EXES: THE MUSICAL
Book by Anne DiGiovanni; Music and Lyrics by Anne DiGiovanni and Joseph Lewczak; Additional Music and Lyrics by Ethan Buckner, Ruth Berry Buergenthal, Heather Kryczka, Janie Miller & Matt Rickert
Chain Theatre | 312 W 36th St. 4th floor, New York, NY 10018
April 2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th & 8th
Theatre festivals are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get.
The FRIGID Festival kicks off tonight in NYC and approximately 65 shows will run in rep at 5 different venues. Shows will run a bit under an hour. There will be one-acts and bits of longer works in progress; dramas, comedies and musicals.
Deegie kept a diary. And she’s naming names, though their faces have been x’d out to protect the guilty. My exes should be thrilled that I don’t share Annie DiGiovanni’s creativity and musical ability. Can you imagine one of those photos of you from Facebook that you loved 10 years ago magnified 5’ x 5’ with an X on your face while your ex sings a song entitled “Old Spice”!?! Honestly, the horror of it all!!!
Deegie has spliced together diary entries with original pop-punk songs reminiscent of the late 2000 sound when these exes were still hot and heavy. In her youth, her confidantes were Teddy, 2 Barbies and TV. She reads to them from her diary. Pop culture references flash across the screen creating a timeline. A drummer and guitar player stand stage-left at the ready. All the ingredients for an exciting piece of theatre are in this production.
The centerpiece of this play, Deegie is pulled from the spotlight when she isn’t singing. She is blocked on the floor between props and furniture. We lose her when she’s talking upstage to Teddy or her hair is obscuring her face. She always has a handheld mike in one hand even when there’s no music, and has a binder for her diary in the other. But when a song starts she takes center and owns the stage. Owns it. Whether it’s misdirection or a lack of confidence, I can’t find the logic in losing that much face-time with the audience. She needs to be unleashed.
This show could blow the doors off the theater. The music rocks. The stories are entertaining. The Exes have earned their X-marked faces. Deegie deserves this platform. Now, she just needs a spotlight.
Click HERE for tickets.
Review by Nicole Jesson.
Published by Theatre Beyond Broadway on April 7th, 2025. All rights reserved.