John Do

Sunday evening, I headed off to Artscape Youngplace to see Recurring John, a song cycle written and orchestrated by lawyer-turned-composer Kevin Wong. Perhaps not coincidentally, Wong's first musical work is about a lawyer named John who felt unsatisfied with his life. We never hear from John himself, but aspects of his life are revealed through other people including his mother (Alexis Gordon), teacher (Natasha Buckeridge), and co-worker (Kevin Dennis).

But John's life was a bit cliché: raised by a loving mom but emotionally distant dad, hid his sexuality in grade school, worked in a lucrative but unfulfilling corporate law firm, and reared his own children in an unhappy marriage. As such, the songs directly about him: the various interludes, his gay lover (Christopher Tsijuichi), and his daughter (Jennifer Walls) were banal. General topics such as a mother's hope (Gordon), what makes a man (Buckeridge), cut-throat competition (Dennis), life (Arlene Duncan as a homeless park dweller), and second chances (ex-wife Paula Wolfson) were more interesting.

Musically, the 6-member orchestra and the singers were top-notched: strong and emotive. But like many new musicals, its pastiche style meant pleasing and recognizable musical genres but left no memorable signature. Also, the tendency to give almost every number that big finish so the singer can really belt it out got a bit tiresome (though the audience loved it all). So though they all had the chops, I enjoyed the quiet, light alto of Alexis Gordon. But each singer had their moment: Buckeridge's naughty Mary Poppins, Dennis channeling Patrick Bateman, Tsijuichi's and Wall's quiet despair, Duncan as wise Guinan, and Wolfson getting her groove back. A good debut for Wong; his second career is off to a nice start.