Type – Song Cycle, Four Hander, Musical
If you liked – [Title of Show], Gutenberg! The Musical!
Ordinary Days the Musical: The ordinary becomes enthralling in this professionally presented indie musical
Adam Gwon‘s sung-through song-cycle musical Ordinary Days brings the focus in one of the loudest cities in the world down to the most intimately felt of human experiences: love and connection. Life in New York City is as is it seems in the movies, it’s big, it’s loud, it’s bustling, it never sleeps. The life of a New Yorker (I believe it’s pronounced ‘Yawker’) and the dreams and opportunities contained within the roughly 790 squared kilometre space is so richly dense and layered it continues to offer endless stories to be told.
Ordinary Days focus on what it says on the tin, the ordinary. There’s no grand sweeping stories here, no undiscovered truths, no dreams of fame and glory, no last minute dash to the airport for love, it’s simple and…well, ordinary. Four New Yorkers – Deb (Chantal Elyse), Warren (Ethan Bourke), Jason (Lachlan Ceravolo) and Claire (Jordan Berry) – live their lives as their journeys intersect, crossing paths that steer each other on different tangents.
With music and lyrics by Gwon, there’s a meandering and sometimes layered contemporary score here, with moments of intrigue throughout, but mostly it’s a simple pattern to follow – it’s utilises the kind of lyricism where you can guess the next rhyme that’s coming before it’s said. There’s no big surprises here and nothing you’ll be able to leave singing in your head on the ride home. The main issue with Gwon’s eye on the ordinary is that the story becomes almost predictable.
That being said, co-directors Aidan O’Donnell and Jacob Macri have done a heft of digging to make sufficient use of the thin material they’re playing with. The Flight Path Theatre’s natural shape and acoustics don’t bode well normally for a musical format, so the choice of material is smartly selected – four actors and a piano (Joseph O’Reilly as Musical Director) and you have yourself a musical. It falls into the same category as cult-hits [Title of Show] and Gutenberg! The Musical! in that manner.
Scattered around the walls of the space is an array of intersecting papers, all purposely haphazard in their placement as they ultimately cut off to form the Manhattan skyline. There’s no place in time indicated with Time Magazine covers cut out from the 90’s, movie posters from the 2000’s, campaign posters from the 70’s, and slogans from now. It cleverly introduces the idea of the everyday. The stories that unfold could be any one of us you pass through the street day after day. At the show’s end the set turned into a sort of museum piece with audiences hanging back to get a closer look at the many bits of history – it’s gorgeously purposeful and significant.
Bourke’s Warren beams with likeability. So much so, it seems as though it’s his whole character: be loveable. And in that, he gracefully succeeds – a warm musical grin and soothing singing voice definitely helps the way. Warren’s mission to find connection in a city too busy for any such triviality is a driving point of the plot, and the eventual intersection with Elyse’s Deb garners the most interest throughout. It’s a shame Gwon’s writing refrains from giving Bourke more to unearth in Warren, with his character remaining mostly on the surface.
It’s Warren’s impact on those around him, such as the feverishly focused Deb, that piques our interest. With her thesis’ success on Virginia Woolf held in the hands of a dictator-like professor, Deb’s life screams for a shake up. Elyse gives main stage energy to her indie stage surroundings. Her choreography is clear and precise, every movement pointed and purposeful. Opposite Bourke, there’s a believable growth in connection and friendship, both working towards successful humour and purpose.
Meanwhile Jason and Claire’s plotline – although sitting in a four-hander show – somehow still felt like the B-Plot. Ceravolo and Berry do their duty with the work they have with a professional commitment and strong vocals, with Berry riding through some added riffs to hers and Ceravolo impressing with some tenor highs. Individually, they are both solid performances but together they didn’t quite reach the chemistry required for believability. Perhaps I’ve seen one too many New York-set movies, but the push and pull of the pairs’ relationship never quite hooked me as it should have.
Is Ordinary Days Worth Seeing in Sydney?
For as thin as the plot of Gwon’s work was, under this professionally presented creative team I still felt enthralled to watch the lives of these ordinary people doing ordinary things. There’s an innate human quality to it – in the love, the loss, the purpose. It reminded me of a picture I saw recently of an everyday scene in Sydney, people sitting in a park and going about their day and above each head was something unknown about them to the main character in the middle of the image.
It’s the unseen of those around us that can sometimes speak the loudest, if only we took the time to listen. If anything, Ordinary Days wants to remind us that small moments and things matter. And ultimately, you do too.
Tickets and Practical Info for Ordinary Days in Sydney 🎟️
Flight Path Theatre, Marrickville
Until 9th May – First two nights sold out
CAST
Ethan Bourke as WARREN
Chantal Elyse as DEB
Jordan Berry as CLAIRE
Lachlan Ceravolo as JASON
CREATIVES
Aidan O’Donnell ~ Co-Director, Producer
Jacob Macri ~ Co-Director
Chantal Elyse ~ Actor, Producer
Jordan Berry ~ Actor, Associate Producer
Joseph O’Reilly ~ Musical Director
Chuanie Luu ~ Stage Manager / Lighting Designer
Sarah Bryson ~ Assistant Stage Manager / Sound Operator
