Go see it.

It’s incredibly effective. The acting is superb and effortless. All the technical elements work together in such a way that after a while you stop thinking about them. Specifically, the use of amplification is judicious and subtle. Despite being a “rock musical”, the score is written around a piano, not a guitar. The on-stage band uses a real, proper grand piano - not some keyboard. And whoever is playing it is really good. So, a delight if you’re a crackhead for the acoustic touch of the piano like I am.

Just know that because it’s so effective, it’s the kind of show that will crawl inside you, find all your fears and doubts about yourself and the ones you love, and then rip them open ten times larger than they were. A hopeful ending comes, but it’s also a realistic, imperfect, open-ended hopeful ending that, if you’re looking to have all your loose ends tied up neatly Disney-style, feels like too little too late. However, I’m always up for some emotional self abuse if it’s so effortlessly effective and well produced, and you should be too. If you write off a piece of theater because there’s a danger it might actually make you feel something, you’ve sort of missed the point.

So, go see it.