One of Milwaukee’s up-and-coming theater companies, All-In Productions, was founded by young theater lovers with a passion for obscure musicals. Some of their former productions include Dogfight and The Last Five Years. Now there’s Ordinary Days, . a small-scale musical about two couples struggling to find themselves (and the rent money) in New York City. Without a home to call its own, each of All-In’s shows has been staged at different locales. Ordinary Days is housed in the Tenth Street Theater, a refurbished red brick church in the heart of downtown Milwaukee. They are renting the space from the veteran In Tandem Theater. Like doting parents, the married couple which founded In Tandem have a reputation for taking newcomers under their wing. A little TLC never hurt anybody, and the All-In crew has certainly flourished in this intimate space. Like the other musicals staged by this company, Ordinary Days has been kicking around for awhile. Its birth started sometime in 2007at Penn State University. Later, it was produced Off Broadway by Roundabout Theatre Company (with no less a rising musical star than Hunter Foster in its cast). A cast album was recorded. This musical virtually has no dialogue; its tale is told completely in song. So the musical numbers must work extremely hard to convey the show’s plot and characters. Although the All-In producers’ notes written in the program claim that young people anywhere can relate to the issues faced by these two couples, this reviewer takes issue with this claim. The show’s flavor seems essentially New York-centric (which is not a bad thing). For instance, while aspiring young people might share similar dreams about their ultimate life goals, not many face the same pressures of those who live in the Big Apple. These aren’t Midwest farm kids who have some notion of what “making it” might feel like; the foursome in this show are well aware of the power and affluence surrounding them. The musical begins with each character introducing himself/herself to the audience. They are humorously candid about their strengths and weaknesses. The most interesting of the four, Warren (Dan Tellez), is trying to dabble in public art. At the moment he’s dog-sitting for an established artist who’s currently in jail. With his rent taken care of, Warren spends his days on street corners, handing out flyers that contain his version of fortune cookie-type sayings. Most folks just walk by, oblivious to Warren’s friendly greetings. After awhile, this takes its toll. Warren admits that he begins each day on a hopeful note, which fades into depression as the day progresses. Warren’s offbeat character is so clearly defined by Tellez that the audience can’t help but feel sympathy for the guy. Yes, Warren is slightly weird and nerdy and dresses with a unique sense of personal style (costumes by Christy Siebers). But there’s a sense of innocence and wonder within Warren, too.
In New York City, amazing things can happen every day. People don’t connect by meeting friends at a backyard barbecue or at church or even at a bar (okay, maybe in a bar). In New York, as playwright Adam Gwon reminds us, strangers meet by happenstance. For instance, the platonic friendship between Warren (who’s gay) and Deb, a slightly unglued graduate student, happens after Warren finds Deb’s lost notebook. It is crammed with research notes for her dissertation. He emails her with the good news. They arrange to meet in a public place (Metropolitan Art Museum) so Warren can return her notebook. In gratitude, she asks him out for coffee. Months later, Deb starts to realize what Warren finds so fascinating about the museum. He gazes at a painting and, when Deb asks why he likes it, Warren replies, “It helps me to see new things in ordinary objects.” The other couple, who are romantically involved, also had a chance meeting. While walking toward his apartment, the good-natured Jason helps Claire retrieve some papers that have been carried off by a gust of wind. He thinks she’s pretty. Just to prove he’s not crazy, he asks her to meet him in the exact same location the following day. For some reason that Claire admits she can’t even recall, she takes him up on his dare. Romance flourishes and they eventually move in together. However, Claire seems very conflicted about moving forward with this relationship. Jason (Billy Krager) seems far more infatuated with Claire (Beth Leinss) than she does with him. Ordinary Days takes theatergoers on a journey through young adulthood. With Jason and Claire, there’s the Big Fight over a piddling matter that threatens to derail their relationship. As for Deb, she insists on finding “the big picture” of what her life will be in the near future, though she hasn’t any idea of how she is going to get there. Warren replies that he really doesn’t think about the “big picture thing.” He helps Deb see the wonder in everyday life. All the cast performances are fine, and it’s nice to see actors whose real ages approximate the ages of their characters. Of the four, Dan Tellez is a stand-out as the insecure Warren and Jade Taylor dazzles as Deb. (However, Taylor’s sometimes neurotic facial cues often overshadow her voice.) Taylor’s character makes one hilarious misstep after another. Her carefully crafted emails to her school advisor are so painfully awkward that the scene can’t help but evoke one’s own memories of facing similar circumstances.
Many of the tunes are good but not particularly memorable. An adept pianist (Patrick Thomas) accompanies the singers. At 85 minutes, the show’s length is about right. There’s nothing in Ordinary Days that is going to give super-musicals such as The Lion King or Aida a run for their money. This is a small gem of a show containing some familiar and thoughtful messages. And it’s another feather in the cap of All-In Productions.
