The musical First Date, at the New Jewish Theatre, grew from a book by Austin Winsberg based largely on personal experiences. Winsberg then worked with Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner who wrote music and lyrics to create the musical First Date, with book by Winsberg. It opened in Seattle in 2012 and then on Broadway the next year.
The play takes place in a restaurant in New York. The waiter seats a young man, Aaron, who is obviously a little nervous. He is then joined by a young woman, Casey, relaxed and at ease, probably more accustomed than he to the blind date that this is, arranged by her sister whose husband works with Aaron.Casey orders drinks to ease the evening. Her friend Reggie calls on her phone and offers to let her use the call as a way to get out of the date. But she decides to stick with Aaron, and as they talk, they share memories of summer camps nearby and of high school in their neighboring towns.
When they mention that he is Jewish and she is not, is indeed an atheist, Aaron drifts into a dream sequence in which his grandmother chastises him for not dating a nice Jewish girl, Casey’s very Christian father (whom Aaron has never met) appears in the dream to say that he does not want to have a Jewish son-in-law, and then Aaron imagines that the son he might have with Casey challenges him about which religion to choose and wishes he had never been born.
When Casey takes something Aaron says the wrong way, the conversation dries up, and Casey now imagines that her sister Lauren visits and reminds her that her biological clock is ticking and she must not screw this date up. So it goes, with the imaginary visits and with a shared dinner and finally leaving the restaurant and her asking him to walk her home, which ends, finally, with a kiss.
Two other couples are seated at tables on either side of Casey and Aaron. They are the ones who become the persons in the imaginations of Casey and Aaron.
At New Jewish, Molly Wennstrom is Casey and Mitchell Henry-Eagles is Aaron. They maintain the right varying rhythms and attitudes throughout the play, funny but rarely ridiculous. Jayson Heil, Drew Mizell, Greta Rosenstock, and Grace Seidel make up the other two couples and their various manifestations. Will Bonfiglio plays the sympathetic waiter perfectly.
Lee Anne Mathews provided the clear, careful direction and choreography. Larry D. Pry is the musical director and is on the keyboard, and he with Matthew Cole on guitar, Brandon Thompson on woodwinds, and Joseph Winters on drums make the music as good as music gets. John Stark designed the scenery, Jenisse Chavez the lighting, Michele Friedman Siler the costumes, and Amanda Werre the sound. Emily Clinger is the stage manager. Orchestrations are by August Erksmoen with vocal and incidental music arrangements by Dominic Amendum.
First date—-we’ve all been there, and it’s a pleasure to see it treated as a pleasure at the New Jewish Theatre.
—Bob Wilcox
Photo by Jon Gitchoff
Front from the left: Molly Wennstrom as Casey and Mitch Henry-Eagles as Aaron.
Rear from the left: Greta Rosenstock, Jayson Heil, Will Bonfiglio, Drew Mizell, and Grace Seidel
