Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Processing life and the universe through song: Gavin Creel’s WALK ON THROUGH and Patrick Olson’s EMERGENCE

• By drediman
• January 2, 2024
• No Comments

I recently had the chance to catch up with two theatrical song cycles that aimed to process life and the world through song – to various degrees of success. Read on for my thoughts.

WALK ON THROUGH: CONFESSIONS OF A MUSEUM NOVICE
MCC Theater
Through January 7

Currently enjoying an extended Off-Broadway run at MCC Theater is Gavin Creel’s Walk on Through: Confessions of a Museum Novice (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED). Landing somewhere between a musical revue and an autobiographical confessional, the work is comprised of a set of artful and emotive pop-infused songs chronicling Creel’s reaction to his eye-opening initial visits to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It becomes clear relatively early on in the show that these songs serve a therapeutic purpose, enabling Creel to excavate personal ordeals through the lens of centuries of art. Indeed, reaching across time and space, these masterworks function as portals through which Creel is able to process his feelings, as well as more broadly for all of us to experience the world and our shared humanity anew through different perspectives. Creel impresses as a first time songwriter, infusing his driving, deeply felt songs with beguiling poetry and raw emotion. Suffice to say, he and his small but engaged band of musicians and singers perform the material exuberantly. And as directed by Linda Goodrich, Walk On Through is an approachable theatrical experience that time and time again infectiously breaks the fourth wall, hitting audiences with its insights with urgency and beauty.

EMERGENCE: THINGS ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM
Pershing Square Signature Center
Through January 7

Also Off-Broadway at the Pershing Square Signature Center, you’ll find another probing song cycle – Patrick Olson’s Emergence: Things Are Not What They Seem (SOMEWHAT RECOMMENDED). Like Creel’s Walk On Through, Olson’s show uses songs – as well as a good measure of dance – to make sense of the world around us. But instead of dissecting turbulent internal emotions, Olson does almost the opposite by looking outward to convey and attempt to reconcile the paradoxes of the physical universe at large, including our place in it. Heady stuff, for sure. What I find a bit confounding about the show, however, is how it uses conventional performance means – in terms of songwriting, design, choreography, etc. – to convey complex, conceptual notions of the cosmos, hence creating an awkward juxtaposition between the show’s message and the vehicle(s) in which it’s delivers. Fundamental contradictions aside, the production looks and sounds fantastic, from the bold lighting choices, to the expert musical and choreographic contributions of the game cast. As a performer, Olson is an enthusiastic entertainer and an eager teacher. Ultimately, however, he struggles to convince us to buy into his wide-reaching thesis, thereby deeming Emergence as a bit of a theatrical curiosity.