THE CHOSEN FEW
There is an impressive collection of talent on display in The Lonely Few, a rock musical making its New York debut at MCC after a run in Los Angeles at the Geffen Playhouse. Composer Zoe Sarnak has been making a lot of noise. In fact, as The Lonely Few is making its New York debut, the world premiere of another rock musical, Galileo (which she composed with Michael Weiner, featuring a book by Danny Stone), has been making quite a splash by the San Francisco Bay at Berkeley Repertory Company.
There’s crazy-ass talent here performing knockout songs, so expect some exciting entertainment. But know going in that many songs in this rock-filled musical are performed not as extensions of dialogue, but as standalone bar songs. The plot is paper thin, so the true nuance comes from the performer’s delivery; nobody here disappoints. And rarely have I seen a lesbian love story told with such grace and nonchalance. The burdens of queerness are given their due, but the love story takes precedence.
We enter the amazingly transformed MCC Theater, which has attentive and enthusiastic audience members seated as set dressing on bar stools and at small tables in a bar that screams mid-west rural country. And even though the bright rock-concert lighting by Adam Honoré is often incongruous to the action, the fixtures are gorgeous, and the colors are awesome, making Sybil Wickersheimer‘s entire wraparound set look like an art installation.
In a small Kentucky town at Paul’s Juke Joint is an unusually capable bar band called “The Lonely Few,” made up of frontwoman/guitarist Lila (the electrifying Lauren Patton, Tony-winner for Jo in Jagged Little Pill), electric bassist Dylan (dynamic Damon Daunno, Tony-nominee for Daniel Fish’s controversial revival of Oklahoma!); drummer and bar owner Paul (the always surprising, chameleonic, and wryly mature Thomas Silcott); and keyboardist JJ (funny, sweet, charismatic Helen J Shen).
Dylan, a manager at a grocery store, is expecting. Parentless Lila, who works under Dylan, feels an obligation of love to her unemployed, alcoholic addict brother, Adam (played with empathetic depth and dignity by Broadway veteran Peter Mark Kendall).
Lila and Dylan are passionate and talented but going exactly nowhere. The lives of the band are thrown for a loop by the arrival of rising pop star Amy (Taylor Iman Jones, the powerhouse diva from Broadway’s Six The Musical) who arrives one night to play a short set at the invitation of Paul, who knew Amy as a child when he dated her mother. Two things happen: Amy and Lila fall in love, practically at first sight, and then Amy invites The Lonely Few to go on tour as her opening act, since her previous opener has jumped ship.
Life on the road is complicated by Amy and Lila’s intense love affair, which is challenging due to Amy’s defenses (she recently broke up with her wife) and Lila’s obsession with her brother. It’s a mess that must be untangled. The untangling follows a predictable path, but there isn’t one clunker in Sarnak’s songs, which are in the style of alt-country, garage band, and heartland rock, from tender ballads to raw and raucous. If you attend this show for any reason, Sarnak’s score sung by truly terrific talent would be it. Patton sings her heart out (while wearing that same heart on her sleeve) and Daunno demonstrates his chops in the musicals highlight, “Waking Up Thirty.”
The Lonely Few is easy to follow and emotionally accessible, thanks to co-directors Trip Cullman and Ellenore Scott. Samantha C. Jones does costumes and Jonathan Deans and Mike Tracy go for loud in their sound design, making far too many lyrics unintelligible. This queer love story may have few surprises, yes, but it has a lot of heart, and breathtaking performances.
photos by Carol Rosegg
The Lonely Few
MCC Theatre
The Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space, 511 W 52nd St.
Tue and Wed at 7; Thu and Fri at 8;
Sat at 2 & 8; Sun at 3
ends on June 9, 2024
for tickets, call (212) 352-3101 or visit MCC