Ordinary Days

Ordinary Days is a delightful New York musical, full of characters and crackling wit that would be out of place in any other city in the world, from a set piece about getting lost in the Metropolitan Museum to that particular sarcasm that’s as abrasive as it is hilarious. As Adam Gwon’s first piece, here’s a certain hopeful sweetness that I’ve seen in other young people’s work—Greta Gerwig’s film Francis Ha and Vikram Seth’s verse novel The Golden Gate have something of the same feel. But more than that, this tone is a love letter to the people of New York, a nod to their resilience and a prayer for their healing after the horror of 9/11.

Therefore, it was important to conjure New York from the opening. And this Chris Zuber did with the cleverest minimalist set I’ve seen in a while, using predominantly milk crates. Hung from a high beam, the crates form an inverted New York skyline, backlit to form windows. At stage level, they form subway seats, apartment interiors, the street and the Met. And right in the centre is musical director Matthew Webster playing a grand piano.

The cast was brilliant, all in glorious voice with good American accents and beautifully clear enunciation, which was important because in less precise singers the quick-fire jokes might be lost in the warbling Joel Horwood’s wannabe artist Warren was incorrigibly lackadaisical and sweetly naïve, too caught up in his own optimistic fantasy to be put off when Deb, whom he has just met, unleashes a barrage of spiky invective at him. Deb (Vanessa Valois) is everything Warren is not: cynical, snarky, witty, catty and extremely stressed, and as she works herself up into a melt-down she’s deliciously hilarious to watch. The interaction between Horwood and Valois is an absolute riot.

The other pair, Jason and Claire (Grant Pegg and Kelly Roberts respectively) were also very funny, but sadly so. Claire became increasingly intolerant and difficult, and her boyfriend Jason, while accommodating and patient, is bewildered by her change in character until a revelation explains all.

The cast had to contend with musical challenges such as difficult harmonies, complex countermelodies and register vaulting, which they managed with aplomb. This included using ornamentation for comedic or emotional effect, for instance Deb (Vanessa Valois) breaking into a sweet soprano when begging an extension from a teacher, and Claire (Kelly Roberts) using a plaintive near-yodel which conveyed a deep sadness.

All in all, it was rather beautifully done.

Cathy Bannister