THE HANGOVER REPORT – Adam Gwon’s tender ORDINARY DAYS is the ideal love letter to New York and its eclectic denizens

Kyle Sherman and Sarah Lynn Marion in Keen Company's revival of Adam Gwon's "Ordinary Days" at Theatre Row. Photo by Carol Rosegg.

Kyle Sherman and Sarah Lynn Marion in Keen Company’s revival of Adam Gwon’s “Ordinary Days” at Theatre Row. Photo by Carol Rosegg.

Currently at Off-Broadway’s Theatre Row, Keen Company is presenting the first New York revival of Adam Gwon’s 2008 musical Ordinary Days. The musical tells the intersecting story of four New Yorkers as they search for success, love, and happiness amidst the hustle and bustle of the Big Apple. If what you get in the musical is a somewhat romanticized, sanitized version of New York, I really didn’t mind at all. Ordinary Days is tender and charming, the ideal love letter to the city we all love to hate and love, as well as its eclectic, manic denizens.

Being a sung-through musical, the main event here is Mr. Gwon’s score, and it’s a winner. If his work is more than a little bit reminiscent of the musicals of William Finn (e.g., Falsettos) and Maltby and Shire (e.g., Closer Than Ever), that’s a big compliment. Ordinary Days is pretty much a direct descendant of those writers’ works, covering much of the same urban-living issues and concerns. Mr. Gwon’s nonstop parade of songs are mostly beguiling, complete with smart, observant lyrics and affectingly direct, accessible melodies.

The revival is directed by the ever-enthusiastic Jonathan Silverstein in a brisk, high spirited manner. In his hands, the material sings, smartly distracting us from some of the gaps in characterization and storytelling (a common trait of sung-through musicals) by conjuring the driving energy of the city. His cast of four is superb, sensitively acting on just the right decibel level and singing the heck out the score. Speaking of which, the score is gorgeously orchestrated for piano and wind instruments, and it sounds simply glorious in the intimate Clurman Theatre (kudos to the perfectly calibrated sound design by Alex Hawthorn).

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ORDINARY DAYS
Off-Broadway, Musical
Keen Company at Theatre Row
1 hour, 25 minutes (without an intermission)
Through November 17

Categories: Off-Broadway, Theater

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