Night Side Songs @ LCT3's Claire Tow Theater

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The Play: Night Side Songs; inspired by a reference that Susan Sontag made in her seminal 1978 book “Illness As Metaphor,” this bare-bones musical charts—literally—the experiences of a terminally ill woman and the collateral effect they have on the family members who love her and the medical professionals who care for her 

Words and Music by: The Latours (brothers Daniel and Patrick)       Directed by: Taibi Magar

One good thing: The five-person cast I saw, most of whom—including Mary Testa and Robin de Jesús, who deserves extra praise for performing right up until his own ill mother died a few days before the show opened—play multiple parts and do it terrifically, at times even taking up an instrument to augment  the show's lone piano 

One not-so-great thing: In addition to the usual Playbills, songbooks are handed out before Night Side begins and audience members are repeatedly urged to sing along with certain numbers, which seemed to delight a lot of people but, alas, not me since I don’t enjoy audience participation and don’t like being made to feel like a killjoy for not joining in

 

 


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