The new Broadway musical Glory Days, closed today after only one performance. I saw the show and it was fine, but that was all.
It was a young show about four friends getting together for the first time, one year after their high school graduation. The book, written by James Gardiner, was not particularly surprising. The four friends have changed in their year apart and now need to adjust how they react to each other. One of the boys realized he was gay and comes out to his friends. One of the friends does not react well. While I know this is an important issue, it felt a little like an after-school special.
The music and lyrics, written by Nick Blaemire, were, again, fine, but didn't really go anywhere. He wrote several songs in which the performers were singing dialogue atop each other with the focus of the song going back and forth. This was fine once in a while, but the music began to feel like a class exercise in technique. There was no growth to the score. It stayed in the same sound and tone until the songs blended together. The one song I did like was called "Open Road," where the character Jack tells about how he realized he was gay. But, by and large, the music is forgettable. Fortunately Mr. Blaemire didn't quite his day job which is as an amazing dancer in the ensemble of Cry-Baby.
Overall, it was a good first attempt at a show. Mr. Gardiner and Mr. Blaemire are in their early twenties and it is impressive that their first show made it to Broadway. Now they can go try again with perhaps stronger material and a more mature outlook.
The music and lyrics, written by Nick Blaemire, were, again, fine, but didn't really go anywhere. He wrote several songs in which the performers were singing dialogue atop each other with the focus of the song going back and forth. This was fine once in a while, but the music began to feel like a class exercise in technique. There was no growth to the score. It stayed in the same sound and tone until the songs blended together. The one song I did like was called "Open Road," where the character Jack tells about how he realized he was gay. But, by and large, the music is forgettable. Fortunately Mr. Blaemire didn't quite his day job which is as an amazing dancer in the ensemble of Cry-Baby.
Overall, it was a good first attempt at a show. Mr. Gardiner and Mr. Blaemire are in their early twenties and it is impressive that their first show made it to Broadway. Now they can go try again with perhaps stronger material and a more mature outlook.