Buffalo theatre – Second Generation Theatre

Merrily We Roll Along Opens Friday!

Written by Second Generation Theatre on April 24, 2024.

Footage by Buffalo Rising

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TICK TICK BOOM REVIEW!

Written by Second Generation Theatre on May 22, 2023. Posted in News, Press.

MAY 21, 2023 / CHERIEMESSORE

We’ve all been there. We’re facing a landmark birthday and our BFF is on a new path and our significant other has expectations and we’re staring down a crossroads riddled with self-doubt, anticipation, enthusiasm, and fear. What are you supposed to do? What should you do? Is it ever too late?

That’s the essence of Tick, Tick…BOOM! magnificently performed at Shea’s Smith Theatre by Second Generation Theatre. It’s a three hander with a lot going on. With Sean Ryan as Jon, Leah Berst, and Joe Russi play multiple roles in the life of this aspiring composer who is facing down the days leading up to his 30^th birthday. Created by the late Jonathan Larson, it’s semi-autobiographical and wasn’t fully staged until after his way-to-early death at age 36, the day before his seminal work Rent was to open off-Broadway.

Jon is plugging away, getting ready to workshop his latest work. His girlfriend Susan is a dancer who is teaching ballet on the side. His best bud Michael, after trying his hand at acting, is a marketing executive with a BMW, fancy new digs, a corporate wardrobe and apparently few regrets about leaving the stage behind. Berst is also Jon’s mom, his agent, Karessa the ingenue in his workshop, making minor wardrobe and prop switches to emphasize her character changes. It’s her force of personality, command of her voice, and body language that put us there, though. It’s breathtaking. Equally powerful is Russi’s flexes from slick business guy to the deli clerk, and Jon’s pipe smoking dad.

Whew. Everything about the production is spot on. I couldn’t imagine a better SGT-selected cast. Ryan commands the stage, cleverly designed by Chris Cavanagh to suggest Jon’s less grand SoHo apartment, the subway, his buddy Michael’s uptown place, other places. It takes some theatre of the mind to get there, but the storytelling is so vivid, your mind’s eye doesn’t have to struggle. The score is a winner: standouts are “Therapy,” a Jon and Susan duet as they gently explore the minefield of a dysfunctional relationship. It’s comic, and charming, and sad all at the same time; “30/90,” Jon’s ruminations on his impending birthday, Michael’s “Real Life” reflection on the choices he made that are working for him; Karessa the ingenue’s “Come To Your Senses” ballad; and Jon’s “Why” as he reflects on choices. Music director Joe Isgar and his quartet play the dickens out of this powerful music. Lou Colaiacovo’s direction makes great use of the two tier stage and the storytellers upon it.

Can I say it again? Whew. There’s more going on with this story, but I’m not about the spoil it for you. Just see it. And book your tickets now. This is the show to see as the theatre season is winding down.

Tick, Tick…BOOM! is performed in one glorious, 90-minute act. Fill your sippy cup in the lobby before you go in and then hunker in for one heck of a ride. Get tickets at www.sheas.org.

TICK, TICK… BOOM! is HAUNTING, POWERFUL…

Written by Second Generation Theatre on May 2, 2023.

BUFFALO NEWS REVIEW 5/24/23 by Anthony Chase

The career of Jonathan Larson is tantalizing. All the accolades that were heaped upon him, including three Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize, came after his death. He died abruptly and unexpectedly of aortic dissection the day before the first off-Broadway preview of his musical, “Rent.”

He is known only for “Rent,” and for an earlier musical, “Boho Days,” which was adapted by others into the three-person musical, “Tick, Tick … Boom!” after his death. Second Generation Theatre has just opened an exquisite production of “Tick, Tick … Boom!” at Shea’s Smith Theatre.

Larson’s early death gives his musicals, all about youthful hope and fear, a haunting quality. The material is both timeless and very much of the AIDS era. Younger and older audiences are likely to respond to “Tick, Tick … Boom!” very differently. The name of the stigmatized disease is not even mentioned in the script, and it is possible that younger audiences will not understand exactly what is being said.

I think that an uncontrollable groan of emotion might have escaped from my choked-up throat when Jon, the central character, vows to be with a friend who has AIDS at the time of his death. Life teaches us that such promises are not always possible to keep.

The quality of the material, which was recently made into a film, directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda and released on Netflix, is clear. Happily, this production, meticulously directed by Lou Colaiacovo and joyfully choreographed by Elizabeth Polito, with music direction by Joe Isgar, is excellent. The production moves beautifully and sounds terrific. It is also imbued with great wit and penetrating insight.

Sean Ryan plays Jon, a character based on Larson, who is struggling to have a career writing musicals but is beginning to doubt his prospects. A talented actor, singer and dancer, Ryan’s good looks make him a quadruple threat. His performance is by turns thrilling and emotionally powerful. He simply exudes talent and charisma.

Leah Berst plays Susan, Jon’s girlfriend, as well as many other characters. She previously appeared in “Rent” for Starring Buffalo and has a large and lush voice that’s made for Larson’s music. She is wonderful.

Joe Russi alternately makes us bust out laughing and wrecks us with emotion as Michael, Jon’s friend who abandoned the theater to become hugely successful in marketing. This is the latest in a litany of fabulous performances from Russi.

For me, “Tick, Tick … Boom!” provided a wistful and contemplative look backward. Twentysomethings, emerging from a pandemic and wondering what the hell to do with their lives, are likely to respond very differently but just as powerfully. The production is first-rate.

Info: Presented by Second Generation Theatre through June 6 at Shea’s Smith Theatre, 658 Main St. For tickets, visit sheas.org.

“So… was it brilliant?”

Written by Second Generation Theatre on March 2, 2023.

Opening night’s audience gets a chance to say what they thought of EVERY BRILLIANT THING!

www. sheas.org/performances/every-brilliant-thing

Behind the Scenes of EVERY BRILLIANT THING

Written by Second Generation Theatre on February 23, 2023. Posted in News.

Buffalo Rising takes you behind the scenes of EVERY BRILLIANT THING starring Kevin Craig. Director Charmagne Chi sits down with Kevin and they talk about… well, brilliant things!

EVERY BRILLIANT THING runs March 3-19 @ the Shea’s Smith Theatre.

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4 STARS: Second Generation’s ‘Secret Garden: Spring Version’ is artfully staged, superbly acted

Written by Second Generation Theatre on October 18, 2022.

The Secret Garden: Spring Version” is full of mysteries, locked away: a garden, a boy, a heart. The 1991 musical by Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon is based on Frances Hodgson Burnett’s classic novel from 1911. The Second Generation Theatre production is a jewel: elegant, charming, exquisitely designed and expertly performed.

This is a 90-minute retelling of the story of Mary Lennox, a young English girl who is shipped off to an uncle she doesn’t know when her parents die in India. Uncle Archibald’s home in England is grand, but not happy. He is in mourning for his beloved wife, Lily, who died giving birth to their son, Colin. The boy is an invalid, confined to his room and forbidden to receive visitors. To make matters worse, Mary’s uncle can’t bear to look at her, because of her uncanny resemblance to her late Aunt Lily.

The secret garden of the title was Lily’s. In his grief, Archibald had it locked and abandoned when she died, but of course, nothing fascinates children more than something that is locked away, and the uncontainable desires of children propel the plot of this timeless story.

Link to Full Review HERE.