Tully (A Rave With No Particular Qualms)

If anything is better this year at NYMF than Tully (In No Particular Order), then whatever show it is will be nothing short of stunning. An engaging (if oft-told) story told in a unique way with gorgeous music and a fantastic cast, Tully is one of the best shows I've seen in a long time.

Reminiscent of a darker blend of Company and Amour, Tully (In No Particular Order) follows a poet remembering his love affair with the famed Clodia Beautee, and follows the same scattered train of logic that memories so often do. Bouncing around by theme, recalling the beginning after reliving the end, while still creating a cohesive narrative and yet managing to avoid pretension in a show about a poet, Tully's construction is nearly flawless, with an execution even on a NYMF budget that manages to do it justice. But what struck me most was that for one of the few shows in the festival that bills itself as a drama, Tully had more sophisticated and easy laughs than anything I've seen so far. "The Door Song" and its conceit was so simple yet so unique that the audience was rolling on the floor for each refrain.

The cast is uniformly great and seemingly effortless in their characters: Adam Hose gets the short stick as the titular Tully, as the show could easily be stolen from beneath him, but he holds his own amongst a more interesting ensemble. Autumn Hulbert and David McGee are utterly charming as Tully's practical sister and her henpecked husband, a believable married couple who just steal the beginning of the show with their duet 'Forever'. The show seems to be promoted, however, on the presence Austin Miller and Kate Rockwell from Grease: You're The One That I Want, an interesting marketing choice for a show with such a unique voice. But however one felt about them on reality TV, their performances are dead on. The cocky and abrasive character that the editors of Grease created for Austin serves him well in this show - his Claude seems like he's playing with the role they gave him on that show and taking it to the next level. He merely had to walk onstage to make me burst out laughing, and his number "The Trial" would stop the show in any setting that would allow it. Kate Rockwell is too inherently likable to believably play the villain (a problem I had with her Sharpay in High School Musical at North Shore which, yes, I saw), but she's incredibly seductive when the role calls for it and sings "Bob" with the sass of a much more seasoned performer.

Most remarkable about the show, though, is the lush score, brought to life with beautiful orchestrations using a harp and a variety of woodwinds. Every song is a standout, each diverse and specific to scenes and characterizations while still creating a cohesive whole.

Since unequivocal raves are boring, I'll cut this short (rather than try to come up with some forced criticisms). Tully is a must-see. Buy your tickets before it sells out.