If/Then

Here's a quick litmus test that will determine if you'll enjoy the Dallas premiere of the 2014 Broadway musical "If/Then" that opened Wednesday night at the Winspear Opera House. 1) Do you enjoy Sondheim concept shows? 2) Are you a "Rent"-head? And 3) Are you a fan of Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey's Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award- winning musical "Next to Normal?" If you're three for three then "If/Then" is must-see theater. But even if your batting average is less than perfect, it's hard to resist the charms of this fresh, original musical.

Other than the 'what I'm going to do when I win the Powerball lottery,' there's no other mental fantasy game more played than the 'if/then' game. If you had chosen path X instead of path Y, then what would your life be like now? How would it differ from your current life? This game inevitably leads to questions of predestined fate versus free will. And this is the concept that Tom Kitt (music) and Brian Yorkey (book and lyrics) play with in their sandbox Tony nominated musical "If/Then."

Elizabeth returns to Manhattan for a fresh start after a decade living in the desert (Phoenix) with the wrong man. She meets up with two friends in Madison Square Park. Kate, her neighbor and new bestie, declares Elizabeth should shorten her name to Liz and invites her to go hear a band in Brooklyn. Lucas, her gay best friend from college, suggests Elizabeth use the name Beth and invites her to a protest rally.

Liz decides to go with Kate to Brooklyn. But after a handful of scenes, a few songs and a 360-degree spinning stage, Elizabeth finds herself back at the park. This time Beth decides to go with Lucas to the protest. The rest of the show alternates between the very different lives of Liz and Beth based on Elizabeth's seemingly random choice one sunny day in a park.

If that sounds confusing it's because it often is. The parallel plots slip in and out of each other quickly, sometimes with just a pair of eyeglasses separating Liz from Beth. "If/Then" demands a rapt audience but frequently it demands too much. You might find yourself backtracking to the original park scene to determine if you're watching Liz or Beth. "If/Then" has a lot to say, but it's prone to mumbling.

But there's nothing confusing about Kitt and Yorkey's Tony nominated score. It's wonderful. If you're familiar with their "Next to Normal" you can hear their signature sound developing and it's exciting. Both scores are lite-rock operas featuring a hard pulsating beat. And the lyrics in the mostly sung through musical, whether they are sad, quirky, fun or ironic, are sheer poetry. The lyrics are full of perfectly crafted couplets that sound so organic it's as if Kitt and Yorkey discovered them in nature and put them to music.

Full disclosure to my fellow "Rent"-heads: neither Liz nor Beth's paths follow the plot of Jonathon Larson's masterpiece. But there are enough touchstones that it deserves mentioning. Michael Greif directed both shows. "If/Then" has the same urban NYC setting. It contains a lot of NYC insider talk. There's a gay couple. There's a lesbian couple including one woman who is extremely flirty. The cast is ethnically diverse. There are scenes of protesting and a storyline about re-zoning. One major character dies. One character is a squatter who happens to be played by Anthony Rapp, the original Mark in "Rent." And the comparison wouldn't be complete without mentioning that Idina Menzel originated the role of Liz/Beth in the Broadway "If/Then."

The national tour of "If/Then" stars the impressive Jackie Burns as Elizabeth/Liz/Beth. If you're disappointed that Idina's not in the Dallas stop, well, that's understandable. But Jackie Burns provides "If/Then" with a surprisingly huge wow moment. Burns was Menzel's standby in the Broadway production and you can tell. Burns is a Menzel doppelganger and her performance has been naturally modeled on Menzel. Burns' belting pipes are right in the Menzel zone, too.

Anthony Rapp is charming as Lucas and "American Idol" alum Tamyra Gray (Kate) is a natural musical theater performer. Matthew Hydzik, Janine DiVita and Marc Delacruz all shine in supporting roles.

"If/Then" seems to suggest that there are milestones in our lives that are bound to happen even if the journey to reach them is widely varied. And in the powerhouse eleven o'clock anthem "Always Starting Over," the musical strives to become a parable with our heroine realizing that everyday is the new beginning of her life. I'm not sure I buy into the optimism of the parable but I definitely would journey through "If/Then" over and over again.

"If/Then" runs through Jan. 31 at the Winspear Opera House, 2403 Flora St., Dallas, TX 75201 For information or tickets, call 214-880-0202 or visit www.attpac.org