From Here
Written and Directed by Donald Rupe
The Pershing Square Signature Center, 480 West 42nd Street, NYC
June 29th - August 11th
It’s said that a world in crisis brings about the best art – and sadly that proves true. Let’s face it, when we’re happy, we’re too busy being happy! Artists look for ways to explain the unexplainable, to cope with the unimaginable, and to go through the grief, the fear and the gamut of emotions to let others know they aren’t alone.
Daniel is just living his life. He’s not getting on with his mother, he thought he was getting engaged when he was getting dumped, but has a great group of friends who are trying to cheer him up whether he wants to be cheered up or not. It’s an election year, and Obama is still in office. We still think America is about to elect its first female president. It’s been almost four years since Obama wept making a statement about Sandy Hook Elementary, and a year until Trump addresses the nation about the incident at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Daniel and his mother aren’t talking. Well, she isn’t talking. He’s leaving her voicemails everyday. Everyday - with stalker-eque precision. They had a falling out. Careless words. Misunderstanding. Hurt feels. But he loves her, and he wants her to know it. Yet when they run into one another at a show, Daniel has nothing to say to her, well nothing good. Family.
Yes, Daniel has a lot to be upset about, but he also has a great group of friends, evident in the number “Gayme Night”. If we’re lucky, we all have memories of game nights where we drank too much, laughed too much and definitely lost a few pieces later to be replaced with buttons or spare change. If you close your eyes, you can see those friends, smell the stale cigarettes, and wonder would I still fit into those jeans? It’s those pockets of pure happiness we find in life that keep us going.
Here I give you the opposite of a trigger warning - like in Shakespeare, what happens at Pulse Nightclub on June 12, 2016 happens offstage.
And like that, in a moment, the world changes. Your sense of safety is stripped away. You can’t remember what you might have been griping about the day before. You have tunnel vision. And you start making calls - are you still there?
Blake Aburn so inhabits the role of Daniel, our narrator, that I believed he’d written the play. Through song and soliloquy, he never takes his foot off the gas in this emotional roller coaster. Kyle Ashe Wilkinson stepped in as Michael for this performance, and his performance in “Over” was spot on. Omar Cardona is a revelation as Ricky. I don’t watch television much, so I’d no idea Omar was a finalist on The Voice, but I could certainly hear what made him such a fierce competitor. Becca Southworth as Daniel’s mother will break your heart. Honestly, the entire ensemble is strong and the harmonies mellifluous.
This is a beautiful musical. While the backdrop, like Come From Away, is tragic, the play reminds us of the compassion we must have for one another at the best and worst of times. Now, it’s time for NYC to show Orlando some love. Bring a friend and share From Here during its limited run.
Arrangements / Orchestrations: Jason Bailey
Choreographer: Adonus Mabry
Vocal Director: Chris Keough
Scenic Design / Lighting Design: Philip Lupo
Costume Design / Stage Manager: J.Marie Bailey
Assistant Stage Manager: Kayla Kelsay Morales
Sound Design: Matt Craig
Band: Noah Baez; Bryce Hayes; Chris Kampmeier; Matthew Lynxwiler
Click HERE for tickets.
Review by Nicole Jesson.
Published by Theatre Beyond Broadway on July 4th, 2024. All rights reserved.