Between The Lines--Very Likable New Musical That Needs Some Tightening

The first thing that struck me when I entered The Tony Kiser Theater where the uneven though likable "Between the Lines" musical is playing was the song "Books" from the irrepressible "A Man of No Importance." A wonderful song about the delights of reading sung by the lonely man's sister. And if you never caught the show at Lincoln Center it is going to be revived this season. In "Lines" the action takes place in the library, among other locations and indeed revolves around one particular book. 

The show is based on the novel by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer. Here the book for the musical is by Timothy Allen McDonald. I have read several of Picoult's adult books always admiring show she beautifully dissects the characters and her versatility in that no two books are the same. I never read any of her young adult books which "Lines" is based upon. 

Delilah (a wonderful and hard working Arielle Jacobs) is a lonely junior in high school who has moved to the new school about six months ago. She lives with her mother Grace (Julia Murney) whose husband has left them for a twenty something yoga instructor. The mother has a great deal of trouble making ends meet but cares deeply for her daughter though they have frequent arguments. Delilah an avid reader suddenly takes a fancy to the book by the title of the musical. Strangely, there is only one book available anywhere and her school library has it. It is a fantasy about a handsome prince Oliver (Jake David Smith) and his desire to escape into the real world. He is bethroed to the annoying Princess Seraphima (very well played by understudy Aubrey Matalon.) Several of the characters play a multitude of roles which works excellent because each is superb. Matalon plays the 'mean girl' from Delilah's class and her clueless boyfriend Ryan (Will Burton) also plays the dog in the book. The only friend that Delilah has is the nonbinary Jules (a very funny wisecracking Wren Rivera). Of course, Jules is equally ostracized. There is an hilarious turn by the brilliant Vicki Lewis who plays five roles including the highly sexed librarian who has flights of fancy with an unseen except in silhouette form-- Mr. Darcy from "Pride and Prejudice."

The show begins delightfully with the very catchy "Another Chapter" sung by Delilah. When she opens the book there is a great scene that suddenly appears behind the back scrim with Prince Olvier climbing a cliff),  As she turns the pages of the book the scene changes to a mermaid saving the drowning Oliver and then you see member so the Royal Family along with others. It is brilliantly achieved by scenic designer Tobin Ost. Gregg Barnes designed the eye popping costumes. 

But after the first 40 or so minutes (the show is overlong at 2 1/2 hours) the delight becomes a bit repetitive. Director Jeff Calhoun tries to make things move swiftly but they are bogged down in much too many songs by Elyssa Samsel and Kate Anderson. Grace does not need to sing two solos along with a duet with Delilah. And even other characters' numbers just dilute down the action. Yes, quite a few have clever lyrics and bouncy music but it feels overstuffed. And the book also has a very repetitive feel. We don't need to see the same occurrences in the classroom and a few of the musical numbers involving the storybook characters are tiresome. This is especially true of the unnecessary "Butterflies" sung by John Rapson who also plays characters in and out of the book. 

The relationship between Delilah and Oliver does not work as well as I hoped it to. Smith certainly makes a dashing Prince but has little personality and I never felt his despair being trapped in the book. And his disillusionment with his Royal life is never fully realized. 

The other issue is the theme of reality vs. fantasy and how both coalesce into the realm of things never truly coalesces. 

I was wondering if younger children would enjoy the musical more than adults but not so sure. Perhaps, if it was shortened and tighter a lot it could work better. There is a lot of promise here with necessary editing. 

Photos: Matt Murphy

Ticket are available at the Tony Kiser Theater 305 West 43rd Street.