THAT PARENTING MUSICAL: Show Review by Amy Wall Lerman
From the first missed period to the 15 “pee sticks” of excitement-tinged-fear, That Parenting Musical, in previews Off-Broadway (Theatre Row/42nd Street), explores the dawn of early parenting in a series of musical vignettes that will leave you nostalgic if you’re a parent and, perhaps, scratching your head if you’re not.
Parents will nudge their partners with jabs of familiarity from the first doctor’s appointment and birthing classes with others who seem like experts, and the stuff no one talks about regarding labor and childbirth. There’s the juggling of parenting schedules and bedtime, the new mom wardrobe of yoga pants and ponytails, the friends that don’t quite get it, and, of course, the endless sleepless nights and diaper changes. The “story” takes you right through kindergarten graduation and the inevitable feeling of loss and letting go.
For many, it’s a stroller ride down memory lane, but as I watched, I couldn’t help but wonder if any of this would appeal to people without kids.
The first thing that will likely strike a chord with every audience member is the set – the work of scenic designer, Tim Mackabee – decorated with larger-than-life children’s drawings: stick figures with arms protruding from necks and joyful, lopsided smiles – all the happy images a preschooler might have drawn. Images that brought a smile to my soul as I remembered my son as a little boy. The shelves full of toys and books – props used throughout the show – line centerstage. You know right away you’re in a nursery. It’s hopeful, happy and sweet.
The show commences with some slapstick silliness, but there are moving moments too where a father (Dwayne Washington) sings to his newborn and a mother (McKenna Ogrodnik) soothes her worried daughter (Vidushi Goyal making her Off-Broadway debut) who just finished amusing us with a tune called “Second Child Blues.”
There’s the first-born, a son (Max Crumm), who, by the end of the show proudly displays their non-binary self, a reminder of the times we live in now; the narrator (Brian Owen, who also takes on the wanna-be dad role of Todd later in the show) who sets the scene by reading from a book that sounds a lot like Dr. Seuss. (Given my love of Dr. Seuss, though, I wish this had been more obvious and not done with an English accent since this show is very much about American parenting).
Natalie-Bourgeois-photo by Maria Baranova
With book, music and lyrics by real-life parenting partners, Graham and Kristina Fuller, the show is charming. The actors and singers are pros. The stage direction and lighting are delightful, thanks to Jane Wineman, Dan Graeber, and Alan C. Edwards, respectively. And I would be remiss not to acknowledge the talents of Natalie Bourgeois, who played the “Single Friend” with her believable eye rolls and reluctance to accept her own maternal instincts.
The whole way through though, I couldn’t but feel something was missing. Perhaps it lacked a memorable show tune or a theme that would lure me in and hold me in a place that felt as predictable as the vignettes themselves. While the second act picked up musically, there were a few numbers early on that could only be described in the words of my 16-year-old, “cringe.” Overall, the whole production felt like it was holding back. If you’re going to have a song and dance number about “The Most Dangerous Things in the Room,” why not go way overboard with the tap dancing, costumes, and props…they started to go there, but it fell flat. I wanted something along the lines of Squidward’s four-legged tap dance number in SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical – a crescendo into a full-blown night in Vegas.
And I have to say, given what parenting has become in the 21st century, this portrayal felt rather quaint – a 1980s fantasy before the reality of school shootings, Covid, the plethora of autism and ADHD diagnoses, the terror of peanut dust, screen-time-brain-rot and the dangers of social media that plague parents in the here and now. But maybe that’s what I actually liked… imagining what parenting innocence was in “the before-times” – and maybe what it could be again.
That Parenting Musical began performances Sept. 4 at Theatre Row, Theatre 3 (410 W. 42nd Street, NYC). Performances are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 7PM, Friday and Saturday at 8PM, with matinees Wednesday and Saturday at 2PM and Sunday at 3PM. Tickets, ranging from $59 – $79, are now on sale at TheatreRow.org or by calling the box office, 212-714-2442 ext. 45. Premium tickets are priced at $99 and VIP packages start at $149.