Photo by Jia (Sophia) Buck

Right outside the Emerson Black Box Theater, the cast of Ordinary Days welcomes the audience to share their own Ordinary Days.

Ordinary Days is the story of four New Yorkers’ lives and the mundane everyday events that connect them. 

The original soundtrack is written and composed by Adam Gwon, and the musical is in sung-through format. This means all the dialogue is sung. The play has traveled worldwide, having been performed in Australia, Ireland, and now Lindenwood University.  

Stepping into the black box theater was exciting, for those who don’t know a black box theater is a big room that can be rearranged. For Ordinary Days at Lindenwood, this meant having the audience on every side of the room. There was surround sound playing background noises like birds and cars, but the music mostly came from the actors themselves and the piano hidden in the crowd. Big thank you to Director Ed Reggi for helping bring this show to life.

Getting to be right there with the performers took this play from a sweet story to an immersive experience. As Warren (played by Gaberial Anderson) walked into the room with a bright smile and introduced himself directly to the audience, I found myself pulled right in. Warren is an optimistic young artist and a character I immediately wanted as my friend.  

When Deb (played by Madi Nelson) took the stage, or I should say floor, with her song “Don’t Wanna Be Here” I started to relate. All of the characters in Ordinary Days have their struggles and joys, but the point of the play is to show us all how truly beautiful it can all be.  

My favorite character in the play had to be either Warren or Jason (played by Zachary Juarez). Warren was open and cheerful, wanting to find himself a real-life fairytale and Jason was loyal and patient, just in love with a girl and trying to make things work. Of course, that doesn’t mean Deb or Claire (played by Elizabeth Egley) weren’t just as delightful. In fact, Claire had me crying with her performance during the song “I’m Trying.”  

I must also say how much I loved the detail of the papers flying over the audience at the end. While I know that must have been a huge mess to clean up, my friends and I giggled. I finally understood why Harry Potter didn’t just pick up one of the letters off the floor when his whole living room was flooded with flying letters in The Sorcerer’s Stone, there is just something magical about reaching up and catching a flying piece of paper. 

I wish there was another night of performances because I would love another chance to visit New York and see the lives of these four marvelous characters. Some of the quotes I just had to write down are “Shut up Claire and marry me,” “Big after all is a relative term,” and “You and me and lukewarm tea.”  

I can’t wait to see what Lindenwood’s theater department has in store for us next.