DCist Review
By
Missy Frederick
August
8, 2008
Rooms Wakes Up the August Theater Scene
Doug
Kreeger and Nastascia Diaz
star in Rooms: A Rock Romance, at MetroStage in
What the hell is one of the
season's most vibrant, exciting new works doing debuting in August in an
off-the-beaten-path, half empty
It's a question best
not dwelt upon for long - it's much more interesting to talk about the joys of Rooms:
A Rock Romance, the new musical currently being
showcased at MetroStage. Taking on a new musical can
be a dicey enterprise, but Rooms is a triumph; a work which moves along
an intensely stirring, accessible plot by pulsating rock music that services
the story rather than interrupts it.
We
already learned from the Academy Award-winning Once that tales about comely, accented singer/songwriters falling
in love as they make music can lead to some compelling storytelling, and Rooms
has that same sort of appeal. Watching Monica's (Nastascia
Diaz) and Ian (Doug Kreeger)'s journey from musical
partners to lovers happens naturally and inevitably, and the role music plays
in their lives and loves adds a certain urgency to the score. The unapologetic
intimacy of the two-person show calls to mind other harsh, real-world musicals,
like Jason Robert Brown's cyclical The Last Five Years.
"Authenticity"
is the word that kept springing to mind as Rooms progressed. Not only is
the chemistry between Diaz and Kreeger palpable and
charged, the trials the characters undergo and the way
they respond to circumstance are wholly believable and deserving of empathy. Rooms
is unabashedly emotional, whether it be Monica's raw, desperate plea to
"Bring The Future Faster" as she craves stardom, or Kreeger's chillingly frank dissection of the hold alcohol
has on him. Paul Scott Goodman's lyrics are meditative and poetic while never
feeling forced or flowery. There's nary a wince-worthy couplet in sight, and
the songs range from bittersweet ("Little Bit of Love") to
wholeheartedly hilarious ("Scottish Jewish Princess", Monica's
misguided attempt to bring a little edge to a lame bat mitzvah gig).
Kreeger and Diaz are impeccably cast, he
a smokey brooder, she an unstoppable dynamo; their
musical theater-trained voices are just as at home here in a more rock opera
setting. But seeing Rooms is about more than catching two outrageous
performances. There's the undeniable sense that Goodman and his writing
partner, Miriam Gordon, might just be part of the burgeoning movement to craft
a truly modern musical, one that can stand proudly with recent worthy attempts
like Spring Awakening, The Heights and even
Rooms runs through Sept. 7 at MetroStage. Tickets are available online.
By Missy Frederick in Arts and Events | Link
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