Theater Thursday- Breathe

 

What: Breathe A New Musical

Where: Streaming at Overture +

Who: 16 and Up Due to Subject Matter

When: Through 6/2/21

Breathe is a new pandemic-related online musical written and conceived by bestselling author, Jodi Picoult, and award-winning playwright Timothy Allen McDonald. The story takes place in a series of different standalone segments which in keeping with Picoult's novelist background are called chapters instead of scenes or acts. Although each one involves a completely separate story that can stand on its own they are all loosely interconnected as well. In addition to different actors, each chapter of the show has a completely different directing and song-writing team. Directors include Lorrin Latarro and Jeff Calhoun, and songwriters include Zina Goldrich and Marci Heisler, and Rob Rokicki and Rebecca Murillo. 

All the stories are related to the Coronavirus pandemic, and they include ones dealing with a woman having to rely on a man she practically just met to nurse her through Covid, a high powered couple having to manage their jobs and their three kids when stranded in quarantine without their nanny and more. The final chapter of the show is an epilogue which ties all the stories together.

Although the show does deal with the pandemic and not everything about it is happy for the most part the story is uplifting. The music is pretty and kind of wistful mostly reflecting on the character's inner thoughts. The acting is excellent as the cast is full of A-list actors including Denee Benton; Brian Stokes Mitchell; Kelly O'Hara;  married in real-life couple, Patti Murin and Colin Donnell, and more.  Overall, it is a nice hopeful little musical. 

And that's our view. For more information or to purchase a ticket to stream, Breathe, visit overture.plus/patron/breathe.

Tune in Sunday for this week's Sunday Scoop.