Skylight Wows With New Rock Musical

(l. to r., back row) Kennedy Caughell (Katie), Wren Rivera (Jo Jo/Rise), B Noel Thomas (Sammy/Samantha/Seven), Jenna Rubaii (Ash/Blast), Shelby Griswold (Missy/Ima-Mazing), (front) Serena Parrish (Young Katie/Lightning Girl) in Skylight Music Theatre’s world premiere developmental production of SuperYou, running now through June 18. Photo by Mark Frohna.

Until June 18 the out-of-town tryout house for London’s West End and, possibly, Broadway is Milwaukee’s Skylight Music Theatre.

Adding “SuperYou” as a last-minute musical replacement to its season and the inaugural World Premiere Wisconsin festival also means — from a production standpoint and show-stopping female voices — the Skylight’s Cabot Theatre is doing the city proud with imported casting, polished graphic design and the intimate and uniform maneuvers of director-choreographer JoAnn M Hunter. Its “FLASH” “BANG” “POW” drawings reflect the pop culture wave it seeks to ride and maybe deepen.

I was more impressed than moved by the whole concept from composer-lyricist and rock music virtuoso Lourds Lane. The term “SuperYou” has been part of her life and optimistic outlook for a decade, but the show was born in COVID-19 2021 isolation and represents a lesson plan on how to make a powerful mark through social media when theaters are closed.

Through song concerts, even a drive-in showcase, with tunes and interviews streaming on Playbill, YouTube and TikTok – in fact, even as various state governments try to ban TikTok, the short-term fandom app is featured in the show — publicity has kept the show alive. The production is a testament to how to keep your concept going, and your music familiar, without theater audiences to rely on – until now, when the road is open and the future unknown.

Time will tell if the theme of one woman’s survival and resilience – hardly a new idea in musical theater – will endure long past COVID-19. But the plot seems particularly attuned to the times, the  modern concept of girl power and internal personal freedom.

Still, despite some clever writing in the messaging, the story takes a smaller place than the production elements. Aspects of the plot portray overly familiar undertones bordering on the maudlin. Perhaps a tighter show and deeper emphasis on how to tell this story would improve things. But director Hunter and others do add elements that keep the progression interesting. And the music is certainly lively.

The cleverest element is to follow Katie from girl to woman – the woman being the powerful and engaging Kennedy Caughell who not only acts winningly but wraps a big voice and long-held notes around the frequent power ballads. Her young self, and also the comic creation Lightning Girl struggling to be heroic, is petite Selena Parrish, not as adolescent as she plays, not when you hear her sing and see her dance in a difficult counterpoint story.

He never speaks but keeps an eye on the cartoon villain come to life Mi Roar, played by dance captain Blake Zelesnikar, whose name hides a secret even as his acrobatic dancing scares the ensemble as it is supposed to.

Katie is a comic book artist creating out of her school chums this parade of female superheroes who come to life and rousing solo turns, even as she learns to handle the mundane intrusions of jobs and family, including the loss of her brother and her first-act inspiration Matty (fine singing and smiling comic assurance from Chris Oram).

Though its overall feeling and some 30 musical numbers make the production sound similar to the so-called “jukebox musical” currently in Broadway fashion, this is not one since “jukebox” shows by definition rely on familiar artists and numbers. These songs are all new in the sense of origination, but it would be foolhardy to criticize “SuperYou” as derivative. It is, but so are decades of pop music. It is not only originality that sticks them in the mind but repetition and exposure by various artists. It is hard to predict what big note ballads survive in this venue.

Lane has mastered the genres. She can stray into instrumental thematics, country music, girl group harmonies and patter lovey-dovey duets. She is prolific, upbeat in lyrics and knows how to overwhelm audiences with big voices and big sounds — almost as if she was writing for “American Idol” and “The Voice.”

I suspect Lane is so prolific that some of the current numbers, all expertly done, may be replaced as the show moves along. This is often the case with new shows, even those from famous names. If I had to guess, in terms of songs that other artists may pick up and the public will find intriguing, I suspect the show has put its money on the ballad “To My Angels” though I think the comic “Be Big” and the emotional “Fragmented” may have longer shelf lives.

No question, however. Much of this imported cast will probably move along with the show. Better rush to the Skylight if you want to see if Caughell as Katie is as powerful a talent as this review suggests — I suspect she will travel away with the show.

There is also a powerful diverse quartet of women playing the cartoon heroines Katie creates: B Noel Thomas with her baritone to soprano range and comic gifts, Shelby Griswold as the Ima-Mazing powerhouse, Wren Rivera with the cropped hair, winning voice and grin as Rise (a role that Lane originated) and the formidable Jenna Rubaii as the well-named Blast. Justin Matthew Sargent has the boyfriend charm and tenor chops to make us suspect he will turn out to be one of the losers in Katie’s life.

The concept may be the attraction, but it is the technical elements that will live in memory beyond these two and a half hours. Some may change and grow but what is there is fascinating. It is hard to know who to single out for such coordinated accomplishments.

The set by Anna Louizos is like a neon Zoom box experience come to life on your computer, with moving cartoon figures and constant shadow play. The lighting and video design are exceptional, and I suspect there are many names responsible. Music supervisor Wendy Bobbitt Cavett worked with Lane on the orchestrations, while Bryson Baumgartel controls the small band atop the set, augmented by electronic effects – and far more powerful in impact than its size would suggest.

“SuperYou” Gallery

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Dominique Paul Noth served for decades as film and drama critic, later senior editor for features at the Milwaukee Journal. You’ll find his blogs here and here.