In My Life

Let's hear it for Tourettes Syndrome and for sweet sentimentality. Joe Brooks's new musical, In My Life (he wrote the book, the music, the lyrics and directed it) is about the romance of a guitarist/singer who suffers from the malady. It's like a circus of non sequiturs, but its cast of marvelous singers make it very entertaining nonsense. Lovely song after lovely song, mostly ballads, almost held together by an almost plot. Some of it takes place on Earth, some in Heaven, and there's a fey and fetching emcee (David Turner), a kid who is a phenom (Chiara Navarra - what a voice and presence!), the two very charming leads (Jessica Boevers and Christopher J. Hanke) and the most fun skeleton on Broadway.

Allen Moyer's imaginative, very active set is enhanced by Wendall K. Harrington's projections. Costumes by Catherine Zuber are bright and original, and Christopher Akerlind's lighting is just right.

Some critics weren't kind to In My Life, but this is no Bombay Dreams, which was so bad it was kind of fun. This is a mish-mash with a near-opera mixed in - a mixture of soap and fun fol-de-rol with some of the best voices in town. All Joe needs is a collaborating book writer to give it more coherence, and a director who can say "No" to him. As it is, it's engaging (including the obscure moments) from start to finish.