557 words
4 minute read
Without You - Mark tells us it’s now the coldest March on record. Maureen and Joanne have broken up for good. Roger and Mimi are constantly fighting - Roger is eventually hospitalized as well, and Angel has spent most of the year, thus far, hospitalized and in declining health.
We see the months pass via the song Without You, which Mimi sings. Collins is in the hospital with Angel, “always at her side” according to Mark. Mimi and Roger, Maureen and Joanne continue to be estranged.
Mimi sings about life going on, but how she’s dying without the one she loves by her side. Tinashe is young and vulnerable and pretty perfect performing this.
Angel’s hospitalization is the most vivid aspect of the song for us. It’s clear, through the time period referenced in the song, that Angel is hospitalized for months.
What’s also striking is just how far on the outside of all of this Mark is. All six of his friends are front and center in this song (in various moments) and he is just the outside observer here. He loves everyone so fiercely, yet there’s a distance he seems to have to maintain with his friends, which is heartbreaking to watch.
Voice Mail #4 - It’s July now. Mark sits in front of a box fan, in a tee shirt, and claims it’s “too hot to answer the phone” when Alexi Darling calls him (again) to leave another voicemail about coming to work at Buzzline.
Mark continues to resist Alexi’s pitches, despite how desperately he needs the money.
Alexi has always been a fun character, and she does not disappoint here. Good stuff.
Contact - This song takes us through Maureen and Joanne and Mimi and Roger having sex with each other...while simultaneously, Angel is dying.
The choreography here is the best in the entire show, in our opinion. It supported the narrative beautifully. Stunning work by Sonya Tayeh. And Valentina is at her absolute best here. Such a powerful performance, as we see Angel caught between death (which wants to take her) and life (where she’s fighting to stay.) All the while, she says “Take me, take me, I love you!” While reaching out to Collins.
Roger and Mimi, Maureen and Joanne declare “It’s over!” all angry at each other. Their attempts to reconcile and mend their respective relationships have failed.
Collins, meanwhile, tells Mark in a choked voice, “It’s over…” moments after Angel has died.
It’s haunting and strangely fitting that Mark, who is so isolated, is the one there to support Collins, who has just lost the person he loves most.
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