Review by Chris Cassone
cc@chriscassone.com
I was there.
I saw a clever, colorful, youthful, current, and full-of-love musical with powerful chorale harmonizing, perfectly timed choreography, twenty-four engaging songs and a rock-star 14-year-old leading the cast.
I was there.
There, I said it. And you can too, as long as you get to the Hudson Theatre before December 15. You can say, "I saw '
Tyler Price' during its first run." Imagine if you were in Theatre West in 1989 for the original Bronx Tale one-man show. Or off-Broadway when Little Shop of Horrors first ran. This has the same weight. This big musical filled the stage at the Hudson Theatre with a sold-out crowd (and it is in its third week.)
Quick backstory: Creator Ben Decter assuaged his angst over his daughter's critical epilepsy by turning to his art of songwriting. Serendipity led him to director and co-writer Kristin Hanggi, and they wrote the hit that we saw last night. The "musical within a musical" captivated us all as young Jackson, played by Charlie Stover, was in complete control from the opening announcements to bows. Set in the Hoffman home and Marshall High School the story follows Jackson's purloining his dad's secret music about the family struggle with daughter, Lucy's, frightening neuro-spasms. C.J. Eldred and Jenna Pastuszek were upbeat 2024 parents to Faith Graham's Lucy and Stover's Jackson, dealing with all the usual family issues centered around their daughter's abnormality. A showstopper (and there were many,) "Just for Tonight," had father-son and mother-daughter singing cross-stage duets that jerked more than a few tears around the room.
Superb stage and production design kept the show constantly fresh. They invented a blackout where flashlights were used so perfectly to increase the suspense and drive the story. As the dad drives to Mexico, his "car" is made of actors, armed with two flashlight headlights. It all worked so well; we never questioned the premise. And the dancing never got predictable. With constant lateral movement, use of stairways, balconies, entrances and exits the movement of the actors was a joy, especially in the final scene.
The stage which had a balcony running its length also had a myriad of cubbies showing either objects from the home or the school. Throughout the cubbies were giant transparencies of neurons that lit up and pulsed when Lucy was in seizure. And behind the wall, center stage, was the four-piece orchestra with music director Kyle Puccia directing behind a two-way mirror.
The songs need to be mentioned as Mr. Decter spanned many genres and still maintained a common sound for them all. The musical change into the 6
th to the 8
th to the root seems to be everywhere lately but Decter's songwriting made the common seem so uncommon. "Kimberly Akimbo," another musical about a girl with a disorder who struggles to fit in in high school, has very similar tempo changes as well as its songs broken up with dialogue patter.
It's All Your Fault, Tyler Price! was very well done throughout.
Endearing characters were everywhere, all thirteen of them. Jackson's neighbor, Coco (Erin Choi) matched his cockiness step for step, even as they have the inevitable falling out. Desi Dennis-Dylan's Mrs. McKackney, the HS principal, could belt gospel with the best of them. Dahliya Glick's Ms. Friss kept the audience howling with constant alien conspiracy theories, and touching portrayal of the mom in the musical within the musical. Enrique Dueñas was the bouncy, positive music teacher role model who pulls the students together. And they all could bring it with their vocals. But together they really shined. And without giving anything away, suffice it to say that the penultimate cast number set as a full-stage country 2-step was this reviewer's personal fav.
Finally, Ben Decter and Kristin Hanggi's approach with the dad and Jackson sets a 2024 standard of parental love and understanding. They both come to grips with their losses and acceptance with their plight. You don't find this in any current storylines. A return to family values is way overdue and "It's Your Fault, Tyler Price!" is leading the charge. To requote Wordsworth, the child truly is the father to the man.
I was there. And you can be, too.
It's All Your Fault, Tyler Price! runs Thurs-Sat at 7:30pm with Sat and Sun matinees at 2:30pm through December 15, Hudson Backstage Theatre, 6539 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood.
Tickets: https://www.onstage411.com/newsite/show/play_info.asp?show_id=7150&skin_show_id=32.7150