What's in a nose?

Calvin Berger
through March 14th at George Street Playhouse
732-246-7717 George Street Playhouse’s new musical is entitled ‘Calvin Berger;’ a clever play on words since the story is based on the French classic ‘Cyrano de Bergerac,’ written by Edmond Rostand over a century ago. Like Cyrano, Calvin aches for a woman who is out of his league and allows his self conscious thoughts -- about his large schnozz and his lanky body -- to deter him from trying to get the girl. Barry Wyner gives this modern day musical another interesting twist by placing the play in high school and burdening Calvin with all the woes of young love.

Calvin is played by Noah Weisberg, seen on Broadway in the cast of ‘South Pacific’ and ‘Legally Blonde.’ Weisberg delivers a Woody Allen-esque performance playing a smart, witty, but not quite nerdly character whom the audience immediately likes. Everyone at school likes Calvin, too; except Calvin himself of course.

From the opening number, “Security Meltdown,” the four leads open in their bedrooms preparing for school and commenting on their individual insecurities. The set cleverly places these bedrooms on a raised platform, isolating their homes from the rest of the action on the stage floor. While in their bedrooms, the characters are honest and open with the audience, expressing theirs fears and anxieties in a manner in which they can be themselves, unlike when they are in the halls of their school or the local hangouts, where they are forced to succumb to social stratification.

The new kid in school, Matt (David Hull), is the very attractive jock that gets all the girls with his pretty face. But he’s not very good with words, unlike Calvin. When Calvin finds out that Rosanna (the talented Krystal Joy Brown) and Matt are enamored with each other, he agrees to help Matt woo her over, despite being himself head over heels in love with her. The two pair together to create the perfect man: “We’re The Man!”

Bret, played by Dana Steingold, although not the central character of the play seems to steal the show. Bret is Calvin’s best friend who secretly has a crush on him but is afraid to confess her love. Bret prefers to go against the grain and strives for a humorous, light-hearted originality -- so it is somewhat of a shock that she too has emotional anxieties. Steingold’s acting accurately portrays both the witty sarcasm of this character as well as the deeper emotional baggage that she is hiding throughout most of the play. Steingold’s extremely strong voice also adds to her audience-catching performance.

The melodies help tie the characters together and showcase the strong female voices well. The musical score keeps within the confines of the play, light and airy with even a bit of poetic rap at one point. Director and choreographer Kathleen Marshall captures the teenage youthful energy well, working the relatively small set and keeping constant motion and a fast pace throughout the play.

The acting and direction of this play are extremely talented, and the adaptation is quite witty, and indeed creative. It charms as a good local theater event for young adults, or as a family outing (despite some adult innuendoes), but the story falls short of the summit due to its after school special, High School Musical feel.