Marc Miller takes a look at Unexpected Joy:
Unexpected Joy has a cast of four women and possesses a chick-flick plot that, while original, might have been lifted from a Lifetime Movie of the Week. Wait, wait, don't go away. The new but long-in-development musical at the York is a cheerful, rousing celebration that also boasts surprising complexity in its characters and their warped relationships. It gives its talented quartet ample opportunity to belt, strut, emote, and work out believable conflicts in believable ways. High-estrogen it surely is, but this male was thoroughly entertained. Credit composer Janet Hood and especially librettist-lyricist Bill Russell, who really, really knows how to write women. . . . |
