On first glance, Donyale Werle’s subway station set for Broadway’s new a cappella musical In Transit reads eerily familiar—especially for New Yorkers who do most of their traveling beneath the city. After staring at it a while, however, you realize that it’s an “everystation”: the signage is non-specific, allowing characters to navigate multiple stops—and encounters.
But hey, this is a Broadway musical where entertainment rules and the real world (thankfully) has its limits both visually and vocally. I refer to the score and book created by a quartet of artists: Oscar- and Grammy-winning songwriter Kristen Anderson-Lopez (Frozen), James-Allen Ford, Russ Kaplan, and Sara Wordsworth.
Largely sung (vocal arrangements are by Deke Sharon, aka “The Father of Contemporary A Cappella”), the production forgoes an orchestra for layered vocal harmonies that stunningly propel the production forward and give it a one-of-a-kind stylistic cache.
And then there’s Boxman, a human beatbox who blurs the line between drum machines and homo sapiens. Chesney Snow and Steven “HeaveN” Cantor switch off playing a character that hangs out in a station with occasional interactions, especially with Jane, an aspiring Broadway star/office temp played by Margo Seibert.
Margo Seibert
“Jane’s story is a very honest depiction of many actors’ experiences here in NYC, so it was not hard to understand exactly where she was coming from,” says Seibert of her role. “We, as artists, are all part of the glorious rollercoaster of getting to live our passion between bouts of disappointment and unemployment. When it’s your life’s work, you stay true to the course and have faith that...that big 'break' will indeed come.”
Set in a loosely structured six-degrees-of-separation universe, Jane’s agent is Trent (Justin Guarini), who’s engaged to Steven (Telly Leung) but has yet to come out to his mother (Moya Angela, who plays multiple roles, including Jane’s boss). Meanwhile, in a subway encounter, Jane meets Nate (James Snyder), who evidently had a Jerry McGuire moment and moved from career fast track to unemployed and broke. But there is spark between the two...that gets derailed.
These and other story lines cross paths and change directions, much like the winding color-coded train lines on a subway map. And when they’re riding together they sing:
“Not at home, not at play, not at work, not in bed/Not asleep, not awake, not alive, and not dead/Not in place but still moving ahead.”
Seibert, who grew up in Maryland, came into the show with limited a cappella experience and describes her first few rehearsal days as “an a cappella crash course”—one that turned a diverse group of performers into an amazing ensemble.
“We have to operate as one precise, yet flexible instrument. Even when we step offstage we are always singing to underscore moments happening onstage,” she says, adding that at this point in their time together they refer to themselves (with a nod to Star Trek’s infamous alien collective) as an “acting, singing, dancing, comedic, a cappella Borg.”
The unifying force in bringing these various elements together is three-time Tony-winning director/choreographer Kathleen Marshall. “I am so thankful to be working with Kathleen...you can always count on her to assemble an incredible cast.”
“In Transit is the perfect show in the wake of our current political climate,” Seibert adds. “Showing the best of what New York and the nation has to offer when we come together (and off of our computers) to laugh at the frustrations of life. Also, if you’ve never experienced a live beatboxing performance, you cannot miss this show!”
In Transit officially opens on December 11th at Broadway’s Circle in the Square Theatre,
235 W. 50th St. For tickets call 212-239-6200 or visit intransitbroadway.com.