The primary colors and flat storefronts of Fall Springs, title and fictional location of Barrington Stage’s world premiere musical, instantly evoke South Park, CO, but there ends any resemblance to the oeuvre of potty-mouthed iconoclasts Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Librettist Peter Sinn Nachtrieb’s PG protagonists are a quartet of lovable high school nerds, each uncomfortable in their cruddy declining town, each assigned one suitably clueless single parent. (The only adult with a lick of sense is Noland, an LSD-addled 60’s burnout nicely calibrated by Ken Marks.) As we witness the destruction wrought by rapacious capitalist Beverly Cushman (Ellen Harvey), fracking the landscape to extract the essential oils needed for her cosmetics firm—an absurdist nod to Urinetown?—the show takes square aim at such sacred cows as the energy industry, science doubters, small town values, conservative politicians, patriotism, and faith. Talk about taking tough stands.
Once an earthquake sends the entire town neck-deep into mud and beyond—nice effects from set designer Tim Mackabee and lighting designer David Lander there—our nine survivors halfheartedly play out Poseidon Adventure tropes. But those Irwin Allen epics already bordered on parody themselves, and parodies of parodies sink faster than Fall Springs itself. If you don’t see coming the rescue scheme from spunky geology prodigy Eloise (Alyse Alan Louis) that will require everyone in the group to contribute, even as she reconciles with her grumpy dad the mayor (Matt McGrath), I daresay this plot will not have hit its sell-by date for you. Others may be checking their watches.
If despite those reservations, I land on the side of Fall Springs, it’s not just because its heart, and its eagerness to advance an environmentally-woke mindset, are in the right place. Nor that the cast under the direction of Stephen Brackett (Be More Chill on Broadway) does its damnedest to inject energy and lift into the moth-eaten satire, with standouts including earnest Louis; subtly crafty McGrath; prima belter Harvey; and Eloise’s awkward love interest as played by Sam Heldt, a dead ringer for Beto O’Rourke with a little “Good Doctor” Freddie Highmore thrown in.
If you can look past the silliness—and an excruciating running gag, sans payoff, involving Beverly’s name—you may chuckle, as I did, at the meta touches inserted into both dialogue and Nachtrieb and Niko Tsakalakos’s lyrics. (“We’ve all got backstory we’re trying to overcome,” complains militant lesbian Vera (L.E. Barone), and Noland announces that he and the kids will explain the environmental threat facing the town “Through the power of music…and metaphor.” Nachtrieb is one of those playwrights who may be stronger with ironic zingers than with plotting.) Best of all is Tsakalakos’s echt-pop-rock-Broadway score, hard-driving and melodic from first to last. I look forward to more from this gifted composer.
Fall Springs opened August 16, 2019, at the Boyd-Quinson Mainstage (Pittsfield, MA) and runs through August 31. Tickets and information: https://barringtonstageco.org
