Tissues are a must for Lyric's enthralling 'King of Pangaea,' a 'musical memoir'

Brandy McDonnell, The Oklahoman
Updated ·5 min read

Along with a thick stack of tissues, audiences for Lyric Theatre's "King of Pangaea" are advised go into the anticipated and affecting new musical with a sense of childlike wonder, a penchant for hope and a readiness to connect with their fellow human beings.

But the tissues are an absolute must.

For the first show of its 2024 subscription season, Lyric Theatre is continuing its long-running New Works Initiative by presenting the "King of Pangaea" through April 7 on its Plaza District stage.

In collaboration with Atlanta's Aurora Theatre, Lyric is staging the first fully realized production of the semi-autobiographical debut musical from songwriter and storyteller Martin Storrow just 18 months after the workshop enthralled audiences at the National Alliance for Musical Theatre's fall 2022 Festival of New Musicals.

Oklahoma's official state theater is presenting the New York-based composer and lyricist's moving and mystical "fantasy musical memoir" as it hosts the National Alliance for Musical Theatre's annual spring conference for the first time April 3-5. So, the venerable OKC theater can be excused for showing off by presenting a bow for "King of Pangaea" that's as polished, promising and poetic as this one.

The cast of Lyric Theatre's production of the new musical "King of Pangaea" performs.
The cast of Lyric Theatre's production of the new musical "King of Pangaea" performs.

What is the new musical 'King of Pangaea' about?

For his first musical, Storrow, a prolific Jewish poet, artist and songwriter who hails from California, courageously draws directly from his personal experiences dealing with the illness and eventual death of a parent.

Storrow's willingness to lay his soul bare in his writing draws us into the tight-knit Crow family — steady, guitar-strumming father Arthur (Lyric stalwart Matthew Alvin Brown), vivacious, poetry-writing mother Celia (Atlanta actor Wendy Melkonian making an impression in her Lyric debut) and their lively and precocious son Christopher (talented young local Riley McCool in his first Lyric outing) — as their world is shaken up by Celia's cancer diagnosis.

Christopher suddenly finds himself spending his 11th birthday in a hospital waiting room as cancer treatments, medical bills and prescription pill bottles take over their lives.

To keep her family's spirits up and her son's fears at bay, Celia carries a perpetually sunny attitude, fills their home with color and charms Christopher with tales of the magical, far-off land Pangaea, an enchanted and unbroken version of the ancient supercontinent.

The Crows are relieved when Celia's cancer goes into remission. Christopher grows up, goes off to college and moves in with his sweet girlfriend Sophie (Taloria Merricks, another Atlantan making a solid Lyric debut). Thoughts of Pangaea are put away with other childish things.

Then, his mom's cancer suddenly comes back with a vengeance. When she dies, 21-year-old Christopher (Logan Corley) is left reeling as he tries to reconcile how the spell of hope, faith and beauty his mother always used to ward off her cancer could break.

An unexpected encounter with a singing, tap-dancing, puzzle-solving Elijah (Dirk Lumbard) — who may or may not be that prophet, but is certainly a prophet — inspires Christopher to embark on a journey to the imaginary island of Pangaea, where he hopes to find the answers to his questions about life and to see his mother again.

Dirk Lumbard performs in Lyric Theatre's production of the new musical "King of Pangaea."
Dirk Lumbard performs in Lyric Theatre's production of the new musical "King of Pangaea."

What does the new musical 'King of Pangaea' look and sound like?

With a sense of wistful whimsy and a flair for magical realism, Storrow started writing "King of Pangaea" in 2017 and developed the musical through a series of collaborations in California, New York and Utah. For the first fully realized stage production, Lyric Theatre worked closely with Georgia's Aurora Theatre, which will stage the show in January in Atlanta.

Like the cast, the show's creative team boasts a mix of talented artists from OKC, Atlanta and beyond. Directed by Lyric Producing Artistic Director Michael Baron, the show features music direction by Ann-Carol Pence, the Aurora Theatre's producing artistic director.

Scenic designer Lee Savage, costume designer Jeffrey Meek, lighting designer Fabian J. Garcia, props designer Amanda Schnake and sound designer Corey Ray have shown off their considerable skills on several previous Lyric productions, and they all do excellent work bringing Storrow's "Pangaea" to life for the first time.

Award-winning orchestrator and arranger Anthony Lucca deserves special recognition for helping Storrow realize his sonic vision. Capably performed by a six-person orchestra seated just beyond a large fountain at center stage, the show's folk-rock score has plenty of heart and musical diversity to captivate theatergoers, starting with the uplifting opening number "Time Rises."

The consistently stellar Brown brings his irrepressible energy to the sea shanty "The Thing About a River," while Melkonian gives a beautifully wise performance of the anthem "Today I Am Here."

After filling supporting roles in Lyric's "Rocky Horror Show," "Matilda" and "Kinky Boots," Corley steps confidently into the lead, supplying the strong heart of "King of Pangaea" with his fervent delivery of the ode "Prayer." He and his young counterpart McCool have excellent chemistry, especially on their duet "The Puzzle," and Corley and Lumbard prove a winning duo on the catchy semi-rapped number "The Curriculum."

But Lumbard, the North Carolina-based actor who played Ebenezer Scrooge in Lyric's "A Christmas Carol" for several years, steals the show with his turn as the prophet who wrestles with his apparent immortality in the deceptively peppy "Everyone I Love," which provides an ideal showcase for his terrific tap dancing.

With its small cast, 95-minute, no-intermission format and contemporary score, Storrow's "King of Pangaea" pulls off its timely style. But the musical also deftly explores timeless, universal concepts like love, loss and imagination, without trying to have all the answers.

As someone whose own mother died suddenly in the midst of fighting a debilitating illness, I found Storrow's storytelling fearlessly open-hearted, moving without being maudlin and constantly relatable.

The "King of Pangaea" could still stand a little polish in some areas: A few of the songs still seem a bit rough, parts of the scenic design don't quite get the attention they deserve, and the father and girlfriend characters could use some more development.

But with the national showcase Lyric's production is getting, along with the upcoming Atlanta run, this "King" seems set for a long, illustrious reign on stages across the land.

'King of Pangaea'

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Lyric Theatre is staging 'King of Pangaea' on its Plaza District stage