A cross between a reminiscence play and a country-rock live performance, “Beau the Musical” defies straightforward categorization. It’s additionally a coming-of-age dramedy, although playwright and lyricist Douglas Lyons hopes audiences will even discover a deeper message about household and generational therapeutic in its rollicking rating.
“Sometimes we don’t understand people until we’ve lost them,” he defined.
“Beau” is now taking part in at St. Luke’s Theatre in New York, the place it opened after a much-buzzed-about run at Theatre 154 that concluded this summer time. The off-Broadway musical follows Ace Baker (performed by Matt Rodin), a singer-songwriter who’s again on the Nashville stage for a one-night-only efficiency.
As Ace shares the inspirations behind the songs on his newest album, the motion flashes again to his pre-teen and teenage years, when he’s being raised by a single mother, Raven (Amelia Cormack), in rural Tennessee.
Unbeknownst to his mother, Ace is coming to phrases along with his queer sexuality. He’s additionally intensely bullied in school, largely by the hands of Ferris (Max Sangerman), who’s harboring some secrets and techniques of his personal.
Although his gal pal Daphney (Miyuki Miyagi) is a kindred spirit, Ace yearns for a familial connection. After studying that his estranged grandfather, Beau (Jeb Brown), continues to be alive, he runs away from house and makes an attempt to forge a relationship in opposition to Raven’s needs. To Beau’s shock, he kinds a bond with Ace whilst he makes an attempt to protect his grandson from the reality of his fractured relationship with Raven.
Lyons, a veteran actor who in 2021 made his Broadway playwriting debut with “Chicken & Biscuits,” started engaged on songs for “Beau” with musician Ethan D. Pakchar whereas showing in “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” a decade in the past.
The Connecticut native drew closely from his personal relationship along with his grandfather, who lived in North Carolina, when outlining the present’s plot.
“There’s a generation of kids who sort of skip their parents and connect more with their grandparents,” he stated. “As [director Josh Rhodes] says, ‘Be somebody’s Beau. Be the person who encourages, who takes someone under your wing.’ You never know how long you have with someone, so soak up every bit of life you have with them.”
Sonically, “Beau” riffs on James Brown and James Taylor with a touch of gospel, whereas its immersive, concert-like staging ― wherein the forged of eight actors additionally double as a jam band ― recollects “Rent” and “Once.”
The present is a stellar showcase for Rodin, who boasts regional and touring productions of Broadway hits to his credit score and has been discovering his stride in New York’s theater scene. Brown, a 2025 Tony nominee for “Dead Outlaw,” is completely forged because the gruff-voiced Beau, who turns into a mentor to his grandson whereas grappling along with his personal previous.
Each actors have been working with Lyons on “Beau” for almost a decade. Rodin additionally seems on the musical’s 2019 forged album, that includes actors from that 12 months’s Adirondack Theatre Competition staging, and within the 2022 movie adaptation.
“This is a nuanced queer character I haven’t seen before,” stated Rodin, who’s homosexual. “What I’ve experienced with the piece is that it gives people the space to embody their queerness in their own way. The spectrum is wider and larger than it’s ever been before, which is great.”
Added Brown: “For people of my generation, it’s a reminder that even if you feel imperfect or that you’ve been disappointed in your choices, the younger generation can still use the helping hand, the reaching down. I think a lot of people count themselves out when it comes to being a mentor figure because they feel they are falling short, but it’s always a good thing to connect in that way, generationally.”
After “Beau” concludes its run at St. Luke’s Theatre in January, Lyons want to see the present carried out throughout the U.S. and even overseas. “There doesn’t have to be a specific lineage, in the way these characters appear,” he stated, including {that a} Broadway run would even be a dream.
Jamie McCarthy through Getty Pictures
Although Brown and Rodin are keen to stay with “Beau” for the foreseeable future, each actors equally really feel it will be completely fitted to a regional viewers, particularly within the South.
“The thing that excites me the most is hearing more people take on this music and seeing them take on these roles,” Rodin stated. “I’ve already seen videos of kids singing [songs from the show] in their senior showcases, so for me, it’s more about that.”
