REVIEW: Bubble Boy - Studio Cast
![Recording Cover](/images/releases/thumbnails/064389.jpg)
I must admit, I've never seen the movie Bubble Boy -- it always looked too silly for my tastes -- but the stage show, at least on CD, is filled with all the wit and tunefulness of a top-notch musical. (The show had its beginnings with an ASCAP Musical Theater workshop in 2008, and Stephen Schwartz, who served on that year's workshop panel, provides some opening liner notes.) Cinco Paul, one of the film's original writers, has a real ear for melody and droll rhyming wordplay. Take the song, "Stay Clean" by Jimmy's uptight mother (wonderfully performed by Alice Ripley) as she importunes her son to avoid filth in life: "This world is a cesspool, unwashed and obscene/There's some filth you can't fight with Lysol and Bactine/Stay Clean." Or take "Please Stay," in which Jimmy tries to get Chloe, his love interest, to not leave but can't seem to say what he means: "I hate that Mark . . . /I hate that Mark . . . /I hate that Mark. . .'s not here so I can congratulate that Mark." It might not be Sondheim, but the breeziness of the score more than readily fits the subject matter, producing songs that are both full of heart and humor.
While the show has a small ensemble, vocally it's the three main characters who shine and do all the heavy lifting. A.J. Holmes is delightful as the title character and has an easy voice that really soars. Caroline Bowman is both funny and touching as his love interest Chloe, and Alice Ripley steals song after song, especially "Bring Back My Boy" as his overprotective, racist, anti-Semitic mother. Justin Golden and Brent Crayon have crafted tight orchestrations that never overpower the cast, while Cinco Paul and Michael Holland devised the sharp vocal arrangements.
I have no idea how this show plays on stage, but given the delightful recording, hopefully there will be more productions in this show's future.
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