Be prepared to embrace your inner tween upon seeing the new Off-Broadway musical based on a YA book co-written by bestselling author Jodi Picoult and her daughter Samantha van Leer. The story of a socially maladroit 17-year-old who finds her life turned upside down upon meeting a handsome prince who has stepped out of the pages of a fairy tale, Between the Lines seems mainly geared to younger female audiences who may finally be tired of seeing Wicked for the umpteenth time.
The show’s heroine is the plucky Delilah, played by Arielle Jacobs, who has plenty of bona fides for this sort of thing since her credits include playing Princess Jasmine in Aladdin and Nessa in Wicked, both on Broadway. Delilah lives in a small town with her beleaguered working-class mother (Julia Murney), since her father abandoned the family to take up with a much younger, very flexible yoga instructor (just one of too many clichéd plot elements in the storyline).
Delilah, who’s constantly bullied by the mean girls in school (another cliché), takes refuge in a fairy tale book, apparently the only self-published copy in existence, that she found in the school library. Needless to say, she’s astonished when she opens the book one day and encounters the charming Prince Oliver (Jake David Smith, who will set the hearts of young girls in the audience fluttering), who’s delighted to be temporarily set free from his hamstrung fictional royal life featuring such characters as the hard-nosed Queen Maureen (Murney again, clearly having fun), her cheeky Lady in Waiting (Vicki Lewis, hilarious in multiple roles) and a rambunctious talking dog (Will Burton), among others.
Delilah and Prince Oliver embark on a passionate if chaste romance, albeit not without some rough patches. “Do you have to be so damn perfect?” she complains at one point. “It’s how I was written,” he explains, in a variation on a line that will be remembered by anyone who’s seen Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Needless to say, the relationship has its complications, but along the troubled way Delilah blossoms into a self-confident young woman who discovers that she’s capable of finding love in real life as well.
It will all be very familiar, at least to any jaded adults. Fortunately, the musical features many fun moments courtesy of Timothy Allen McDonald’s wittily amusing book riffing on fairy tale conventions and Elyssa Samsel and Kate Anderson’s tuneful pop-lite score reminiscent of Disney animation (their credits include the Olaf’s Frozen Adventure short). Unfortunately, the show’s virtues threaten to become submerged by too many unnecessary plot elements crammed into the overlong running time (nearly two-and-a-half hours, not all of which is enchanting). The same lack of discipline applies to the overstuffed score featuring no less than two dozen numbers. Someone might have wanted to tell the composers that they were not getting paid by the song.
The excellent production values reveal higher ambitions for the show which clearly seems to have its sights aimed on Broadway. (Although housed in Second Stage’s principal Off-Broadway venue, Between the Lines is a commercial venture from outside producers.) Gregg Barnes’ colorful costumes are a constant delight, and Tobin Ost’s ingenious set design features such clever touches as panels from the stage floor transforming into representations of a roof and a piano. Best of all are Caite Hevner’s wonderful animated projections that often incorporate the performers playing the various fairy tale characters. Under the sprightly direction of Jeff Calhoun, the ensemble, almost all of them playing multiple roles, deliver terrifically fun performances, with Jacobs exuding likability as the protagonist to whom many girls will relate.
Belying its title, Between the Lines doesn’t exactly contain much in the way of subtext. But there’s plenty enough surface charm to please its target audience.
Between the Lines opened July 11, 2022, at the Tony Kiser Theater and runs through October 2. Tickets and information: betweenthelinesmusical.com
