Famed poet T.S. Eliot once called April the cruelest month. We at the Press call April the busiest month. So many shows opened that we were scrambling to get to all of them. In most cases, theaters run Thursdays through Sunday matinees. A reviewer’s 24-hour virus can wreck havoc to the schedule. That is why we only just caught up with A.D. Players’ world premiere “rock musical” Brother Andrew on its final weekend. There are four more performances – today, Friday April 24; two shows Saturday, April 25; and one matinee Sunday, April 26. If you’re curious about what the state of new musicals might be, I highly recommend this one. But you have to hurry.
A.D. Players has amazed these last few seasons. Always known for its production values and high caliber performances, the company has added new frisson into their rep. Witness the inventive ultra-hip production of Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment from last January; the delightful fantasy musical Narnia, the Musical last November, the deep dive into Freud’s Last Session from November, or the delightful romp through the Wizard of Oz from last season. A.D. Players has upped the ante.
Brother Andrew joins the company’s impressive roster and bodes well for its future.
Written (book and music) by “progressive rock” musician Neal Morse (Spock’s Beard and, later, Transatlantic), Brother Andrew is a musical of Christian faith. Don’t let that turn you off. Yes, it is unabashedly religious in nature, but like that old print ad for Levi’s rye bread, you don’t have to be Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Rastafarian, or even atheist to appreciate the artistry involved. The musical is splendidly produced and exceptionally well-performed. If Jesus Christ Superstar, Godspell, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (up next from A.D. Players in June), or Fiddler on the Roof and The Book of Mormon are anywhere near your wheelhouse, then this new musical should satisfy. If you don’t care for the message, just sit back and enjoy the amazing stage entertainment.
Adapted from the autobiography by Andrew van der Bijl (a.k.a. Brother Andrew), God’s Smuggler, the musical, almost all sung-through, tells the story of this flighty young Dutchman, Andrew, whose life is adrift. Growing up during the Nazi occupation of his homeland the Netherlands, he pranks the Germans by throwing firecrackers at them, or pranks a neighborhood pastor by stuffing up his chimney to smoke him out. He has no desire to work in his father’s factory, or much desire at all. He’s hit a wall.
Against his parents’ wishes he joins the military and is shipped to southeast Asia where he witnesses atrocities committed by his fellow soldiers. While recuperating in an army hospital, wanting to die and probably suffering some form of PTSD, he experiences a conversion. Transfixed, he gives himself to God.
But what is His purpose, what does God want of him? The Communists have taken over Eastern Europe and destroyed the churches, removed all Bibles, driven the faithful underground. Brother Andrew’s mission is now revealed. He will deliver Bibles and the Word of God to these desperate people in need of hope and spiritual healing. Against all odds, the punishment of deportation to a gulag, or even death for his clandestine action, he smuggles Bibles into every country in the Communist bloc. Later, he will found Open Doors, an international organization that continues his work to this day.
Although called a rock musical, Brother Andrew is fairly easy listening. Perhaps we’ve grown accustomed to this pulsating sound over decades, but Morse’s music veers suspiciously close to Broadway. There are hints of Kander and Ebb’s sinuous syncopation, even a parody number as if from The Producers, “Welcome to the Netherlands,” when Dutch girls and Hans Brinker-type guys clog dance and sing, “If we go out for dinner, you’re paying for yourself.” It’s delightfully silly. The anthems are most tuneful, soaring pop ballads that can actually be remembered after the show, which is high compliment these days in contemporary musical theater.
This show has a surfeit of riches. There are four or five numbers that could be cut without sacrificing the pace, tone, or message. The sappy subplot of little Ilsa’s illness, near death, and miraculous resurrection could be excised entirely without losing a beat, although young Marcie Speer is a star in waiting. OK, she’d lose her spotlight solo, but she’s in the ensemble throughout, singing and dancing like a pro, so it’s not like we’re not seeing her. She still would get to sing that gorgeous quartet, “He’s Still Abiding,” a highlight of Morse’s abundant score.
The cast is incredibly good, excellent from top to bottom. Triple-threats all: they sing, dance, act. As Andrew, Daniel Z. Miller, so memorable as the sonorous voice of Aslan in last season’s Narnia, the Musical, will make you a fervent believer as he knocks your socks off. What a talent! Athletic and supple, he jumps around Michael Mullins’ platform unit set like Gene Kelly, while his voice wails throughout the George Theater with power to spare. His voice is perfectly attuned to Morse’s rock score. He is a joy.
Claire Marie Spencer, as Andrew’s self-sacrificing wife Corry, is as radiant yet down-to-earth as she was as Maria in A.D.’s Sound of Music last season. What a dream of a voice coupled with superb dramatic chops. Like Miller, she’s the total package for a musical star. Brad Goertz, in multiple roles, is always a pleasure to watch and to hear. He makes everything he does on stage look and sound so easy. He just gets it.
Stage and film veteran Werner Richmond, as Andrew’s mentor Whetzler, is as comfortable and welcomed a performer as a soft shoe routine. His rich singing voice is like molten honey. Another Houston theater pro, Shondra Marie, as evil commie Malenkov, has a ball spitting out her venom in “The Great Society.” And Saroa-Dwayne Sasa, memorable as Mr. Tumnus in A.D.’s Narnia, in the role of Kees is the perfect best pal to young Andrew.
Though young, the ensemble has seasons of theater experience and mesh together beautifully: Tyler Brunner, Jake Cummings, Cara Degaish, Jared Guidry, Paige Klase, Vera Salinas and Christian D. Simon.
Jayme McGhan, A.D.’s executive artistic director, outdoes himself at putting this endeavor together with such exciting panache. The look is arena rock with all the bells and whistles. His direction is flawless, as are his choices for colleagues. Music director Jason Hart, instrumental at bringing Morse and A.D. Players into the project, conducts the rockin’ band with the finesse of Toscanini. What a glorious sound they make.
Not to be outdone, choreographer Kyle Craig-Bogard delivers some of the best steps seen in Houston theater. The entire show moves as if heaven-sent. John Santillan’s period-perfect ‘50s clothes are, well, perfect, as is the Broadway-like laser-focused lighting from David J. Palmer. It has a life of its own. And Mullins’ translucent unit set and subtle background projections couldn’t be better or more apt.
The musical could use a bit of fine-tuning, a little editing around the edges, but as a world premiere musical that wears its devotional heart on its sleeve without apology, Brother Andrew is as invigorating and affecting a night in the theater as any in town. Might it eventually travel to the Great White Way? Could Broadway stand a little religion? Amen!
Brother Andrew continues at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at A.D. Players at the George, 5420 Westheimer. For more information, call 713-526-2721 or visit adplayers.org. $12.50-$80.
