Playwright: Brian Hill and Neil Bartram. At: Chicago Muse at Victory Gardens Biograph, 2433 N. Lincoln. Tickets: 773-871-3000; . www.victorygardens.org; $46-$56. Runs through: Jan. 2
I grew up in the back of the village bookstore where my mother worked. That's where I went if I had nothing better to do after school or the weather was bad. In second grade I met my best friend, a recent arrival from a warm part of Texas. My first act of friendship was to rub his face in the snow. You'll understand the pertinence of these memories if you see The Story of My Life, which follows the trajectory of two best buddies from boyhood onwards. Thomas becomes a sophisticated success while Alvin, like George Bailey with whom he identifies, never leaves town.
The Story of My Life was developed at several regional theaters before failing on Broadway early in 2009, and understandably so: it's not a musical, but an intimate two-man opera which demands audience focus and attention. The 399-seat Victory Gardens Theater is the perfect venue for this latest incarnation, for which the show's original Broadway director, the esteemed Richard Maltby, Jr., has created lively but uncomplicated staging.
The Story of My Life is an evocative piece for anyone who has known a deep and enduring friendship—not just from childhood—and participated in its evaporation for no conscious reasons. That would be all of us, I think. "Relationships thrive and dissolve and we never know why," Thomas comments. Even so, your taste for the work may depend on your ability to identify with Thomas or Alvin, and in that regard the work is lopsided: it's told from Thomas's perspective not Alvin's. As performed by Davis Duffield, Alvin has plenty of charming-but-quirky appeal, but the writing leaves Alvin's social inhibitions and deeper longings unexplored. Thomas is the dominant role musically as well, sung to perfection by boyishly handsome spinto tenor ( to use an opera term ) Jack Noseworthy. The show couldn't have finer performers, or a more graceful instrumental ensemble ( lovely piano, reed and cello orchestrations ) under Valerie Maze's baton.
The Story of My Life appears to be an extremely personal work for the co-authors, so much so that sometimes it's matter-of-fact, eschewing richly imagistic lyrics or musical set pieces in favor of a plain-spoken character. It's chamber music rather than musical comedy ( which is what the show is, broadly speaking ) , with much of the score being conversation set to music, contemporary recitative if you will. I found personal connections within the work ( re-read my opening paragraph ) , but those looking for dazzle will be disappointed; it's not that kind of critter. The book and score have sweet moments, funny moments and several beautiful melodies ( "The Butterfly" for one ) , but this is an introspective work, not one of grand passions. And now the newest Babar the Elephant awaits my attention.
