Review: Rubicon Theatre Company’s ‘Somebody to Love’ Has Promise

The Rubicon Theatre Company, long one of Ventura County’s most adventurous producing organizations, presents its 50th world premiere, this time with Somebody to Love, a vintage-rock jukebox musical that has some shining moments amid a script that generally lacks lasting impact. Still, the concept, despite its lackluster execution, has potential with ample reworking.

Four freshmen at Columbia University become lifelong friends via a “verbal contract” to stay in each other’s lives through the decades, beginning in 1973 and stretching to 2008. They are Nick Gallagher (Rustin Cole Sailors), an aspiring rock musician; Cynthia (Sophia Alawi), a dancer who quickly finds herself in a relationship with Nick; Joe (Donovan Mendelovitz), a classical flutist who never gets the girl; and Gerianne (Gizel Jiménez), a Political Science major and activist.

In the years following graduation, Gerianne becomes a lawyer, Joe accepts a gig as a high-school music teacher, Cynthia finds professional success as a dancer, and Nick, the driving protagonist, achieves his solo-star dreams after meeting manager Walt (F. Michael Haynie), but it’s his failing to attend Cynthia’s recital in Los Angeles that sets in motion a chain of events involving something resembling a redemption arc. There is, furthermore, a shock revelation toward the end that does a key character a great disservice in the scheme of a narrative that would have been better served by fuller character dimensions. With some strategic fine-tuning, Somebody to Love could be a Rock of Ages-adjacent crowd-pleaser.

Writers Robert Sternin and Prudence Fraser, best known for The Nanny, have something of value here, but it remains undercooked within a series of developments that often feel arbitrary or emotionally undernourished. While some lines elicit sizeable laughs, a lot of the verbiage is clichéd (e.g., “She’s a woman, not a chick”), heavy-handed (e.g., “You might be a judge but you don’t have to judge me”), or abrupt before the next song which, unlike most musicals with original music, does not advance the plot so much as bring it to a screeching stop. As such, the musical’s progression and reactions of the characters don’t seem earned but imposed as a means of getting to the next scene and number. The title, too, carries a whiff of false advertising, suggesting a major nod to Queen rather than the comparatively lesser-known lineage of “Somebody to Love” associated with The Great Society and Jefferson Airplane. Fran Drescher, who attended the March 28th opening night with Nanny co-star Charles Shaughnessy, even scored her highly publicized Instagram post to the tune sung by Freddie Mercury.

Notwithstanding the inchoate stakes, the performers do their best to entertain by keeping things punchy, particularly with their songs. Director Sean Daniels doesn’t allow much to get bogged down with a spirited pacing that pushes the flow with enough stimuli to stave off the perils of ennui.

Sailors, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Pedro Pascal, believably embodies the credo of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll, while conveying the ebbs and flows of a misunderstood idol, inclusive of a haunting regret. His rendition of Kiss’ “Rock and Roll All Nite” is a vocal scorcher and his “Feel Like Makin’ Love” by Bad Company is zestful, well-complemented by Alawi’s smitten Cynthia, who joins in with “Feel like Makin’ Love” by Roberta Flack — two songs with the same title and released only a year apart — in an interesting duet mashup.

Mendelovitz makes for an affable Joe, reinforcing the idea that artistic (or academic) success is often shaped by the educators who recognize and nurture students early. That dynamic is reflected in Jesse Graham’s stuck-in-detention Silverstein who is empowered to impeccably unleash a drum routine — via miming for the audience — in sync with actual drummer Emiliano Almeida on the stage floor. Above Almeida, the second-level band — including music director/conductor/keyboardist Brett Ryback, guitarists Perry Cowdery and Jeffrey Dunn, bassist Andrew Hill, and saxophonist/flutist/clarinetist David Olivas — fervently contributes to the live-music atmosphere.

Jiménez, who previously starred as Nessarose in Broadway’s Wicked, gives the best overall performance as “Geri,” a staunch advocate of human rights, including those of her own to live freely and without judgment. Jiménez delivers a hair-raising sustained belt in Act II’s “Takin’ It to the Streets” that ranks among the most robust vocal moments audiences are likely to hear anywhere this season. Stella, an Army lieutenant who initially befriends Gerianne at a protest, is realized with a potent rawness by Alexis Semevolos-Velazquez who emotes with a unique timbre that is outside the usual musical-theater interpretations.

Haynie, sporting a mullet and track suit as Walt, provides much of the levity in the musical, notably with a pointed quip about the military’s presence in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia during Desert Storm, where Nick performs a benefit while in the throes of an existential crisis. It is probably the cleverest line in the production. Haynie, moreover, is an excellent songster, with “Easy Money” marking his finest hour.

Among the ensemble, Desmond Newson glows with charisma as the “not gay” co-dancer of Cynthia; John Gregorio successfully wears many hats as Nick’s father, a record executive, and a Venice Beach rollerblader; Kayla Quiroz stands out with humorous facial expressions as Cynthia’s mom/roommate and Joe’s student; Soleil Perry and Molly Kirschenbaum inhabit Joe’s daughter Natalie who is also one of Nick’s most ardent fans; and Presley Nicholson and Mea Wilkerson are the “Razzle and Dazzle” twosome who keep Nick company on the road during rock tours.

The pleasing two-story wood-centric set by Mike Billings, which would also be a fitting setting for Once, not only grounds the goings-on but ingeniously conceals (and, when appropriate, unveils) the band behind wall panels additionally responsible for receiving projections by Andrés Poch which pinpoint exactly when and where these characters are along their continuum. Brian Gale’s lighting, to this aim, ensures the stage appears compellingly illuminated whether there is a dramatic exchange or Nick is regaling his fans at The Roxy in L.A., for instance. Pamela Shaw’s costumes thoughtfully track the shifting styles and social attitudes of the passing eras. Danny Fiandaca’s sound design rings out the voices and the band’s instrumentation with a rousing clarity, and choreographer Becca Sweitzer, like director Daniels, keeps any onstage lingering to a minimum as a means of sustaining the musical’s briskness.

Overall, Somebody to Love is reminiscent of a workshopped production, with writing that neither commits fully to being a comedy nor an evocative drama, yielding only a tepid dramedy that misfires in maximizing the journeys of these four intertwined characters over four decades. Nonetheless, the performances and design work are undoubtedly of a high caliber because of the esteemed professionals behind them. Those strengths, however, are not matched by the musical’s script as a whole, which ultimately falls short of realizing the full potential of its generationally rooted premise. Hopefully, there’s still time, and the inclination, to rethink its framework.

Cover image caption: Left to right are Desmond Newson, Molly Kirschenbaum, Presley Nicholson, Rustin Cole Sailors, Mea Wilkerson, Jesse Graham, and Kayla Quiroz in the world premiere of Somebody to Love at the Rubicon Theatre Company in Ventura, CA. Photo is by Lore Photography.

Rubicon Theatre Company’s world-premiere production of Somebody to Love runs through Sunday, April 19th. For tickets and more information, visit rubicontheatre.org.