Photo courtesy of J. Stubbs Photography (https://jstubbsphotographyvb.com/)

We walked into Generic Theater with sky-high expectations for “Ordinary Days”.  Not only was this the closing show for Generic’s very successful season (the same final show slot that HRACT Award Best Play winner “Indecent” was in last year), we knew it was being fronted by four absolute gems of our local theater scene – Sarah Schweit, Dan Zhano McGary, HRACT Award nominee Andrew Dulce, and ACT-y winner Jessi DiPette.  Oh, and it was being directed by fellow ACT-y nominee Dillon Bates.  Word must have gotten around, because it was a veritable who’s who of our region’s players and stage hands in the sold-out crowd.

Suffice it to say – “Ordinary Days” surpassed even those high expectations.

For the second time this year, Dulce opened a Generic show alone on stage, looking for his place in this world – although this time, he is in New York City rather than its outlying suburbs.  As Warren, Dulce brings his bright tenor voice to a character who has what I’m terming “lost dog energy”, just looking for someone he can share his thoughts and feelings with – i.e., a friend.  Warren is able to find joy in the little things all around him in the City – and Dulce exhibits that innocent wonder throughout.  He is the breath of fresh air amongst the four characters in this show.

Meanwhile, Warren’s foil Deb, a graduate school student writing her thesis on Virginia Woolf, needs someone to give her a little perspective – she just doesn’t realize it yet.  Schweit, taking on the role of Deb, frantically searches for inner peace like a champ (something anyone who hasn’t quite found their purpose in the world yet will understand).  Deb’s lost book of (also frantic-looking) research for her thesis leads her to meet Warren (after a very relatable trip through the Met), and her character comes to life as they get a coffee together and sing the song “Big Picture” – which is also where the audience can’t help but fall in love with Schweit’s voice, rising to the forefront.  That is no small feat, as all four members of this cast can sing with the best of them, but each also knows to moderate well, allowing each individual to shine (shout out to Schweit and Cristina Loyola who made up the “Music Team” – a new term for us – Accompanist Ashley Frye, and Sound Designer Mike Hallberg for getting that side of this show just right).

Then there is Jason, played by McGary, who we meet as he moves into his girlfriend’s apartment and amusingly pulls out a huge jug of Whey protein (the item the boyfriend is most likely to need to bring to the relationship).  McGary – who shows off more than capable vocals throughout – really shines as an actor, going through the loneliness of being in a relationship when the other side is pulling away, and the loneliness that can unexpectedly creep up on you when you have limited connections in a city of millions.  But Jason is also funny in how he interacts with Claire (the aforementioned girlfriend), and you can see the love in his eyes and the amount of himself he is throwing into this relationship, all a credit to McGary.

Finally, in the part of Claire is the incomparable DiPette.  As people who attach memories to physical objects, we immediately identified with Claire’s inability to get rid of things to make room for Jason’s move-in (which – keep an eye on those objects, as we’re pretty sure we spotted DiPette’s HRACT Award from last year being used as a prop, a delightful fan-service to us.  Some inside baseball here – we have been throwing around the idea of adding a “Best Prop” category next season – think the car from “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”, the barber chair from “Sweeney Todd”, the camel from “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”, etc.  Of course, if you snuck one of our awards into a show, it would have to at least garner a nomination in this possible future category. 😊)  Claire has a wonderful and devastating story-arc of personal growth, which DiPette navigates with ease.  And DiPette’s ability to bring emotion and power into her performance really blew us away – she understands her voice so well, knowing when and how to pull back to draw the audience in, and then when and how to really go for it when called for.  Her stunning performance in “Gotta Get Out” brought the house down, and is not to be missed.

Over the last two years, Dillon Bates has really shown his range as director, excelling at leading both big musicals (see: “The Sound of Music”) and intimate plays (such as “The Weir”).  In this more intimate musical, he gets the best out of his cast, focusing on their connections with each other – and with such a relatable, funny, and at times heartbreaking libretto (the show is 99% sung-through) by Adam Gwon, this approach is ideal.  Something about how Gwon is able to put his rhyme-scheme together, with many of his rhymes happening in the middle of sentences, makes the conversations flow more naturally and does not distract from the emotions of the moment, while perfectly fitting into his compelling melodies.  And Bates nails the staging of those conversations, moving us straight through the show to a colorful, joyful, cinematic (stage-o-matic? theatre-o-matic?  theatrical doesn’t seem strong enough – I’ll keep workshopping it and get back to you) not-quite-finale that is so well composed by Bates that it fills your heart right to the brim.

Our only wish is that this show would give us more time to love these characters, and give us more opportunity to see additional combinations of some of our area’s stars duet together.  While the show’s two main storylines do briefly come together (Warren and Deb are basically one story, and Jason and Claire the other), we don’t get an opportunity to see a DiPette/Dulce reunion duet of LTN’s “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder”, we miss out on a Schweit/DiPette diva-off, and we don’t get a much hoped for Dulce/McGary song.  Alas, we will have to hope that some future show can cast this top-notch talent together again to satisfy our dream-casting scenarios.

Hampton Roads – you don’t get an opportunity to see this level of acting and singing talent on stage together for $20 (or less if you buy in advance) very often.  Every empty seat during this run will be a shame.  It is an extremely busy time in our local theater community, with what feels like 20 (HRACT Award-eligible and -ineligible) shows debuting over the next couple weeks – but this is one you don’t want to miss.  Make the time to celebrate something “simple, familiar, and full of feeling.”  This cast, crew, and theater deserve your attention to the something special they’ve created.  Bravo!