Theatre 2023: In Dreams

I am always a bit leery about jukebox musicals that try to co-opt popular songs originally written by or for well-known singing artists or  groups, in an attempt to turn their lyrics into sung dialogue that fits a storyline.  Mamma Mia remains the gold standard but there have been many less successful wannabes that followed.  Often the lyrics don’t make sense in the context of the plot, or the plot becomes so convoluted in order to fit the lyrics. The first show of our 2023/2024 Mirvish subscription series was the new jukebox musical In Dreams, featuring songs by Roy Orbison who had a successful solo career in the 1960s and 70s and then formed the super rock group The Traveling Wilburys which also included Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty.  The book for the musical was written by David West Read who successfully wrote the plot for the Tony Award nominated musical &Juliet as well as the charming TV series Schitt’s Creek, so I was cautiously optimistic before attending his new show.  I am happy to report that for the most part, the storyline was cohesive, touching and occasionally humorous while the lyrics of the songs fit well in the plot and worked to advance the action as should be the case in a good musical.

In Dreams deals with Kenna, the lead singer of the former rock band “Heartbreak Radio” which included her best friend Jane, bassist Donovan now married to Jane, and drummer Ramsey who was Kenna’s ex.  When Kenna receives a dire medical diagnosis, she decides that she needs to reunite with her estranged band members for one last party.  She selects a Mexican restaurant in New Mexico that holds memorials for the deceased.  The restaurant is run by Oscar, who is grieving the recent death of his parents, his pregnant wife Nicole and sassy widowed grandmother Ana Sofia.

The title of the show and the name of the rock band are both titles of Orbison songs that are in the musical’s song list. As well, it seems like the setting was inspired by the Traveling Wilbury song called “Margarita” which of course is featured during one of the scenes.  As with all jukebox musicals, the songs drive the plot for better or worse.  Continuing with the Mexican theme, parts of some of the songs are actually sung in Spanish by the relevant characters, perhaps to give their heritage more authenticity.

Many of Orbison’s and the Traveling Wilbury’s most famous songs are represented and weaved cleverly into the plot.  After Kenna convinces Oscar, Nicole and Ana- Sofia to hold her memorial party even though she is still alive, they sing “You Got It (anything you want..)” to agree to her wishes.  When describing why the band lost touch, the song “Communication Breakdown” is performed.  Ramsey is now an Uber Driver and as he rushes to the party in hopes of rekindling his relationship with Kenna, he hilariously sings “I Drove All Night (to get to you)”.   A sweet subplot involves Ana Sofia and fellow recently widowed George who are both lonely and miss their spouses.  They connect over a beautiful mashup of the songs “Blue Bayou” and “Only the Lonely”.  Eventually, George proceeds to court Ana Sofia with the iconic “Pretty Woman”, perhaps Orbison’s best known song due to the success of the Julia Roberts/Richard Gere romantic comedy.  But the showstopper was Kenna’s singing “Crying” to end the first act as she laments pushing Ramsey away to spare him from learning of her illness.  Tony award winner Lena Hall absolutely killed this song as well as “Love Hurts” and a solo in the second act where the group sings “Handle With Care”.  Hall’s voice can start hauntingly soft and then slowly build into a powerful belt that metaphorically blows the roof off the theatre.

I did have a few reservations about this musical.  I liked the first act more than the second, perhaps because more well-known songs were sung earlier on and the ones I did not know did not resonate as much with me. Also, the first act had a faster pace while the second act dragged slightly.  I felt a bit indifferent to Oscar’s sub-plot with his struggles to deal with his parents being gone and his inability to share his feelings with Nicole.  This allowed him to sing the titular “In Dreams” as his vehicle to communicate with them and for her to respond in a Spanish version of “Crying”.  Maybe if these characters had been more richly developed, I might have cared more?  I also found it interesting that yet again (just like in all five shows which my husband Rich and I watched on Broadway in May), there was the addition of a gay character portrayed in the show, although in this case, it was a peripheral and stereotypically flamboyant one.  This is starting to feel like an obligatory trope that needs to somehow be inserted into every current show.  Many of Roy Orbison’s songs are based on themes of loneliness, pain and heartache perhaps fueled by the multiple personal tragedies that he faced.   In Dreams did a good job of reflecting these themes in the show, but in striving for an upbeat, hopeful ending, it undercut some of the original plot points introduced at the start of the show.

But overall, I found In Dreams to be very entertaining and enjoyable.  It felt like some of the songs had been written specifically for this show, as opposed to having a plot that needed to jump through illogical hoops in order to justify the lyrics.  That is the mark of a good juke box musical.  If tickets were not so expensive, I would consider watching this show again after carefully listening to Orbison’s or the Traveling Wilbury’s versions of the songs to become more familiar with the lyrics.  I think I would appreciate the plot more the second time around.