As a firm believer that theatre is not just watched or performed but indeed experienced, the return of Green Room Productions with their second show, Ordinary Days, affirms that belief.
When Deb (Sarah Haddath) loses her most precious possession – the notes to her graduate thesis – she unwittingly starts a chain of events that turns the ordinary days of four New Yorkers into something extraordinary. Told through a series of intricately connected songs and vignettes, Ordinary Days is an original musical about growing up and enjoying the view. What we get is a very human and intricately woven story of life in the city that never sleeps although it probably should.
Bringing the characters to life, Sarah Haddath (Debs), Darren Niven (Jason), Caroline Hood (Claire) and Michael Davis (Warren) really excel given the direction of Michael Richardson who understands the human condition and the ability to converse feelings in song. With beautifully simple staging and a deeply thought out and engrossing lighting design by George Cort. A particular highlight is the idea of relative distance using flyers and ticker tape, a pure musical theatre moment at its very best. The show is anchored with an accomplished performance at the piano by Company MD Neil Metcalf.
All these ingredients merge together to deliver a production which is outstanding, and at its root simply beautiful. As a writer, Adam Gwon is a voice of a new generation in the musical theatre. As a production house Green Room are a leading light in producing musicals which speak to the heart and soul in all of us.
