Hero the Musical
Conceived and Written by Aaron Thielen
Music and Lyrics by Michael Mahler
Directed by David H. Bell
at Marriott Theatre, Lincolnshire (map)
thru Aug 19 | tickets: $40-$48 | more info
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A rom-com(ic) book tale with a split personality
Marriott Theatre presents
Hero the Musical
Review by Clint May
A peculiar phenomenon has occurred in Generation Xers. It’s been called a state of “prolonged adolescence,” and it’s the result of several cultural pressures (and lack of pressures) that have left men not knowing where they belong in the social strata. The world premiere Hero The Musical, like so many movies and even theatre of late, is a cautionary parable with a traditional (read: conservative) solution for men left awash in the state between teenagerdom and adulthood. Set in a haven of escapist fantasy for adult men—a comic book store in Milwaukee—it wants to show us that even those poor, hapless geeks can break the shackles of fantasy and embrace the path to “true” happiness. If that sounds a little contradictory, it’s because Hero at once rewards its protagonist’s fantasies while ensuring he’s still put in a conventional box. Hero wants to have it both ways, and so like many superheroes, it has an issue being caught between two identities.
His banal life changes when he sees high school sweetheart Jane has moved back to town following a disastrous marriage. Chemistry is reignited, and Hero has to learn to stop living in an imaginary safe world and embrace the feelings he only appeared to give up on a decade prior. Aiding and thwarting him in about equal measure, Al, his best friend/cousin Kirk (Alex Goodrich) and little cousin Nate (Jonah Rawitz/Zachary Teller) provide zany comic relief to Hero’s journey to what they consider the “right” path for a man to follow. Kirk has his own co-plotline regarding his courting of an uptight-then-freewheeler teacher Susan (Dara Cameron), and Al has to try to face up to his own avoidance of life and start dating again. They’re all sympathetically stunted man-children in Hero’s view. Like a plot device lifted directly from an 80s movie, things miraculously turn around for Hero as soon as he (seemingly) chooses to put his faith in himself, until some speed bumps threaten to push him back to his 18-year-old self just as ‘success’ seems so close.
Promotional hype for Hero the Musical focuses on finding the hero within, but Hero’s accomplishments aren’t all that ‘heroic’. Typically I think of heroes as self-sacrificing in moments when others would turn tail, and Hero comes off a bit self-absorbed and in desperate need of therapy. Where are these allegorical superpowers? Is it supposed to be overcoming personal demons to help yourself get what you want? Not all that heroic. Bergen is likeable, yes, but is too handsome and subtly charming to ever be a true nerd, and it’s no wonder they had to make his outrageously outgoing best friend Kirk his blood relative because no man like that befriends shut-ins like Hero.
At one point, Al admonishes his two most devoted customers to “grow up!” This was shocking. No true geek would ever assume that just because an adult likes comics they aren’t grown up, especially in this day and age when Christopher Nolan is showing us that comic book escapist fantasy need not just be for the nerdlingers. It was just one more sign of Hero’s conflicted relationship with people who escape reality—is it harmful or harmless? Is there supposed to be an age limit on something that is increasingly seen as sophisticated adult fare? Why am I asking these questions about a show that deals so explicitly with comics?
Hero’s own graphic novels are driven by his angst, and that’s what eventually gets him some success. Clearly if he had followed his traditional path 10 years earlier he might never have gotten this later boon. His voice would have become prosaic had he listened to everyone around him just as Van Gogh would have been boring on Valium. Hero still puts him on that path eventually, rewarding him for his early avoidance of life by giving him the Gifts of the Gods of Traditional Rom-Com Storylines. I’d like to see the story 10 years from the end to see if his novels still have their gripping insight now that he has imbibed the Kool-Aid of adulthood.
This is a light-hearted comedy, with broad sitcom-style humor and a few characters and a tone that owe some of their existence to “The Big Bang Theory” (I’m looking at you, socially awkward Susan, aka Dr. Fowler). It has some grin-worthy moments of tender, unthreatening insight and a few cringe-worthy moments of treacly cuteness. The cast is in it with their whole heart and keep the energy going for the two hour and thirty-minute run time, which is no mean feat.
Hero has the feeling of a show that started out with the best of intentions but lost its way trying to become commercially appealing. Jettisoning the overly esoteric nerd-fodder in favor of a standard romantic tale leaves a nagging sense of a bait-and-switch that didn’t trust its audience to follow it down the rabbit hole. It’s not to say Hero the Musical is unlikeable, it’s just not the ode to the arcane that nerds may feel they are getting going in. All the talk of Hero’s amazing journal work and insight just made me want to see what was in them. It might have been a more audacious story.
Rating: ★★½
Hero the Musical continues through August 9th at Marriott Theatre, 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire (map), with performances Wednesdays 1pm and 8pm, Thursdays-Fridays 8pm, Saturdays 4:30pm and 8pm, Sundays 1pm and 5pm. Tickets are $40-$48, and are available by phone (800-634-0200) or online here (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com). More information at HeroMusical.com. (Running time: 2 hours 30 minutes, includes an intermission)
Photos by Peter Coombs and Marriott Theatre
artists
cast
Erich Bergen (Hero), Heidi Kettenring (Jane), Don Forston (Al), Alex Goodrich (Kirk), Dara Cameron (Susan), Jonah Rawitz (Nate, evenings), Zachary Keller (Nate, matinees), Summer Naomi Smart (Adele), Michael Lindner (Kyle), Alex Goldklang, Jameson Cooper, Kelley Abell (Ensemble)
