By John Lyle Belden
The musical “Ordinary Days,” an Off-Broadway hit by Adam Gwon, asks us to see the special in the mundane, presenting us with four New Yorkers just trying to live their lives while at the same time pondering their purpose.
Presented by Mud Creek Players, we meet Warren (Angie Ticen), an aspiring artist who is trying in vain to promote a fellow creative by cat-sitting for him while he’s in jail (for making art in violation of the law). The pithy inspirational sayings her mentor wrote on walls, she has made into flyers that no one wants to take.
One flutters to the ground, picked up absent-mindedly by Deb (Paige Butler), a grad student who is more concerned with her thesis on Virginia Woolf. However, once she gets back to her apartment, she finds the book with all of her notes is missing. In a bit of synchronicity, Warren sees the book by a Central Park bench and picks it up.
Meanwhile, Jason (Noah Nordman) is moving in with his girlfriend Claire (Jacklyn Rhinesmith), which soon tests their relationship. Their tension will only build, as he is a hopeless romantic while she is cautious by nature, and for a reason she is reluctant to tell.
Warren arranges to meet Deb at the Metropolitan Museum of Art to give her the book, a public place to reassure her that she is “not a wierdo” – in a manner that nearly convinces that she is. Meanwhile, among the exhibits, Jason and Claire find they might not have as much in common as they thought.
Sung-through in catchy tunes with heartfelt lyrics, these four make their way towards a beautiful climactic scene that transforms their everyday struggle to relate to one another into something extra-ordinary. The result is a truly New York story that touches us all.
Ticen is a delight as a fairly goofy artist who wants to make a serious impact on the world – somehow. Her impulsive behavior fortunately pays off in hoping Deb is also gay. As for Butler, she presents a compulsive planner finding herself rethinking the plan, dabbling in spontaneity.
Nordman’s Jason is the kind of dreamer who neglects to see if his partner is on the same cloud. His adventurousness is tempered with knowing “you don’t do New York alone.” Rhinesmith’s Claire is sweet but guarded with her own suppressed fear to “let things go.”
Dani Lopez-Roque directs, assisted by Nicole Crabtree. Stage manager Jalynn Cheatham and crew Jalecia Cheatham also appear as needed in a few scenes.
The little inspirational flyers end up everywhere, so feel free to take one. “Ordinary Days” has just two more days, Friday and Saturday, Sept. 18-19, at the Mud Creek Barn, 9740 E. 86th St., Indianapolis. Get tickets at mudcreekplayers.org.
