Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The new high school-set musical TREVOR ultimately proves more than the sum of its parts

• By drediman
• November 15, 2021
• No Comments

Last week, the musical Trevor opened at Stage 42. The new musical, which is based on an Oscar-winning short film and features music by Julianne Wick Davis and book and lyrics by Dan Collins, comes to New York after having been developed in the Chicagoland area (particularly Writers Theatre, a respected regional theater located in Glencoe, Illinois). Set in 1981 just outside the Windy City, the musical tells the coming of age story of Trevor, a flamboyant high schooler whose journey to self-discovery triggers considerable growing pains.

Unsurprisingly, the musical borrows liberally from the long list of other high school-set musicals such as Dear Evan Hansen, Be More Chill, Grease, Mean Girls, Everyone’s Talking About Jamie, Spring Awakening, and so forth. As such, for much of the show’s exposition-heavy first act, Trevor comes across as rather derivative. The one saving grace is that the musical is performed by age appropriate actors, which lends a certain authenticity to the piece that’s usually missing when high school students are (cloyingly) played by adult performers. The musical, however, comes into its own during its second act, which delves into more interesting territory. Particularly, the show openly but tastefully explores the budding sexuality experienced by most adolescents – in all its confounding glory.. In summary, Trevor sweetly and consciously attempts, and mostly succeeds, in capturing the trauma of this awkward phase in life.

Ultimately, Trevor strikes me as more than the sum of its individual parts. Indeed, the score by Ms. Davis and Mr. Collins is more or less just serviceable. And as staged by Marc Bruni, the production moves efficiently if generically from scene to scene (thanks largely to Donyale Werle’s smart set design). The musical’s success is largely due to the inspired performances, particularly Holden Hagelberger’s exuberant breakout performance in the title role. The rest of the young cast is also fantastic, attaining just the right balance between youthful innocence and winking musical theater pizzazz. And as all of the adult characters – a device you may recall from Spring Awakening – Jarrod Zimmerman and Sally Wilfert give chameleonic performances that are amusingly spot-on.

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TREVOR
Off-Broadway, Musical
Stage 42
2 hours, 15 minutes (with one intermission)
Open run