REVIEW: ‘The Door You Never Saw Before’ is great fun for children looking to take a journey
Photo: Gabrielle Maiden stars as Your Voice in the Geffen Stayhouse production of The Door You Never Saw Before: A Choosical Musical. Directed by Katie Lindsay. Photo courtesy of Geffen Playhouse / Provided by press team with permission.
The Geffen Playhouse, rechristened the Geffen Stayhouse during the COVID-19 crisis, has achieved a feat they’ve never done before with their pandemic programming: They crafted a show intended solely for children — and the results are delightful.
The Door You Never Saw Before: A Choosical Musical, with book, music and lyrics by Matt Schatz, plays through June 27 via Zoom. When audience members purchase tickets, they have a choice to make, the first choice of many during this theatrical experience. If they choose to participate in the virtual fun, then they will receive a suitcase of activities and clues delivered to their doorstep. Other cheaper options — dubbed “Grandparent Tickets” — are for viewing only.
Once the program begins, audience members — most of them were families with children at a recent performance — are instructed to get that suitcase ready because they are about to head out on a Zoomified adventure. The neat part about this journey is that each individual audience member gets to choose their path into the narrative, harkening back to the days of those “Choose Your Own Adventure” children’s novels.
The paper-thin plot has a narrator called “Your Voice,” played expertly by Gabrielle Maiden, who has great energy and is ready to welcome everyone to this virtually constructed world. Along the way, Zoomers also experience the acting talents of Michael Faulkner and Shyla Lefner. Depending on one’s choices throughout the evening, they will either see more of Faulkner or more of Lefner, but Maiden is a common presence for everyone. This reviewer never had a real chance to see Lefner because his choices took him in different directions.
The DIY theatergoing is thanks to Zoom’s breakout rooms, which are easy enough to navigate, and the dedicated staff at the Geffen pull off the transitions with ease. And major kudos to the hard-working hosts for this show and all of the shows this past year at the Stayhouse. They are fun, funny and always clear and concise with necessary instructions.
The story for this “Choosical” involves a map, a villain (“The Stench,” who lives up to his name) and some subtle and timely messages that are shared with the young ones. Along the way, there are important lessons that are learned and a real sense of accomplishment. The children at a recent Zoom performance seemed to have a blast, shouting out clues and answering each and every question posed by “Your Voice.” It should be noted that the recommended age range is 6-9.
The parents at this recent performance probably weren’t terribly intrigued by the plot or characters, but there was delight on their faces as well, thanks to their inner-child who must have been so happy to see their kids have a blast after such a hellish year of quarantine.
The Door You Never Saw Before, directed by Katie Lindsay, is a whimsical, wonderful theatrical entertainment that once again shows the Geffen’s endless creativity, drive and energy to make these difficult times so much easier to pass. If this is the last show of the Stayhouse — well, bravo.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
The Door You Never Saw Before: A Choosical Musical, directed by Katie Lindsay, features book, music and lyrics by Matt Schatz. Starring Gabrielle Maiden, Michael Faulkner and Shyla Lefner. Click here for more information and tickets.
