The songs speak volumes in
Midnight at the Never Get (★★★★☆), expressing feelings that crooner Trevor Copeland (Sam Bolen) and pianist Arthur Brightman (Christian Douglas) might otherwise never admit to themselves, each other, or the world. Arthur writes the songs and Trevor sings them, but both of their stories, and an era of LGBTQ history, flow through their fateful collaboration.
The musical conceived by Bolen, writer/composer/lyricist Mark Sonnenblick, and Max Friedman, who directed the original Off-Broadway production depicts a version of Trevor and Arthur’s partnership as Trevor remembers it. His memory often fails him, as he regales his audience at the Never Get, a backroom boîte in Greenwich Village, with a tale of love, loss, and, he hopes, reunion.
Photo by Christopher Mueller.
Signature Theatre’s third production of this season opened virtually this week on Marquee TV. “Midnight at the Never Get” was originally developed in 2015. With book, lyrics and music by Mark Sonnenblick, it was conceived by Sam Bolen, Max Friedman, and Mark Sonnenblick, and Matthew Gardiner directs.
Sometimes you see a show that is exactly what you expected. Sometimes it is a disappointment and other times you feel like you saw something really special. “Midnight at the Never Get” is one of those shows that far exceeds your expectations by miles.
To say this is about a gay couple in the 1960s would be a disservice. This is a love story and a beautifully told one. That it is about two men is incidental because it could be about any couple in love. The backdrop of gay persecution, the beginning of the Gay Rights Movement, and the scourge of AIDS never detract from the central theme. We all hunger for true love, and when it comes, we are of