Love Online
Laurie Beechman Theatre, NYC, October 19, 2022
Reviewed by Bart Greenberg
The York Theatre Company presented a new musical-theater piece, Love Online, at the Laurie Beechman Theatre. It was conceived and written by Diane Love, who also starred in the show along with Jay Nickerson. It was a simple tale about two middle-aged people, both divorced—she mildly eccentric, he rather bitter—who take a chance with an online dating service. In the show are 30 songs, including “Too Close for Comfort,” “Anyone Can Whistle,” and “On Top of Old Smokey,” which made this one of the better-assembled “juke-box” musicals. The excellent pianist Gerry Dieffenbach served as music director, and Joseph Hayward provided rudimentary direction. The show was a strange mixture of the charming and the positive along with misfires and muddiness, which made for a program that could have been much more than its elements.
The story was a simple (really too simple) one that comfortably filled the hour-long running time. The couple met on a dating site that she turned to after having experienced too many fix-ups, and when he turned to when he was about ready to give up after too many match-ups. These were all very amusingly summed up in a few telling and specific details. The two connected and chatted online, and she was often befuddled about the simplest things. They finally agreed to meet. They had one lengthy date spent getting to know one another (including the discovery that they had glimpsed each other at a summer camp as teens). After that, he seemed to have a panic attack and called things off.
One of the problems with the show was that the audience never got to know either of the characters, so there wasn’t much for them to cheer for. The two personalities remained unnamed throughout the show, and only bits and pieces of information were provided: how each one felt about dogs (he considered his pet his best friend; she didn’t want to be tied down) and about their careers (she’s a portrait painter; he’s an anthropology teacher). Other than a single reference to her son, neither one seemed to have family or friends (or, in his case, even a single favorite student in his case).
The dialogue was spare in almost Pinteresque fashion, with all the emotion being found in the songs, which were mostly presented as interior monologues. The songs were very well chosen indeed, especially when they were offered as contrasting views: her “Blues in the Night” against his “I Won’t Send Roses” and her “Knowing When to Leave” against his “Nice and Easy.” Well-known pieces were used in unexpected ways, such as “On a Clear Day (You Can See Forever)” used as a song about relationships. There was a veritable song cycle at a dramatic high point that consisted of surprisingly contrasting material: “Goodbye for Now,” “But Not for Me,” “Listen Here,” “I Can See Clearly Now,” and “Kiss Her Now.”
The two performers were charming and quirky in rather different ways. Love inhabited her character, which was in turns quirky, warm, both naïve, and worldly This may sound contradictory, but she made these all blend into one personality. Love’s singing voice was somewhat problematic; it fit her role, but it tended to roam on and off-key as though she were uncertain where it should land next. It was not totally unpleasant, but in a piece so dependent on musical performance it did call for more work. Nickerson had a far more flexible voice that occasionally had a surprising resemblance to that of Alan Alda’s. It worked well for this slightly faded leading man. He was a fine detailed actor as well.
Overall, Love Online seemed to be a work in progress. With its short running time, it could indeed be expanded to include more character development, and the story (which seemed rushed rushed) could use more resonance. The intelligence and sense of theater in what was presented encouraged one to wonder how much more could be discovered and shared.
