Okay, this one wasn’t my thing.

Hi everyone – I’ll jump right in. I saw the opening night performance of a brand new Broadway-aimed musical, In Dreams. It’s a jukebox musical featuring the music of Roy Orbison (“Oh, Pretty Woman,” “You Got It,” “Handle with Care,” etc). I’m typically a bit hesitant about jukebox musicals, and look… it’s not a bad show. It just wasn’t my thing.

This show had its world premier in July in Leeds, U.K., and is now in Toronto for – what I imagine the team hopes will be – its pre-Broadway trial. The show features Tony Award winner Lena Hall, West End star Oliver Tompsett, and Broadway veteran Alma Cuervo. Big names for theatre nerds.

In Dreams features an entirely new story written by David West Read with songs woven into it (a similar narrative style to Mamma Mia). David West Read is best known for writing the Tony Award winning musical “& Juliet” and for being a part of the Emmy-award winning writing team of Canadian TV show “Schitt’s Creek” (which I love).

The plot is simple but sweet. A young couple, Nicole and Oscar (played by Nasim Ramirez and Manuel Pacific, respectively) run a small Mexican restaurant that specializes in delicious food, margaritas, and memorial services. Lena Hall’s character, Kenna, is a former member of a fictional mid-tier band “Heartbreak Radio.” Kenna finds out at the top of the show that she has cancer and “the prognosis isn’t great,” so she decides to throw herself a memorial service before she goes, so that she can enjoy it. Kenna invites her old bandmates to come (one of whom is her former lover), but Oscar’s grandmother, Ana Sofia (Alma Cuervo), convinces her to not reveal to them that she’s dying. As my mom/theatre date pointed out, this is a similar premise to Mamma Mia: people traveling to a new destination under false pretenses, only to work through their issues, rekindle old relationships, and move forward with life.

There were some really great performances. Lena Hall’s voice is powerful-rock-goddess perfection. Sian Reese-Williams and Oliver Tompsett were also pitch-perfect and quite charismatic. And the trio of of Alma Cuervo, Manuel Pacific and Nasim Ramirez were truly wonderful. They felt like the emotional core of the show. Manuel had a really nice ballad toward the end of the second act that was a heartbreaking moment. I also thought it was cool that the playwright, David West Read, stepped in to fill a smaller role in the show, since the original actor was sick and the understudy had yet to be rehearsed. David gave it his all, which I respect immensely, and he looks like Cameron from Love is Blind Season 1. (You come here for the professional opinions, I know).

The set was decorated to look like the inside of Manuel and Nasim’s restaurant (see cover photo). It was realistic but stylized, and it definitely felt in tone with the rest of the show. Behind the set was a projection screen that would shift colours/design based on the needs of the scene at hand. I’ve seen this before, but I liked it.

I’ve spent some time thinking about why this wasn’t my favourite show, and I’ve broken it down into points in an effort to remain coherent:

1. I don’t think I was emotionally invested enough in the lead’s storyline. Not that I didn’t feel bad for her and her situation, but her plot didn’t tug at my heartstrings like Manuel’s B-plot about grieving his dead parents.
2. The transitions between the A-plot, B-plot, and C-plot felt a bit jarring to me. It felt more like I was watching a TV show with different vignettes than a play. This may be overly critical.
3. I thought there were too many ballads back-to-back in the second act. At some point, it sort of felt like they were trying to fit in as many Roy Orbison hits as they could, and some felt superfluous.
4. Some songs tied in really well to the plot, but not all songs.
5. The margaritas in the margarita dance song were so obviously fake that it bugged me. This is a minor complaint.
6. I don’t think I like Roy Orbison’s music enough.

Look, In Dreams was fun. It had some funny moments, and I liked the message around celebrating life. I got the feeling most big critics in the UK liked the show, and I’m sure lots of people will enjoy it. The audience leaving the theatre seemed enthusiastic about the show. I’ve just seen other things that have resonated with me more.

In Dreams is playing at the Ed Mirvish Theatre until November 12, 2023. You can grab tickets here.

Photo credit: Pamela Raith, Mirvish.com