In the internet age, fake news, and growing misinformation, Jason Robert Brown’s The Connector is painfully relevant as it takes the stage.
The Connector, a new musical with a book by Jonathan Marc Sherman, music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown, and directed by Daisy Prince, tells the tale of two young aspiring journalists whose paths converge and diverge as their careers accelerate. Set in the late 1990s, rising journalist Ethan Dobson (Ben Levi Ross) and assistant copyeditor Robin Martinez (Hannah Cruz) kickstart their careers at the seasoned magazine The Connector. While Robin is dutifully climbing the fruitless ladder of the publication, Ethan’s writing quickly captures the hearts of readers across the country and leads to his swift rise into the career Robin has fought for. That is until a series of missteps raise the question of how far Ethan will go for a story, and with a churning distaste for the ease of Ethan’s path, how far Robin will go to stop him.
Brown’s The Connector finds itself timely in 2024, calling into question the ethics of journalism, pursuing the truth, and reporting accurately, in an era where the integrity and truth of reporting is once again under fire.
Wrapped up in a simple set of a few writing desks and chairs, with pages of the legacy of The Connector magazine hanging as a simple backdrop to the production and canvas to brilliant lighting and projections, the audience is immersed in the narrative and intricacies of the characters portrayed on stage. The intimacy of the venue immerses the audience in the narrative. It takes incredible craft to be able to tell a complex story with twists and turns with nothing more than simple set pieces and props—and The Connector effortlessly does it.
Ross is a force on stage, effortlessly leading the company as driven, smooth-talking, eccentric Ethan Dobson. Ross breathed passion and motive into Ethan, carrying out this narrative behind Ethan’s rise to recognition that easily draws the audience’s empathy. Just as Ethan quickly pulls the rug out from under his colleagues, Ross pulls the twists and turns on the audience, which initially seem shocking, until the audience realizes he was dropping clues from the beginning.
Cruz brings an opposing force on stage with the ambitious but jaded Robin Martinez. It is soon revealed that Robin is an aspiring writer herself, though she faces the glaring sexism of the time and industry and struggles to get her work in front of the man who so quickly pushed Ethan into the spotlight. While this could be reason enough for Robin to detest Ethan, there is a bit of a magnetic force between them that pushes and pulls them together until Robin can no longer stand to see Ethan attain the career she has struggled for. Suddenly, the girl who pointed Ethan to his job interview is uniquely positioned to unravel the intricate webbing of his career.
This production pulls back the curtain on the world of journalism and gives the audience a taste of how intriguing the world can be for a young writer at the start of their career. While the topic might be simple, it’s powerfully executed by the creative team, which showcases how the power trip can come crashing down in the name of truth.
The company is grounded through the supporting roles of the cast including, Scott Bakula as editor-in-chief Conrad O’Brien, Jessica Molaskey as veteran fact-checker Muriel, Max Crumm as eccentric Waldo Pine, Fergie Phillips as Robert Henshaw/Willis Taylor.
By nature, The Connector is a bit of a think piece and guided by its themes of truth and integrity, but one that could not be more timely. Brown’s score and Sherman’s book create beats for the story that are quick and to the point, without losing any of the deeper, emotional level of the story. Already critically acclaimed, The Connector will be on the audiences’ mind long after they set foot out of the theatre.
The Connector is playing at MCC Theatre until March 17.
The Broadway Edit 