‘L“If this isn’t your painting,” Ami says furiously to her artist boyfriend Ben. “You can’t just tear it down and start over.” But what happens if Ben gets into an accident, suffers amnesia, and accidentally reunites with Ami and has no recollection of their strained relationship? Even if Ami is a common Even if he is tormented by guilt for not revealing his past, it may be a new start for both of them.
The duo of Timothy Knapman and Stuart Matthew Price have a lofty Hollywood concept, but their musical rom-coms are strangely reluctant to follow through on that premise, quickly becoming over-the-top. I get serious about it. Knappman’s book does a good job of depicting the rise and fall of everyday relationships, but it could be said more pointedly. His occasional goofy humor rarely matches his and Price’s lyrics, which drift too far into the mundane. Price’s score, played well by musical director Ben McQuig’s trio (guitar, keys, cello), is engaging and entertaining, but it rarely swoons.
Jacob Fowler and Grace Moore share a great bond and have crystal clear voices, as they proved together in 2022’s Hope Mill’s wonderful Cinderella. Their performances as Ben and Ami have a pleasant sense of openness, but while the story repeatedly moves back and forth between before and after the accident, the characters remain limited and the setting, e.g. Musical version of “The Time Traveler’s Wife”. Their arguments about class and alleged infidelity (revealing obvious truths) are so brief that it’s hard to believe that Ami doesn’t tell Ben about their relationship when they newly meet.
Some scenes of Georgie Lanccombe subtleties Production is fun. The pair have a “cute encounter” at a restaurant. There she is standing and he is the waiter. Ben’s nervous pitter-patter song, using a comb as a microphone, before Ami comes to the apartment. And only he had the opportunity to sketch her portrait at the moment when she lay seductively under the tree. Ben’s growth as an artist and her acclaim as a gallerist led to her monotonous rhapsodies about painting. Nevertheless, Linbury Award Winner Yimei Zhao’s elegant, paint-studded sets have an understated charm, with huge framed canvases bursting with color.
