“BKLYN the Musical? What’s that?” If you’re asking this question, you’re in good company; much of the cast and crew of SU’s latest production also felt  unfamiliar with the show prior to taking part in it (myself included). Let me catch you up with a little background information before the show opens this weekend. Written by Mark Schoenfield and Barri McPherson, and originally debuting on Broadway in 2004, it has a unique premise and presentation. It uses the style of an embedded narrative, where characters in one story serve as narrators for another story nested within the original. “It’s an urban fairytale,” says director Stephanie Smith, “It takes place mostly on the streets of Brooklyn. It’s this group of street performers who have come together to tell a story. So they invite the audience into their fairy tale world, and they tell this story about this girl, Brooklyn, who’s trying to find her father. And at the end, I think the premise is how much of it was real and how much of it was fake. There’s a little bit of fairytale in every truth and there’s a little bit of truth in every fairytale, it’s kind of the idea.” 

The show’s music and choreography fit the urban fairytale theme well. The music is soulful and wistful, and vocal director Julie Rhodes has expertly guided the cast in performing it. The choreography is reflective of hip-hop and brought to life with flair by choreographer Isaiah Choice. Smith discussed how the show’s unconventional style and story structure pushed these team members to explore new creative territory. “Isaiah and Julie and I have worked together a lot before, but never were we ever just like, you know, no rules, gloves off. Do what you want. And so that’s been really fun for us as a team, too, to like work together and play off each other as creatives.” 

Equally unique is the show’s set design. Fitting with the show’s themes of making beauty out of very little and the cyclical nature of storytelling, Brooklyn’s sets team has constructed their set primarily out of reusable and recyclable materials. “A lot of this set we are repurposing from other things we already had,” commented Jones theater technical director Chaz Sanders. “We have brick that we’ve made completely out of cardboard… all the metal that’s on our back wall was donated from a theater in town, Austin Shakespeare.” The show’s set design also pushed the sets team to literally new creative heights. “I think the biggest challenge of this show is that we have decided to utilize all 24 feet of our space, and it is very tall.” Latter stocks went up substantially as set building progressed.

The show also challenged its performers in a variety of ways. Senior Warren Mullinix, who plays Taylor Collins in the show, remarked how he needed to explore more emotionally serious and complex subjects than he has had to do previously. “Personally, this show has definitely been a big step because there is a big emotional responsibility; I have to portray very serious matters that are very real in society. It’s definitely been a challenge to figure out how to do that properly.” As Mullinix would go on to elaborate, “My character is a Vietnam vet who struggles with PTSD and addiction. And so those are the things I portray on stage.”

But what will the experience be like for you, (hypothetical) future audience member? Well, the nature of the show and the design of the Jones theater allow for the audience to truly become immersed in the show. Several times throughout the performance, actors will be interacting with audience members, performing numbers from the aisles, or just sitting down alongside audience members as they wait for their turn onstage. “You feel very immersed in the story as an audience member, which you don’t get very often when you go to see a show, but you’re really going to feel like you’re involved in the story, which is cool,” commented Stephanie. 

Overall, Brooklyn is a sort of mindful entertainment, a show which will make you think as well as feel. “After the show they [audience members] are all going to go to Chili’s, and they’re gonna want to talk about it for another hour and be like, ‘okay, I think this happened,’ ‘I think that,’ like, it gets your brain cooking,” remarked Stephanie. “I think it’s going to be the kind of show people talk about for a long time.” 

As one who got to see a run-through recently and get a glimpse of the show, I agree with Stephanie’s claims; I keep thinking about the show long after it finished. It immersed me in its world, and made me reflect not just on what really happened in the story, but also on the nature of stories themselves. How much are “true stories” made more fictional by—unfortunately, often self-serving—human creativity? And where do we draw the line between truth and fiction? And how do narratives we construct—for better or for worse—retroactively shape the way we view our past choices? If you are intrigued by these questions, are otherwise intrigued by the style of this show, or just love a good musical, perhaps you ought to get yourself a ticket, and witness the heart behind these stagehands. BKLYN The Musical opens Friday, February 20th at 7:30pm and runs through the weekend playing the same time Saturday and 2pm Sunday. It plays the same times the following weekend, February 27 through March 1st.