Theater review by Raven Snook
The seductive new rock musical The Lonely Few fills the hot-lesbian-love hole that Lempicka left when it closed. Lila—played stunningly by Jagged Little Pill's Lauren Patten—is a rural Kentucky rocker with lots of talent but no illusions: Her dead mom, dead-end job and deadbeat older brother, Adam (Peter Mark Kendall), don’t leave room for dreams. Her only solace is playing with her band at a local bar owned by her drummer, Paul (Thomas Silcott), whose former stepdaughter Amy (Taylor Iman Jones, steely and sultry) is an up-and-coming singer-songwriter. When the recently jilted Amy drops by one night, she and Lila lock souls across the room. They are kindred queer spirits in the Deep South, and Lila slowly opens herself up to the possibility of a life that includes romantic and artistic fulfillment.
Watching these two women make beautiful music together is heart-melting. Whenever the cast—which includes Damon Daunno as Lila's bass-playing BFF, Dylan, and Helen J Shen's JJ on keyboards—performs songwriter Zoe Sarnak's bona fide headbangers, the show is a delight. Her R&B-inflected numbers for Amy are also solid. Sibyl Wickersheimer's wonderfully evocative dive bar, decked with holiday lights, features onstage seating that brings audiences into the heart of this rock-and-roll romance. Amid the show’s frequently in-you-face action, co-directors Trip Cullman and Ellenore Scott and lighting designer Adam Honoré find ways to craft intimate moments between lovers and family members.
Rachel Bonds's book is the one place The Lonely Few goes off-tune. As Bonds proved in Jonah, she's a wiz at achingly vulnerable dialogue. (After they hook up, Lila tells Amy it was her "first time with someone who really looked at me." Ouch!) But the supporting characters are all quirks and clichés—JJ is kookily insecure, Dylan is jittery about his impending fatherhood—and despite Kendall's excellent efforts, Adam is never much more than the albatross Lila must shake. But when Lila and Amy are connecting in music, the story's flaws melt away. That's when The Lonely Few truly sings.
The Lonely Few. MCC Theater (Off Broadway). Music and lyrics by Zoe Sarnak. Book by Rachel Bonds. Directed by Trip Cullman and Ellenore Scott. With Lauren Patten, Taylor Iman Jones, Damon Daunno, Helen J Shen, Thomas Silcott, Peter Mark Kendall. Running time: 1hr 45mins. No intermission.
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The Lonely Few | Photograph: Courtesy Joan Marcus