Energetic singing, rambunctious humor and plenty of pelvic thrusting: the new musical, Departure Lounge, fits a lot of amusement into a short time. The production follows four British friends who are waiting to board their flight home from Spain.
Jordan (played by Devin Archer) is the cute, sweet guy who is introduced as a “ladies’ man.” JB (played by Dan Beno) is the group’s leader, and a care-free jock. Pete (played by Jay W. Cullen) is the stubborn, stand-off-ish guy. And Ross (played by Erik Kaiko) is the awkward but sweet and honest character. Stuck together for an hour awaiting their delayed flight, the teenage lads begin reminiscing about their summer holiday in Spain. The boys’ memories in Spain revolve around a mutual acquaintance they met during their holiday: Sophie (played by Andrea Larson). While it begins with good-hearted fun, the story soon introduces drama, and a few secrets within the group threaten their friendship.
Departure Lounge was performed in Chicago’s Royal George Theater from October through December 2010. UK writer Dougal Irvine created the musical, and it has been previously performed in England as well as at the New York’s Summer Play Festival (as a work in progress). It was also nominated for five MTM:UK awards in 2008 at the Edinburgh Festival, winning the award for best music. Although this is not the first time the play has been performed, the show was adapted for American audiences during the Chicago performances, as Dougal Irvine explains in the playbill, “Tom Mullen and Bailiwick Chicago have helped me to develop the story and characters for an American audience, while hopefully retaining what is quintessentially an aspect of British culture.”
The Chicago production was directed by Tom Mullen, and featured musical direction by Kevin Mayes. It was performed in The Royal George’s smaller cabaret theater, and this smaller area helped retain the intimate feel of the one-act musical. There were also nice details when arriving to the theater: the “flight attendants” handing the patrons “boarding passes” (really the playbill) and directing them to seats.
The actors moved a lot around the stage, as well as interacted with the area outside the stage (such as talking to “airport security” and other people who were in the audience). Working with the small space in the cabaret theater might have been challenging, but the cast made the small area and simple props work to their advantage. They mainly interacted with the four chairs in the waiting room, and a few various trinkets they picked up in Spain. However, most of the imagery was created through the choreography, dance moves and lyrics.
There were warnings that the production contained “strong language and sexual content”—which is of course to be expected from four teenage boys. While there was a lot of crude humor and sexual references, it was never overdone to the extent of seeming disgusting. All of the boys’ lively characters were fully developed throughout the musical as each realizes that the end of this trip means their induction into adulthood and many changes in their friendship.
Departure Lounge features quite catchy pop music—the kind you’ll want to sing to yourself after the show. The tunes ranged from upbeat, silly numbers, to melancholy heartfelt ballads as the story progressed. The crazy, almost 90s boy-band type dance moves the boys performed fit well with the silly pop songs, and added a lot of fun to the musical (cheesiness and all). A live band accompanied the characters in their songs, and there was a nice effect of seeing the band behind the see-through wall (scrim) during one point of the show.
Much of the music in Departure Lounge was reminiscent of other pop music. One song that stood out was, “Why Do We Say Gay” which was an entertaining argument between the boys of whether or not to use the word “gay” to insult each other. Towards the end of the song there is a nice vocal melody developed between the four friends, which is similar in style to the “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” Devin Archer’s voice really shines in this song, and the style makes their dispute that much more comic.
Departure Lounge keeps the audience amused and dancing along as the characters explain what happened on their holiday. Although the characters are somewhat crude, the audience learns to like them the monologue singing and flashbacks. The comic boy-band dance moves, crude humor and expressive singing result in an amusing show.
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