Stage Door: The misunderstood, exquisitely sung "Superhero"
Tuesday, March 26, 2019 at 6:20PM by Nathaniel R
Don't let the title fool you though it's not at all deceptive. Tom Kitt's (Next to Normal) newest musical both does and doesn't involve superpowered do-gooders. This anguished but gorgeous intimate drama is, more specifically, about a teenage boy who loves comic books (new find Kyle McArthur who has been with the show since its developmental process). The boy is still reeling from the death of his father two years before the play begins. He loves to draw superheroes which we see projected on to the stage at times. His widowed depressed mother (Kate Baldwin), struggles to connect with this typical juvenile obsession ("What's Happening to My Boy?") especially since they really need each other given the sorry fate life handed them.
Early in the musical the boy becomes obsessed with a mysterious neighbor who he is convinced is either a superhero or supervillain -- the jury still being out...