would benefit from clearer song demarcation. The songs all have a loose lyric structure, which makes it difficult to remember much about them. 

As Chip, Taylor is best in his first moments of enthusiasm and happiness.  As his character deteriorates, however, he becomes pathetic and victimized. Taylor’s performance descends into melodrama, and as such he elicits no sympathy.  His voice suits the opening joyous power ballades better than the later angry rock anthems, and, vocally, he holds back on them, his anger coming across as “poor me” rather than justified.

Hammond gives Jolie a fun energy, but she never really lets loose with the music.  Only occasionally does one hear what she can do vocally, as she opens up on a some high riffs, but mostly she seems to be playing it safe.

Christopher M. Czyz's direction could be more focused. The story covers eight years of a relationship and is told in flashback, and sometimes it is hard to decipher where one is in the timeline.  He does cleverly show the different New York City locations-- an important plot point-- with double sided, rotating windows for both Manhattan and Brooklyn, and makes great use of the space.  The set design by Matthew Klan and lighting design by Kayla J. Goble highlight the different locations and moods well as the characters move through their relationship.  Ashley Rose Horton's costumes effectively age the characters from NYU students to working professionals.

While Lovers has a solid story and an intriguing ending, the final moments could be clearer. The sound was not working well the night I saw it, rendering some lines inaudible, but Chip's reason for suicide needs a little more time to unfold dramatically. When people kill themselves over a breakup, even a bad one, there are often other issues at work.   If Massimine can tend to these areas, he will truly have a bold, compelling musical on his hands.