The cast of ‘Found’ (photo: Kevin Thomas Garcia via The Broadway Blog.)
The New York theater season is proving to be filled with an invigorating sense of creativity, including the latest venture from the team that brought us [title of show]. With a book by Hunter Bell and Lee Overtree and music and lyrics by Eli Bolin, Found is an original musical based on scores of surprising and eccentric discarded notes and letters that have been “found” in the real world by every-day people.
Barrett Wilbert Weed and Nick Blaemire in ‘Found’ (photo: Kevin Thomas Garcia via The Broadway Blog.)
Inspired by actual events, the show follows Davy who, along with his two best friends, is lost and broke. When he finds a strangely revealing note on his windshield meant for someone else, it sparks an outlandish idea that finds him and his compatriots on a wild, comedic journey.
By bringing a host of real notes and letters from Davy Rothbart’s popular Found Magazine to irreverent theatrical life, this insightful new musical tells a story of ambition, betrayal and loyalty while celebrating the weirdness in all of us. And the critics agree. Raves have been pouring in since the show’s October 14 opening. Here’s a snapshot of what people are saying:
“Forget texting and Tumblr: The ebullient new musical “Found” is a throwback to the good old days when reminders were scribbled on scraps of paper, kiss-offs on Post-Its, excuses on the backs of envelopes.” New York Post
“The endearing new musical Found is literally scrappy: It’s organized around messages found on real-life notes, signs and other misplaced or discarded missives, as collected by Davy Rothbart in a magazine he has published sporadically since 2001. These scribbles offer glimpses into other people’s minds—funny, angry, weird, poignant—and have been organized into a paper trail for the plot of Found to follow. Nick Blaemire, sweet and bouncy as a gum ball, plays a fictionalized version of Davy; Barrett Wilbert Weed (in excellent voice) and Daniel Everidge are the decent-hearted roommates who help him follow his dream, and Betsy Morgan is the producer who tempts him to Hollywood.Six tip-top actors, including Community’s Danny Pudi and the limber Andrew Call, play dozens of side characters and bump up the energy with choreography, by Monica Bill Barnes, that adorably evokes real people dancing.” Time Out
“Visually, the show is a lot of fun to watch. David Korins’ amusing wallpaper set is plastered with blow-ups of the hand-written missives. Darrel Maloney’s projections keep coming at you fast and furious. And clever choreographer Monica Bill Barnes has drilled the cast in stylized arm and leg movements that are more interesting and wittier than formal dance steps.” Variety
“The ensemble of six are remarkable at playing and differentiating dozens of other characters — some just the one-sentence “voices” of found notes. Everything technical — from the unusually natural sound design to the orchestrations played by a combo of six arranged in little dugouts on the set, like more found objects — is top-notch, with special notice to the movement by modern dance choreographer Monica Bill Barnes.” Vulture.com
Found
Linda Gross Theater
336 West 20th Street
Through November 9
Proving to be one of the more difficult tickets to get, consider entering the Found lottery. Click Here for details.
