Stage a musical in a bookstore. Seems like an odd idea, but not for The Story of My Life, which Milwaukee Opera Theatre opened this weekend at Boswell Books. Neil Bartram and Brian Hill’s chamber musical takes place, after all, in a bookstore (mostly). It’s two adults who were inseparable childhood friends—one a small town bookstore owner, the other a famous writer—and what happens to them as they childish things behind.
The wall-to-wall shelves of novels, histories and “True Crime” give the scenes a touch of realism, but the backdrop also gives the story its central metaphor: our lives—friendships, lovers, family—are made up of stories. Sometimes they are vignettes, sometimes they are generation spanning epics.
In The Story of My Life, the stories are two things at once—memories of the time Alvin Kelby and Thomas Weaver spent together as children, and published successes that have made Weaver’s career. Finding that connection is what this poignant musical is about.
The bookstore setting is important for more than the mise en scene. This is an intimate story that needs the close quarters of a small venue. The voices are pure, the accompaniment is a mostly quiet and wistful duo of piano and clarinet (Anne Van Deusen and Glen Quarrie). The emotions and characterizations are subtle and genuine.
Without this intimacy (and Bartram’s understated music), it’s easy to see how The Story of My Life could become maudlin and blustery. But the performances by Doug Clemons (Alvin) and Adam Estes (Thomas), under C. Michael Wright’s direction, are steeped in detail and complexity.
The casting is perfect. Clemons radiates Alvin’s innocence and sincere love of the simple things. Estes makes the dramatic transitions from carefree boy to “responsible” adult with confidence. And the show is filled with quiet, subtle moments that would barely register in a bigger venue. In Alvin’s song “People Carry On,” he sings about memories of his mother, and drops to a barely heard whisper in the middle of a verse. And watch Estes clock Thomas’s reaction when Alvin refers to him as his “best friend,” an emotionally fraught label that runs through the show.
Hill’s script is a model of economy, using a few reference points—Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life is a key one—to add depth to the relationship and story. But it’s really the performances of Estes and Clemons, and Wright’s superb direction, that bring out the wisdom and soul of this simple story.
