What do you do when your apartment is burgled, your job kinda sucks, money is tight, and love eludes you? Worst of all, your only possessions are a “hang in there” cat calendar and the Neil Diamond III CD (“the best songs are on one and two”)? Well, if you’re Josh Cohen, you just keep on keeping on.
The Other Josh Cohen, on stage at MusicalFare Theatre until May 22, is a completely loveable story about a guy who hates February 14 and 15 equally because Valentine’s Day and the Ides of February just aren’t his days…until a series of circumstances turns it all around.
This is 90 minutes of absolute delight on a stage, with music, including a Neil Diamond appearance. I mean, come on…what’s not to love? Director Randall Kramer gets this all right with a superb cast and a adorably quirky and endearing story by David Rossmer and Steve Rosen
There are actually three Josh Cohens involved here. The story unfolds in retrospect as Narrator Josh (Zak Ward) details a critical time when Last Year’s Josh (Joseph Donohue III) encounters the ‘other’ Josh (Brandon Barry) when Other Josh’s mom sends a hefty check to Last Year’s Josh’s almost-empty apartment. What to do? This big chunk o’ change could turn Last Year’s Josh’s life around….but then again….so can doing the right thing.
Along this journey we meet Last Year Josh’s parents, his landlord, his neighbors, the other Josh’s mom, Darth Vadar, and a few women not meant for any Josh. In between there are plenty of laughs (not belly busting slap stick guffaws, but the delectable, sly chuckling kind that are more enduring and infectious), and some really good tunes. The earworm for the night is “Samuel Cohen’s Family Tree,” a story song that sets up the family lineage with a tune that will remind you of Jimmy Buffet’s “Cheeseburger in Paradise.” If you’re not smiling by the second chorus, well then, it just sucks to be you.
The band members (all three Josh actors) plus music director Theresa Quinn, Robert Insana, and Solange Gosselin) are on stage and do double and triple duty as various cast members. It’s a hoot to watch them effortlessly glide from role to role. Quinn is the standout stepping out from the behind the keyboards to be Josh mom I and II and Neil. Insana kills it when – as Josh’s dad – he meticulously voices his answering machine. This band is tight, the vocals are excellent, and it’s all easy on the ears. Chris Cavanagh kept the set simple and effective and used some subtle lighting to shift the mood as needed. Costumer Kari Drozd dressed Narrator Josh and Last Year’s Josh identically: it’s only in the demeanor and quiet wisdom (and facial hair) that you see the difference. It all worked.
Underneath the gags and gimmicks, there’s a message for the ages: goodness will always win, and patience pays off.
The Other Josh Cohen runs 90 minutes without an intermission. Visit www.musicalfare.com for details and tickets.