Review: Off-Broadway ‘Fly By Night’ to play at Roxy’s

“Fly By Night,” with its Midwest premiere at Roxy’s Downtown, is a quirky, sweetly funny and sometimes devastatingly sad new musical about a romantic triangle involving a guy who falls for two sisters during the time of the 1965 New York City blackout.

But the message of this 2014 off-Broadway show – nominated for four Drama Desk Awards, including best musical – isn’t really about romance, but rather about life choices and how everybody’s lives are intertwined in some sort of master cosmic plan.

It’s in the same poignant metaphysical vein as “Next to Normal” and “If/Then,” which push audiences over the line of reality into a realm of eerie possibilities. Created by Kim Rosenstock with music and lyrics by Will Connolly and Michael Mitnick, this tale has a rock music heart with country/folk/showtune blood running though its veins.

Damian Padilla, who is also co-director, brings an endearing quality to his role as Harold, a wannabe songwriter who works in a deli because he doesn’t have the courage of his creativity. Padilla (“Orphans,” “Party of One”), whose sturdy baritone can also hit pretty high falsetto, laments, “This is my life now. This is what it’s gonna be,” as Harold is about to give up on his dreams.

Maddie Razook (“Heathers: The Musical”) is sexy and stylish in her 1960s flower-child minidress and knee-high boots as Daphne, a small-town South Dakota woman who comes to New York determined to become a famous actress. Razook is both feisty and naive as a woman who is perhaps a little too self-centered for her own good. Her vocals show a range of color and feeling as she sings, “My life is a joy, I got the boy, why do I feel so sad? I need more.”

And Jessica Curtiss (“Heathers: The Musical”), in her red plaid mini-jumper, is a winsome charmer as Miriam, Daphne’s older and protective sister, who accompanies her to New York for moral support and is content just to be a waitress because she feels busy and useful. Miriam is thoroughly practical but also a secret dreamer because her late father, who left her his love of astronomy, told her that everybody and everything comes from the heart of an exploding star. Curtiss’ lovely soprano makes her achingly poignant “I believe in stars. Who am I? I’m a star” both thrilling and heartbreaking.

While the story is centered on the trio of young lovers, the player who keeps commanding our attention is the Narrator, played by Max Wilson (“Chicago,” “The Spitfire Grill”). Wilson is, at times, bespectacled and dignified as a patient teacher as he communes directly with the audience to set scenes, fill in details and hint at motivations.

But Wilson is also a fearless ham as he steps in for some colorful walk-on roles, like a hopeful mother sending her daughters off to find their fame and fortune or an eccentric gypsy fortune teller who promises great joy but also warns of a terrible fall. Wilson crafts these little gems through shifts of posture, inflection and cadence, revealing him to be an artful chameleon.

And Wilson’s thundering baritone is a commanding presence that anchors the music of the show.

Rob Summers has a small, but compelling role as Harold’s newly widowed, neglected father, who fills his lonely hours by playing his wife’s favorite old records. Summers’ strong voice, which touches operatic phrases, philosophizes that “It isn’t what you’re listening to, it’s who you’re listening with.”

Nicholas Reese is a temperamental and perhaps untalented playwright who muscles in on the romantic triangle when he wants to make Daphne his muse to spur his art. And Kyle Vespestad (the other co-director) is a curmudgeonly delight as Crabble, Harold’s sympathetic but exasperated deli shop boss.

The four-piece combo, led by music director Rich Bruhn at the piano, gives a nice full sound to the rock, but also is exquisitely subtle for ballads. The versatile minimalist set by co-director/star Padilla, Kaitlynn Howell and Christine Tasheff has an industrial “Rent”/“West Side Story” urban vibe. Period costumes are by Tasheff.

Opening night, the production suffered from slow and missed lighting cues, occasionally leaving performers in the dark in mid-stage or with heads in partial shadow at the top of the stairs of the set. That’s an easy fix. Less fixable are a couple of last-minute plot twists that seem too convenient in the rush to prove interconnectedness. But there’s no denying the emotional impact of those final moments.

This story was originally published June 22, 2016 at 9:51 PM with the headline "Review: Off-Broadway ‘Fly By Night’ to play at Roxy’s."