Kid Victory

Kid Victory is a musical with the story by John Kander and Greg Pierce, and music by John Kander, book and lyrics by Greg Pierce, co-produced by Vineyard Theatre and Signature Theatre.

Kid Victory
Kid Victory logo (2017 Vineyard Theatre Production)
MusicJohn Kander
LyricsGreg Pierce
BookGreg Pierce
Productions2015 Signature Theatre
2017 Vineyard Theatre
AwardsOuter Critics Circle Award - Outstanding New Musical (nominated)

Production

The musical premiered at the Signature Theatre, Arlington, Virginia from February 17 to March 22, 2015.[1] The show was subsequently reworked and performed Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre from February 1, 2017 to March 19, 2017.[2] Direction was by Liesl Tommy with choreography by Christopher Windom.[1] Its 2017 showing was described by its producers as a "hauntingly mesmerizing original musical" about "breaking out and breaking through".[2]

Background

Kander and Pierce met when Kander visited students at his alma mater, Oberlin College, where Pierce was a student. They kept in touch as Pierce graduated, moved to New York, and began his career in theater, acting and writing. The two wrote a chamber musical together, The Landing, which ran Off-Broadway in 2013. [3] For Kid Victory, they looked at many kidnapping cases. Kander observed :"I think the thing that appealed was that there’s nothing about adjusting back into life, or very little in terms of our research. When you think about it, that’s the main thing. Terrible things happen to people, but what happens then? How do you manage? Who do you become?"[4]

Plot

17 year old High school senior and sailboat enthusiast Luke returns to his small, Kansas town after an unplanned, unannounced one-year absence. Luke finds it difficult to reconnect with friends and family or to focus on school work. He experiences recurrent flashbacks of his year-long absence and the events and relationship leading up to it. Luke had been communicating on the internet with Michael; his screen name was "Kid Victory". As he tries to readjust, Luke develops a growing friendship with the town misfit, divorcee Emily. His parents, Eileen and Joseph, finally understand that to reconnect with their son, they must confront unnerving truths about his disappearance.[2][5]

Casts

Sources: Playbill;[6] BroadwayWorld[7]

Character Arlington, Virginia
(2015)		 Off–Broadway
(2017)
Luke Jake Winn Brandon Flynn
Mom/Eileen Christiane Noll Karen Ziemba
Dad/Joseph Christopher Bloch Daniel Jenkins
Emily Sarah Litzsinger Dee Roscioli
Suze/Girl Laura Darrell
Andrew/Boy Parker Drown Blake Zolfo
Gail/Woman Valerie Leonard Ann Arvia
Detective Marks/Man Bobby Smith Joel Blum
Michael Jeffry Denman

Songs

Note: Songs listed as performed in the Off-Broadway production, 2017[8]

  • Lord, Carry Me Home
  • A Single Tear
  • Plain White Card
  • Lawn
  • You Are the Marble
  • I'll Marry the Man
  • People Like Us
  • Vinland
  • Not Quite True
  • There Was a Boy
  • Dear Mara
  • I'd Rather Wait
  • Regatta 500
  • What's the Point
  • You, If Anyone
  • Where We Are

Critical response

Kid Victory at the Signature Theatre was reviewed by The Washington Times. The reviewer wrote: "This is dark material, made no less traumatic by the fact that this is, after all, a musical. The songs by Mr. Kander and Mr. Pierce vacillate between the morbid and the light of foot... Liesl Tommy’s direction takes full advantage of the Signature’s expansive stage, allowing her to block multiple scenes simultaneously, often in inspired counterpoint. This has the effect of giving the audience a choice of where to direct attention and seeks active participation...the story and the production are strangely lacking in empathy between material and audience.".[9]

For its 2017 production, Kid Victory was reviewed by The Hollywood Reporter[10] and by The Guardian[11]

Ben Brantley in his review for The New York Times of the Off-Broadway production, wrote: "...the subject of 'Kid Victory' feels especially unpromising for any musical that doesn’t aspire to grim, grand (guignol) opera or creepy camp. And this latest teaming of Mr. Kander and Mr. Pierce ... definitely has other aspirations, toward a laudable but elusive psychology delicacy... Mr. Kander mines a number of musical veins, including the jaunty jazz and vaudeville pastiches for which he is best known, with results that are scattered, a bit bewilderingly, among the characters."[12]

Awards and nominations

The Off-Broadway production received 2017 nominations:

  • Lucille Lortel Awards — Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical, Karen Ziemba [13]
  • Outer Critics Circle Awards — Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical[14]
  • Drama Desk Awards — Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical, Jeffry Denman[15]
  • Chita Rivera Awards — Outstanding Male Dancer in an Off-Broadway Show, Blake Zolfo[16]
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References
  1. Kid Victory Signature Theatre
  2. Kid Victory Vineyard Theatre
  3. The Landing vineyardtheatre.org, retrieved October 23, 2017
  4. Pressley, Nelson. "Kander’s second act: Kander and Pierce, with new musical 'Kid Victory' " The Washington Post, February 13, 2015
  5. Kid Victory castalbums.com
  6. Franklin, Marc J. "Meet the Cast of 'Kid Victory' at the Vineyard Theatre" Playbill, January 5, 2017
  7. Kid Victory broadwayworld.com, January 21, 2015
  8. Sommer, Elyse. "A CurtainUp Review. 'Kid Victory' " CurtainUp, February 18, 2017
  9. Althoff, Eric."THEATER REVIEW: ‘Kid Victory’" The Washington Times, March 1, 2015
  10. Review of Kid Victory The Hollywood Reporter, February 2, 2017
  11. Review of Kid Victory The Guardian, February 22, 2017.
  12. Brantley, Ben. Review of Kid Victory The New York Times, February 22, 2017
  13. Staff. "2017 Lucille Lortel Awards Presented May 7" Playbill, May 7, 2017
  14. Cox, Gordon. "Outer Critics Circle Nominations: 'Anastasia,' 'Hello, Dolly!' Lead the Pack (Full List)" Variety, April 25, 2017
  15. McPhee, Ryan. "2017 Drama Desk Awards Presented June 4" Playbill, June 4, 2017
  16. McPhee, Ryan. " 'Bandstand', 'Sweet Charity', and More Earn Chita Rivera Award Nominations" Playbill, May 1, 2017
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