Theater Thursday - From Here

What: From Here

Where: Available at  fromhere.com or eqfl.org/fromhere through June 28, 2020

Mom's view: From Here is a musical about the Pulse Nightclub shooting that took place in Orlando, Florida exactly four years ago last week. However, it is not an elegy. It neither takes place in the Pulse Nightclub at all nor does it involve any characters that were directly effected by the shooting. This makes it easier to bare emotionally but also harder to relate to. Hearing characters reminiscence about friends of theirs that were not a part of the story before does not have the same emotional impact as if those characters had been a part of the story or at least mentioned prior to that point.

This is not primarily a story about the Pulse shooting nor is it a completely dark and depressing show from start to finish. In fact, there is quite a lot of humor throughout the early part of the show. The main story revolves around a character named Daniel and his friends and his relationships. He is in the process of ending one relationship and beginning another during the course of the show. He is also dealing with his estrangement from his mother. All in all, however, the show seems to be trying to be and do too many things at once and none of them are fully developed and/or the development is offstage which blunts their impact. This is also partly due to the latter part of the show mostly dealing with the characters reactions to the Pulse shootings, and therefore, the rest of the story development seems rushed. The show is a nice tribute to the victims of the shooting, however, and it does have some nice moments within the story as well. Daniel's unreturned phone calls to his mother throughout the early part of the show are poignant. His relationship with his new boyfriend is sweet particularly in their last scene. His final speech is touching.

The show also has some appealing songs. Some of them are quite relatable like the title song about not knowing where to go from where you are in your life right now which is something all of us feel at times especially during difficult times like the present one. There is also a song about hating the same people bringing people together which is relatable but also horrifying to think about. The song is actually more about being united in one's pet peeves but it makes you think about the extension of that idea into being united into hating particular groups of people for little or no reason which can eventually lead to tragedies like the Pulse Nightclub shootings. This is particularly relevant in light of what is going on right now.

The show is being presented in connection with Equality Florida, a group dedicated to honoring the victims of the Pulse shooting with action. A current primary focus of the group's #HonorThemWithAction campaign is encouraging people to make the change they want to see in the world by exercising their right to vote, a message that is not only commendable but more important than ever now.

And that's Mom's view.

For more about From Here or to watch the show go to fromhere.com or eqfl.org/fromhere.

Tune in Sunday for this week's Sunday Scoop.

Photo credits: All From Here production photos by Ashleigh Ann Gardner