The bracing story, jointly created by Kander and Pierce, deals with a Midwestern youth who’d been abducted by a deranged predator. He is back home, after being gone for almost a year. His rigid, highly religious mother wants everything “back to normal”—with his returning to school, church, his old friends and girlfriend—as soon as possible. But it is not easy for him to even speak to anyone, and he hasn’t yet sorted out his own feelings. Others seem far more certain than he as to what he should be doing with his life. This is the only musical I’ve ever seen in which the protagonist—who’s often feeling trapped—doesn’t get to sing at all, while everyone else does. Flashbacks gradually show us more and more of what he experienced in the time he was away. I don’t want to write more plot details, because I don’t want to spoil the surprises for potential audience members. 

The nine actors, directed by Liesl Tommy, have been very well cast: Karen Ziemba, as the youth’s mother and Daniel Jenkins, as the father, helped give the show a firm foundation from the start. Newcomer Brandon Flynn carries off well the demanding role of the youth who’s struggling with so much. Dee Roscioli added warmth and comic relief. Jeffrey Denman handled persuasively the role of the captor. And newcomer Blake Zolfo shone brightly in a small but essential role. He also gets to sing and dance with great insouciance, one of the best numbers in the score, “What’s the Point?.”