Lincoln Clauss and Cast Photo by Evgenia Eliseeva

If you like standing on the dance floor, dodging moving set pieces, and getting up close and personal with the performers, then Burn All Night is for you. There a lot of thumping, loud music that you can dance to, energetic actor/singers who are great to look at, and an apocalyptic tale for our times. Set in the New York City club scene, think of it as a modern take on Nero fiddling while Rome was burning. Burn asks the musical question, "What would you do if the world was ending tomorrow?" and four lost souls decide to change partners and dance.

Bookwriter/lyricist Andy Mientus was inspired by his personal back story about coming of age in the big city to write a play that resonates with twenty-somethings stepping into adulthood. When he discovered that the play wanted to be a musical, he collaborated with Van Hughes, Nick LaGrasta, and Brett Moses of the band Teen Commandments. Their pop score serves up the inner thoughts and feelings of the characters and excites the Oberon crowd. (My observation of the most excitable patrons, the ones who clearly knew all the lyrics to the songs and jumped around with abandon, led me to believe that there were a few plants in the crowd to get things going, but that could just be the cynic in me.)

Despite the fact that only one of the characters has a job, and they spend most of their time fiddling and canoodling, they are a gloomy bunch. Granted, they experience a colossal upheaval when New York City is hit by an earthquake, and each has a personal cross to bear, but nothing that we haven't seen in our own lives or in a million previous plays or movies. Bobby (sympathetically portrayed by sweet-voiced, baby-faced Lincoln Clauss) recently lost his father and can't take his mother micromanaging his life, so he moves to New York with no prospects and no place to live. Fortuitously, he steps off the bus into the waiting arms of his childhood friend Holly (Krystina Alabado), the one with the job and a spacious (apparently) apartment she is willing to share. How that will sit with her depressed musician boyfriend Zak (Ken Clark) is never really considered, nor does she seem too concerned about Zak when the charming Will (Perry Sherman), also recently fatherless, becomes the leader of their little pack and more.

The four leads are supported by a singing/dancing ensemble referred to as The Kids—Gabrielle Carrubba, Aurie Ceylon, Marquis Johnson, Ashley LaLonde, AJ Rafael, MJ Rodriguez, and Jamar Williams—who showcase the somewhat robotic choreography of Sam Pinkleton. Director Jenny Koons makes great use of all corners of the space, including a balcony tier, the aforementioned moving set pieces, and the dance floor itself. Lighting designer Bradley King employs a variety of effects to set mood and tone, Jessica Paz equips everyone with head mics to help the singers compete with the musicians, and costume designer Evan Prizant adds definition to the personalities of each character. Music supervision and vocal arrangements are by Cian McCarthy, and Michael Mastroianni is the onstage band leader.

Serious artistic efforts to bring young people into the theater are to be applauded and encouraged, and Burn All Night does that in spades. However, its characters are not fleshed out and it feels incomplete. That may be a metaphor for the demographic it hopes to connect with, but the theatergoer of any age deserves to experience a finished product.

Performances through September 8, 2017, by American Repertory Theater at Oberon, Zero Arrow Street, Cambridge, MA; Box Office 617-547-8300 or www.americanrepertorytheater.org.

Burn All Night, Book & Lyrics by Andy Mientus; Music by Van Hughes, Nicholas LaGrasta, Brett Moses; Scenic Designer, Sara Brown; Costume Designer, Evan Prizant; Lighting Designer, Bradley King; Sound Designer, Jessica Paz; Production Stage Manager, Taylor Brennan; Music Supervision & Vocal Arrangements, Cian McCarthy; Choreographer, Sam Pinkleton; Director, Jenny Koons

Cast (in order of appearance): Lincoln Clause, Ken Clark, Krystina Alabado, Perry Sherman; The Kids: Gabrielle Carrubba, Aurie Ceylon, Marquis Johnson, Ashley LaLonde, AJ Rafael, MJ Rodriguez, Jamar Williams

Band: Michael Mastroianni, Maxime Cholley, Maddie Jay, Claudio Rainó