Review: New Village’s ‘(title of show)’ an earnest, amusing look at theater-making

by Pam Kragen

Back in the spring of 2004, writing buddies Hunter Bell and Jeff Bowen decided to enter a musical in a New York theater festival.

There was just one problem. The entry deadline was three weeks away and they had no script, score or even ideas. So they furiously threw together a musical about themselves writing a musical and based their show-within-a-show on the writing process, their up-and-down friendship and their shared passion for Broadway performers, shows and theatrical tropes.

The result was “(title of show),” a very meta musical that ultimately made its way to Broadway in 2008 and is now being presented onstage at New Village Arts Theatre in Carlsbad. As an example of just how meta “(title of show)” is, one of the real-life characters in that original Broadway production, Heidi Blickenstaff (she played herself as a struggling Broadway actor), did become a star and she’s now leading the cast of the world premiere musical “The Heart” just 23 miles away at La Jolla Playhouse.

Caleb Wohlgemuth, left, Kylie Young, Tommy Tran and Becca Myers in New Village Arts' "(title of show)." (Jason Sullivan) — Caleb Wohlgemuth, left, Kylie Young, Tommy Tran and Becca Myers in New Village Arts’ “(title of show).” (Jason Sullivan)

The show was written by and for theaterphiles who obsess over things like Stephen Sondheim, Bernadette Peters, theatrical song and book structure and Broadway show trivia, but specifically from the period of 2004 to 2008 when the show was being written and revised. Today, many of the references in the one-act, 100-minute musical are dated, and audience members unfamiliar with theater history are likely to miss many of the references and inside jokes.

But with all that being said, New Village Arts’ production is a likable, amusing and earnest staging with four ebullient actors directed with playfulness and energy by Desireé Clarke Miller.

Caleb Wohlgemuth and Tommy Tran co-star as the show’s real-life creators, Hunter Bell and Jeff Bowen. Wohlgemuth has a tender, boyish sensibility as the creatively blocked bookwriter Hunter, and Tran’s performance as composer/lyricist Jeff is more focused, intense and driven.

Becca Myers gives the most broadly comic performance in the show as Bell and Bowen’s funny friend Susan who has given up on theater (in real life writer/actress Susan Blackwell). And Kylie Young gives the show’s best overall performance as Heidi (Blickenstaff), the emotionally grounded actor who hopes “(title of show)” will help her finally break out of playing ensemble roles (and it did).

Some of the show’s best-performed numbers are Heidi’s reflective “A Way Back to Then,” Jeff and Hunter’s duet “Two Nobodies in New York,” Susan’s self-esteem-themed “Die Vampire, Die!” and the self-affirming quartet “Nine People’s Favorite Thing!”

Erin Vanderhyde Gross served as music director and Kevin “Blax” Burroughs created movement. The show’s scenic design of an apartment filled with books and playbills and a chalkboard wall was designed by Atria Pirouzmand and Ali Roustaei, Janelle Arnold designed costumes, Evan Eason designed sound and Sammy Z Webster designed lighting.

How much you enjoy “(title of show)” may depend on how steeped you are in theater lore and the craft of theater-making, but even without that background it’s amiable entertainment with several good songs.