Angle of the Sun, or, Ode to a Non-Equity Actor

The Angle of the Sun has the benefit of being one of the shows at NYMF with the most buzz - not only is it the 100th show in the festival's history, but the music was written by Larry Pressgrove, MD (and actor!) of [title of show], a previous success story. I had already heard mixed reviews coming off of its first performance on Monday night, but I tried to ignore them when I saw the show on Tuesday.

The musical follows the romantic plights of its protagonist Jan (Amanda Watkins) from her first love at 17 in 1966 to her 1987 art exhibition at 38. Though it's split into two, the show is essentially in four acts, each chronicalling her relationships with a different man, all played by Jesse Bush.
I think one's enjoyment of Angle of the Sun will depend on whether one identifies with the characters in each act. Jan herself changes enormously with age, as does her taste in men, so each act is like being introduced again. Myself, I couldn't hate her more at 17, and was worried the show would fall into the growing epidemic (in Garden State and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) of stories that idolize the batshit crazy woman. But she grew and matured into the next three sections, and by the end it was like spending time with an entirely different character, one whose follies I actually enjoyed watching on stage.
The music by Larry Pressgrove matures, too, from seemingly amateur and dull in the first section to engaging and powerful in the later. Whether or not this is intentional I don't know, but in the interest of being positive I'll assume it is. "Who Could Imagine?" and "A Quest in Someone Else's Life" are great solos for Jan, and the duets are pulled off for the most part with energy and a great sense of scene. I was a little tired of the "Oh god" theme that seemed to run through all of Jan's roles, as it seemed trite and lazy, but it petered off as she aged.

Though Amanda Watkins is more than adequate, it's really Jesse Bush who runs away with this production. As each of the four men in Jan's life, he quite literally disappears into each character, and if I wasn't assured so by the program, I wouldn't have believed them all to be the same actor. Each accent and characterization flawless, even his body type seemed to change depending on the man he was inhabiting. It's flashy without being overt, and subtle but still strong. Someone get this man his Equity card! (Though I'm sure from his list of credits that he could get one if he wanted.) His versatility seems to be without bounds, yet he plays each role with the detail he would were he playing himself.
Though I hope to see better shows than Angle of the Sun at the festival, I'm sure I'll see worse. And as always, I look forward to future work by any one of the talented people involved. So... three and a half stars out of five? That seems to be my default "I liked it but can't wholeheartedly recommend it because I seem to like everything" rating.

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Immediately after the show (at the Sage theater, on 7th between 47th and 48th) I walked out to see a mass of pink heading to the Legally Blonde filming. It was pretty frightening, but I had tickets, and wasn't going to waste an opportunity to see a free show. So my friend Chris and I headed into the fray with our balcony tickets and spent hours surrounded by... screaming idiots. The whole experience was pretty miserable, but since I do like the show (and I've gotten over being ashamed to admit it) it wasn't all that bad. "Seriously, does she have three tits?" was changed to "three boobs" for the filming, and the client in Blood in the Water can no longer "get you high and laid"... just laid. I noticed some differences in the lighting, too, specifically during What You Want, and I realize that lighting differences isn't something most people choose to notice. Christian Borle stole one of Noah Weisberg's line readings ("the room just got colder") and Laura Bell Bundy went even more sour than she normally does on that last note of So Much Better. They tried to make Find My Way into a separate song and paused for applause at the end of it... which never came. Awkward.