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★★★☆☆ Jeb Brown and Matt Rodin head a sweet show done in honky-tonk environs
After a successful run in the West Village during the summer, Beau the Musical just moved uptown, where the show opened Monday at St. Luke’s Theatre on Restaurant Row. The modest auditorium has been believably transformed by scenic designer Daniel Allen into the pleasant environs of a cozy little Nashville honky-tonk known as The Distillery, featuring a bar where $10 beers and $12 wines are among the drinks available before the 100-minute musical kicks off.
Country-western songwriter and singer Ace Baker (played by Matt Rodin) is making a homecoming visit here with his band at The Distillery, where his career began, to introduce his latest album. Noting how the songs are drawn from his times during middle and high school, Ace confides to viewers, “So tonight we are debutin’ some of my most vulnerable music.”
Such is the elastic frame for Beau the Musical, which springs back and forth in years to relate, with enjoyable songs and dynamic performances, a contemporary story set in Nashville and Memphis. Specifically, it turns out to be a queer coming-of-age story as the young Ace realizes his sexuality and successfully gets beyond the typical angst of coming out. Ace’s surprise encounter with Beau (Jeb Brown), a grandfather he never knew, proves to be his salvation when the grizzled old coot hands the kid a guitar and teaches him how to make music. Aww, it’s nice.
Douglas Lyons, credited with the concept, book, music, and lyrics—composer Ethan D. Pakchar receives credit for the music and orchestrations as well—neatly serves up a tasty spread of tunes and story. A gentle Lifetime movie-style quality permeates this feel-OK musical crafted as a series of brief episodes linked by Ace’s direct narration. A dozen or so rhythmic, mostly upbeat, country and folky-pop songs plus the Tennessee characters’ casual speech help the tale go down easily. Lyons’ vocal arrangements and Pakchar’s orchestrations blend like honey in their delivery by eight fine actor-musician-singers who wander amid strategic spots within the Distillery environment, usually performing in finger-tip nearness to spectators. Not incidentally, Jordana Abrenica’s sound design maintains clear and thankfully moderate volume levels.
All blazing smiles and expressive eyebrows, Rodin provides a charismatic presence as Ace, handsomely displaying triple-threat skills as an actor, a singer, and a guitar-strumming musician. Joining the uptown production is Brown, lately of Dead Outlaw, authentic and delightful as Ace’s wise, whiskey-voiced grandpa Beau. Amelia Cormack offers a peppery depiction of Ace’s mom, while Ryan Halsaver neatly handles a tricky role as her not-so-goofy-as-presumed boyfriend. Max Sangerman, Derek Stoltenberg, and Andrea Goss do well by the people they portray, and here’s a shout-out to Miyuki Miyagi, who bows a mean fiddle as the hero’s sassy bestie. The casual clothes from costume designer Rodrigo Muñoz look appropriate, including Beau’s emblematic red and black checkered jacket.
Sometimes drenched in vivid colors or accented by dramatic beams of lighting from designer Japhy Weideman, the atmospheric performance space of The Distillery lends both novelty and intimacy to Beau the Musical. Director and choreographer Josh Rhodes seamlessly meshes the production’s many moving parts while inspiring enthusiastic performances from his company. Although the musical’s contents ultimately taste more like sweet tea than moonshine, the show itself gives audiences quite a nice contact high.
Beau the Musical opened Oct. 27, 2025, at St. Luke’s Theatre and runs through Dec. 7. Tickets and information: beauthemusical.com
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