Hello Beautiful People,
“Somehow you gotta break that water, kick and pull through it…”
Well, let me just say – this song hit me like a ton of bricks. In the gut. In the heart. In the head. I think I stopped breathing when Matt Doyle was singing…
…but wait, I’m getting ahead of myself.
Exactly one week ago, I went to go see Jasper in Deadland, a new musical by Ryan Scott Oliver and Hunter Foster. And, let it be known, that I had no intention of writing a review. I get an INSANE amount of requests to review shows, and you know what? I just wanted to see a show without having to take notes.
Let me say this again, I had no intention of writing a piece. I just wanted to go and enjoy an evening of live theater with friends while supporting my colleagues.
That’s it.
And yet, it’s a week later, and my fingertips are itching.
I want to write something.
I want to tell the world about this show.
So? What’s it about?
It’s a timeless story really. Boy meets girl. Boy loses girl.
And that’s where it shifts – Boy goes through hell to get her back…
Yes, you read that right. Boy goes through hell to get her back. Jasper is 17 years old, and, when he believes his best friend, Agnes, dies as a result of cliff diving, well, he quite literally dives right after her. And he faces down demons, gods, and monsters, all in an effort to get her back. To have her safe. To be able to see her again.
Well...shit.
How many of us would do that for another person? How many of us would dive into the depths of hell to rescue, to save, to protect the ones that we love?
Are the lands of DEADLAND grounded in reality? Well, no. But isn’t that why we go to theater? To be transported into another time? To be transported into another place? To have our brains and our hearts and our imagination be pushed to the limits? To the edge?
Don’t we go to the theater to ponder…what if?
What does it mean to die? What does it mean to live? Better yet – what does in mean to love? Truly. Madly. Unconditionally.
What. Does. It. Mean.
And see, Foster and Oliver address that, here, in this show. In this era. In a time when we’re concerned about me, me, me – they beg us to remove ourselves from self-serving entitlement, and care about another. To look outward.
And for me, well, that’s just refreshing.
More things you must know – as a director, I bow down to Brandon Ivie. What he has done with this show is absolutely magnificent. And that’s all I’m going to say about that – you need to go see it for yourself.
Matt Doyle + Allison Scagliotti are a dynamic duo, complimenting one another in the best of ways.
Ben Crawford, Andi Alhadeff, F. Michael Haynie and Bonnie Milligan are hysterical. All great drama has moments of light + humor, and these four are those moments.
Jasper in Deadland closes on April 13th.
Go. Treat yourself.
Take a moment, or shall I say a couple of hours, and forget about your daily grind, your daily hustle, the problems of the day, the week, the year – and lose yourself in Deadland.
Your psyche will thank you for it.
Live, Love, Learn,
Megan& The Write Teacher(s)