Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Songs of resilience in the face of health crises: The Lazours’ NIGHT SIDE SONGS and Jesse Malin’s SILVER MANHATTAN

• By drediman
• March 5, 2026
• No Comments

Currently Off-Broadway, there are a pair of brave and unconventional new musicals that have taken it upon themselves to tell stories of the resilience of the human spirit in the face of life-changing health crises. As usual, read on for my thoughts on these affecting personal sagas of survival and community.

NIGHT SIDE SONGS
Lincoln Center Theater at the Claire Tow Theater
Through March 29

Earlier this week, the lowkey new “sing-along” musical Night Side Songs (RECOMMENDED) opened at the Claire Tow Theater in a production by Lincoln Center Theater. Featuring tender songs by the Lazours, the piece is in essence a meditation on sickness and mortality — via the fictitious tale of one woman’s valiant fight against cancer, with all its ups and downs over the years — and conversely, the preciousness of life and the importance of community. Director Taibi Magar‘s unassuming and gently immersive production leans heavily on the potential potency of the shared experience, hoping to conjure empathy in its open-hearted invitation for audiences to sing along with the choruses of the show’s folksy, disarmingly simple songs (although it’s encouraged, participation is not mandatory). The effect is a cozy and consoling cocoon-like aural envelopment, which contrasts beautifully with the Lazours’ generally clear-eyed storytelling, even with its occasional poetic nods to the wonders and mysteries of the larger cosmos. The ensemble cast is uniformly excellent — each of the actors skillfully play multiple roles — and I would never pass up the chance to witness the great Mary Testa doing her thing. A special kudos must also go out to alternate Taylor Trensch, who at the performance I attended seamlessly stepped in as a last minute substitute for Robin de Jesús, who sadly got word this week of the loss of his mother after a long bout with ALS. One can only imagine how cathartic performing in the musical was and will be for the exuberant actor (going forward, de Jesús will be alternating appearances in the show with Trensch). As for the distinctive Trensch, you absolutely wouldn’t have known it was his first time in the role during Tuesday night’s performance.

SILVER MANHATTAN
Bowery Palace
Through March 29

Opening the newly re-minted Bowery Palace — formerly the Bowery Electric — in the East Village is Silver Manhattan (RECOMMENDED), renowned singer-songwriter Jesse Malin’s theatrical memoir-cum-rock concert chronicling his candid story of suffering through a rare spinal stroke that left him paralyzed from the waist down in 2023 (in this regard, the show actually makes for a potent companion piece to Anne Gridley’s Watch Me Walk). Given his current limiting situation and his inability to tour as a musician, Malin has made water into wine by turning to theatrical storytelling to keep his creative juices flowing and tap nightly into his community of fans and fellow New Yorkers for support and the inspiration to keep fighting to make progress on his recovery. The show — which features a parade of punk and rock anthems, sensationally performed by Malin and a muscular onstage band — is also a vibrant love letter to New York (both in its current form and of old), the city that shaped him as a musician and as a person. Indeed, Silver Manhattan is as much a feel good New York coming-of-age story as it is about the bout with his debilitating spinal condition. As directed by Ellie Heyman, the piece stealthily unfolds under the guise of a rock concert. In fact, Malin’s show may be one of the most authentic instances of the often awkward merging of rock music and theater. Although some of Malin’s “book” scenes are a bit on the nose — a product of the city’s storied punk scene, there’s no questioning that he’s a rocker first and foremost — there’s nonetheless beguiling honesty in his storytelling that had me fully invested in his continuing saga. Suffice to say, Malin’s performance is astonishing in its courageousness and utter professionalism. As such, Silver Manhattan absolutely warrants to take up space in this busy Off-Broadway winter/spring season.