WALLED LAKE, MI–I was excited to hear of the opportunity to review It’s Only Life: A New Musical Revue by John Bucchino”…mostly because I had never seen a musical revue at all, much less new ones. Revue is a form of theatre that combines individual sketches or songs into a larger idea or concept that is presented as an overall impression, if not a narrative. Musical revue is more than a concert and not quite “musical theatre” as we generally think of it.

One perk of traveling the Detroit regional theater circuit is being able to see some really great actors return in different works and play different roles, and they even come to seem like friends of a sort. Knowing nothing prior to the show of John Bucchino, a well and highly regarded composer and cabaret performer) before the show started, I didn’t know what to expect, but I did know I got to see John DeMerell, who I saw for the first time in this past spring’s The Curious Case Of The Watson Intelligence perform again.

I find that musical revues are hard to judge because they are a series of songs that paint a picture of a mindset, rather than advance plot. As such, much of your experience with it is subjective. In explaining It’s Only Life (which, oddly, is presented as “a new revue” despite having existed in some form since 2006), imagine a simple series of walls bracketing two entrances at the rear of the stage. Five characters enter and exit, performing over twenty songs in any number of configurations. All the songs are about love, longing, and loss. Some are hopeful, some angry and bitter, and some simply sad. The entire vibe of the show is VERY Sondheim-y (right down to one character’s scarily accurate red jumpsuit that appears to have been stolen from the tour of Company), and it didn’t surprise me in the least to find out that Bucchino was a student and protege of the late composer and lyricist. The best way I can describe the show to anyone is to say that it’s a party in a Stephen Sondheim musical where every character is Eponine.

The five performers in this presentation all seem to be portraying archetypes but not characters. Sometimes the same person is straight, sometimes gay…sometimes happy with new love, then crushed by the weight of it ending. The aforementioned DeMerell turns in a great performance, understated at first, but culminating in a pair of solos as the show conclude that show a devastating range of emotion. Everyone else in the show does very fine acting work, although it seems it does seem that director Jeff Thomakos cast the show without caring very much how they sounded as a five part blended harmony. Additionally, it was a pleasure to see Jennifer Horne (Red Jumpsuit Lady) totally redeem herself in my eyes after, in my only previous experience with her, I watched her throw my niece across the stage by her pigtails in a production of Matilda. Natalie Rose Sevick’s vocals and spot on, and she really knows how to sell a song.

This show closes out Inspired’s first season in existence as a company, and it was a well executed, risk taking finale’ that fans of both musicals and straight plays can appreciate and while I definitely prefer the more familiar musical theatre mold for a show, I feel like revues may grow on me. Congrats to Jeff on a great first season and best wishes for many more!