Becoming is what happens when you’re in a survival situation with a single yo-yo and making it out in one piece; it’s what happens when everyone puts in the effort of being creative.
Becoming is an anthology cabaret-style musical by Norristown Area High’s drama club in partnership with Theater Horizon. The production had about thirteen weeks of overall rehearsal, and cast members only had about six weeks of knowing their setlist. There was a lot of passion going into the show. This was especially seen after the curtain call, when all the cast members were personally congratulating each other in droves outside. The musical was a labor of love, and it showed.
The musical thematically worked and managed to still tell a somewhat cohesive (emotional) story despite it being a Frankenstein’s monster of various Broadway songs. I got what the story was trying to tell by the first number. The idea of self-acceptance, growing up, and well, becoming, is pretty vague; however, the format enhances this and uses the vagueness to portray multiple angles of the same idea. While there weren’t really “characters” due to the nature of this format, it felt like each actor had a chance to be a character.
I think my favorite number from Becoming was “Breathe” from In the Heights. Not only did the vocals sound great, but the song was staged incredibly well. The production kept restraint and let the solo take the lead. I couldn’t tell if the backing vocals were backtrack or the on-stage singers themselves, which speaks to the sound system’s quality. Considering the very minimal set of no set at all, the stage team utilized the lights very well.
The fact that there was even choreography to begin with is also impressive. A lot of the choreo felt purposeful. In the opening song, the choreography is utilized to imply a set while “Michael in the Bathroom” from Be More Chill later on uses it to personify the characters’ feelings of being trapped. Other scenes hold back on the choreo to keep the emotional core of the number. This works to mixed results. When it works, it works well, (“Breathe” is a good example of this.) When it doesn’t work, however, it forces the singer to awkwardly walk around the stage while belting their heart out.
Early on, there was an unexplained acting scene. The scene contained dialogue between two characters and a diegetic Billie Eilish song. I feel like this entire scene was added just for the sake of having an acting scene. It was out of place considering the rest of the musical was fully sung. What didn’t help was the fact that only one mic was working.
While the show was mainly loosely connected musical numbers, it featured one romantic throughline set up in the beginning number. This gets brought back in “It Takes Two” from In the Woods. On one hand, I like how there is some consistency in the story. On the other hand, it also made me question if there was a narrative in the first place, or if it was just those two actors.
On top of having varied musical choices, “Becoming” also just had a lot of music to work with. They solved this by making mashups of different solos together into a medley. It worked for the most part. There were some tonal whiplash moments and clunky transitions but after thinking about it, I think this (accidentally) fits the overall theme in a way.
I was shocked hearing “I’m Breaking Down” from Falsettos play in tandem with “Roxy” from Chicago, due to the fact that other people actually know of/like Falsettos. It’s one of my favorite musicals, even if it is pretty niche. Also, they made a song where the character describes catching her (ex-)husband in a homosexual affair school-appropriate.
Despite the pretty nuanced emotional throughlines, the ending was cliché. The ending songs, ‘You Will Be Found’ from Dear Evan Hansen, “I’d Rather Be Me” from Mean Girls, ‘Freak Flag’ from Shrek, are standard, uncomplicated, empowerment songs. It’s the same point reiterated back to back, making the finale seem redundant and boring.
The raw singing talent brought it all together, though. A good portion of the songs required belting, and I was pleasantly surprised to hear how stable most of the vocals were, and the actors had the stage presence to back them up.
Now, all of this would have been great if I could actually hear them.
As always, the school auditorium sound system manages to single-handedly betray everyone involved. The auditorium already has the problem of too much echo due to questionable architectural choices. This ultimately ends up drowning out most of the vocals. In all honesty, they would have had a better shot if they performed in the cafeteria.
The microphones were the real perpetrator, though. Every possible microphone technical difficulty happened. They would constantly cut on and off. Sometimes the sounds died on arrival, and sometimes it was working a little too well. Most of the cast had body mics that weren’t built for belting or any major volume changes, causing the mics to blow out anytime someone had a high note.
At one point, the microphone just turned off mid-performance, causing a member of the stage crew to run out and change it. A good stage crew can make or break a show. This stage crew was commendable, especially because they had to work with this building. It was obviously a tight ship, and they were quick to fix and adjust when needed (or possible). I wish they got a chance to bow with the rest of the cast; however, this may have been logistically impossible.
Overall “Becoming” became much more than any of my expectations, especially with its very limited resources. It did more than it set out to do, and was a solid musical. It’s a shame their venue was just one level above performing in a janitor’s closet.
