Just one life - Hive Collaborative

Yes, I was back at the Hive the other day for a brand new show. That is what I enjoy about the Hive, not only are they producing their own work, and collaborating with fellow artists, but they are also opening up their great space for new work to be produced and performed. While new work can be tricky, having it at a location that an audience already knows is a huge plus in my book. Of course, there are some shows where the audience is strictly following the performer. This seemed to be the case with "Just one life." The show was written by Dave Dvorak who is a singer-songwriter, who also plays with a band named Zoë Says Go. Dvorak also co-directed this work with Kevin Lindee who also stage managed. My feeling, from what I overheard and the reaction at the end of the show is that most of the attendees were friends, family, or fans. And honestly, that is the best first audience to have!! I also found out, before the show, that of there were only six tickets left to the entire run so bravo!!

Now, the show. The story that I was given was that Dvorak had written a number of songs, and someone said that he should put them together into a musical. So here is a jukebox musical, brand spanking new. Now I didn't know the songs or music at all. I found Dvorak to have a bit of a Dylan-esque voice when singing, good melodic songs, with good lyrics. The tough spot is when you are trying to write a show with songs that you have already written. It is easy to know how and where to place the songs as the lyrics tell a lot about what is happening internally, they can lay the groundwork. The difficult thing is the surrounding story. I think Dvorak did a very good job at his first musical. The story occasionally bit off a bit more than it could chew, but the essence of a new relationship, and work strife were there. The songs didn't necessarily move the story forward, but like good songs they really showed the internal emotional life of the character, or explained something about another character. They were good character building songs. 

The empty stage had some set pieces, as well as projections to help tell us where the story was taking place. The story dealt with Jake who works as PR for Titanic Health. He meets a waitress who also is a painter - Abby Lynn. She is idealistic and had recent health issues that wiped her out financially. There is a spark between them, and at the same time trouble comes to Titanic Health. Just when Jake needs to make a big decision, he comes across The Mystic who, with the title song, helps him make the right choice. The casting was good with  Jake and Abby Lynn being stand outs - mainly because they were the leads and had the most music. Jake is played by Theo Janke-Furman (who will be playing Lyric Arts and Latté Da later), and Abby Lynn is played by Allison Leopold (who has also done a lot of theatre work). I am surprised I hadn't heard either of these singers before but I will be keeping my eye out for them both. The rest of the cast was Paul Hodapp (a commercial/voice-over actor), Shawnice Reid (acting debut), Philip Simondet (improviser with The Local Music Scene, ComedySportz, and others), Katie Wodele (who has also performed at Lyric, Artistry, TRP, Yellow Tree, and others), and finally Dave Dvorak. The music was performed by Zoë Says Go. For a writer's first musical, this show is a great start. Dvorak should be proud!