What I liked
Ben and Ben have done a remarkable job with this show across the board!
The songs are great — a little Grand Hotel/City of Angels meets something more modern (and there’s an early duet between Mitch and Margo that feels like a melding of the eras… really liked that). Loved the new addition of the narrator singing to set the tone of the show. And speaking of tone, “Welcome to Belladonna” is such a vibe. “The Man I Used to Be” is, by far, the catchiest, most inescapable earworm with an impressive harmony moment toward the end. Also, I was incredibly swept up by the duet Margo and Mitch sing on the road (“So Alive?” Something like that?). Gorgeous stuff.
Regarding the cast, what a fantastic company of talented performers! Everyone is stellar and clearly enjoys working together. It’s a delightful array of characters. Beryl kills me. Estelle is obviously fabulous.
It’s impressive how quickly this show came together and I look forward to seeing how it continues to evolve. With the development in mind, these are some thoughts/questions/etc that came up for me and considering this show is a noir-ish ghost story with elements of mystery, THE FOLLOWING WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS, so if you read this without having seen the show, be warned!
CAMCORDER GUY – I appreciate the effort to build out the ghost world of the hotel more, and I liked the addition of the bar, but the filmmaker with the camcorder did strike me as immediately anachronistic, I assumed he was a ghost, and because he’s a different era than Margo, it started raising a lot of questions for me about the rules of the ghosts. I can elaborate below. I do feel like if Camcorder Guy sticks around, the character may need a little more presence in the story — I was also a bit confused by the last few camcorder mentions. Why was Mitch telling Estelle about it? Had it recorded Beryl’s confession?
GHOST RULES – Moments like the camcorder, Margo’s lack of surprise at seeing the Civic (some fun jokes in that section, by the way), and Beryl’s comments griping about Mitch’s excuse of practicing dialogue aloud brought these questions up for me:
- Does everyone who visits see these ghosts sometimes?
- Aside from not knowing about their own deaths, what are the ghosts’ relationships to time and memory? Are they surprised by modern things/things not of their original eras?
- Is Beryl aware of ghosts in the hotel or only when she’s possessed by great-granddaddy?
MITCH’S HAUNTED PAST – Thematically, the past haunting us is fittingly noir-ish, wonderfully exemplified by ghosts and old buildings, and effectively realized in people like Beryl and Margo. Despite the investigation of “The Man He Used to Be,” I wanted to know more about the ghosts of the past haunting Mitch. “The writer needs to find a new story to tell” is a reliable narrative, but the bar moment got me thinking about how, in The Shining, Jack is navigating actual ghosts along with the looming threat of his personal demon of alcoholism. I’m curious how this time at the Belladonna impacts and interacts with Mitch’s personal demons beyond the career stuff. Yes, this experience will give him something to write about which satisfies the writer’s block, but what else has been changed in him?
THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY – Considering that today, major publishing feels like a dying industry, I’m interested in not only who Mitch used to be, but what was the industry compared to now? He needs to write a book that the critic won’t pan (in a world where literary critics are also struggling to maintain relevance) and that satisfies his agent, but his entire livelihood might be on the line because publishers don’t have as many writers on the payroll in the way they did when he started. Same for Estelle — agents losing their jobs all the time… maybe there’s something to acknowledging the specter of a dying industry — especially since we’re already working with the theme of death. Is the Grim Reaper fating Mitch to untimely expiration in Beryl’s pool of ghastly corpses or simply here to announce the genuine expiration of his career? “The Man I Used to Be” touches on some of that — I just found myself thinking how much that industry has changed from the 80s/90s to now.
OFFERING TO BUY THE HOTEL – It felt a touch jarring to me when Mitch suddenly wanted to buy the whole hotel, the price not being an object. If he’s that rich, why was I supposed to be so worried about him being able to write another book? I know we’ve established it’s about being an artist and still having something to say, but the moment I knew he was that rich, I liked him less (oh, capitalism!!!). I’d probably buy it a little more if he approached Beryl to say, “Just a wild thought here, but it sure seems like you’re over this place and… if you were to ever sell, how much we talking?” Like, maybe he’s less “money is no object” and more simply interested, but then Beryl sees his intention as a threat, tries to make it seem like she would sell at a reasonable price, but purely to lure him to certain death.
MARGO’S RESOLUTION AND THE POOL – When Margo was freaking out in the playa, I initially thought it was because she was becoming aware of being dead — that as Mitch evoked what it may have once looked like, it stirred memory in Margo and the cognitive dissonance resulted in some kind of internal crisis. Obviously, eventually I put together that it was the site of her murder, but I was a bit confused as to why Mitch wanted to go back and dig her up. To give her a proper burial? If Beryl, when possessed by great-granddaddy, liked to throw corpses in the pool, maybe great-granddaddy had always done that? And if that were the case, would Margo not be there among the floating, rotting corpses? Then maybe there’d be a bit of foreshadowing early in the show about the pool being closed or off-limits or Margo mentioning an aversion to water.
The show is in great shape and I can’t wait to see the next iteration!
What I didn't like
Because the review format has the heading “what I didn’t like,” I included my questions/suggestions/potential places for development up in the “what I liked” section, because I wouldn’t say there was anything I outright disliked. I just wanted more clarity or exploration in certain places.
My overall impression
I’m really glad I got to see Belladonna Highway again — once you know where the road leads, there are even more opportunities to appreciate the skillful music, the clever lyrics, the atmosphere, and the delightful characters. Additionally, the lighting and the venue of this second incarnation enhanced the spooky ambience and gave a sense of place well in line with the theme — Parson’s Nose Theater suggests it holds history, so where better to reckon with the ghosts of the past? Fantastic songs, amazing ensemble of performers. A great time at the theater!
