Many of us have read the book by Natalie Babbitt, but unfortunately the musical version of Tuck Everlasting didn’t get hardly the fame it deserved. Only playing just over six weeks of performances on Broadway back in 2016, the show certainly didn’t live up to its name in length. But even after it closed, the musical lived on through its fans and cast members. And because I wish more people appreciated this show’s beauty, here’s an overview of Tuck Everlasting that I will try to make spoiler-free. No promises.
With hauntingly beautiful melodies by Chris Miller set to lyrics by Nathan Lysen, the score is one that stays stuck in your head for weeks on end- trust me, I know from experience. Normally, when I recommend a musical to someone, I will pick out 3 songs that give the aura and style of the show. The first of these songs is “Live Like This,” the opening number, which showcases the ensemble and introduces all the characters on their separate paths, before they’ve all been brought into the same story. The second song is “Partner in Crime,” another full-cast number with an instrumental that really shows off the orchestra. It’s a really upbeat and fun song that I think is one of the best Act One finale numbers out there! The final song is “Time Quartet.” Fans of the show know that this follows Miles Tuck’s solo, “Time,” but I think the quartet is best at showing the style of the more ballad-like songs. It’s also one of the most emotional moments of the show, so it’s good to know what you’re getting yourself into 😉 (Honorable Mention to the orchestral ballet, “The Story of Winnie Foster.”)
The story is just as beautiful when paired with the aforementioned score. The story starts with the focus on Winnie Foster, who is literally my dream role a young girl longing to explore the world without restriction from her grieving mother. (The father has not-so-recently passed away.) Winnie escapes, and she meets the Tuck family, who have a secret that changed their lives, or rather, made their lives ‘everlasting.’ You see, in the wood in Treegap, there is a spring with water that gives the person who drinks that water immortality. The whole Tuck family- Mae and Angus and their sons, Jesse and Miles- have drank this water and now they have to live their lives in secrecy. Jesse tells Winnie all of this, and Winnie decides she wants to live forever too. To avoid spoilers, I’ll leave the rest to you to find out for yourself. (For the record, there’s a really good quality bootleg on Youtube.)
And, just for reference, the cast is packed full of big names with equally big talent: ~Sarah Charles Lewis as Winnie Foster ~Andrew Keenan-Bolger as Jesse Tuck (my whole heart) ~Robert Lenzi as Miles Tuck ~Carolee Carmello as Mae Tuck ~Michael Park, who is officially typecasted as the dad, as Angus Tuck ~Terrence Mann as the Man in the Yellow Suit (a character who has a lot of controversy as to who he really is) ~Michael Wartella as Hugo ~Fred Applegate as the Constable And an ensemble that redefines ensembles! For example, Newsies + Mean Girls actor Ben Cook can be spotted.
I highly recommend this musical to anyone, especially if you’re a fan of shows like Newsies, Anastasia, and even Finding Neverland! I’ll probably do posts like this where I spotlight on an underappreciated show once in a while. What show do you want to see more of on here?
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