Imagine if Odysseus was actually the middle-aged gay dude who lives in your building, the one who nods politely but never learns your name and always seems to be rushing off to some probably fabulous adventure in the city. For Odysseus, of course, the adventures only seem fabulous in retrospect. Todd Almond, the creator and star of the quirky new chamber musical I’m Almost There, spins a truly epic yarn that plays like an absorbing blend of David Sedaris, Homer, and the Metropolitan Diary of The New York Times.
“You’re never going to believe this,” begins Almond, seated at a baby grand piano and launching into a Sondheimlike tune that has a lilting melodic line as well as a conversational patter that captures our interest and holds it. He soon spins a wild, woolly yarn while inviting us into his confidence. After meeting a guy at “this gay Easter brunch open-house party hangout kinda thing,” and connecting over a 10-hour walk around the city that does not end with them in bed together, he wakes up to a message that the guy is downstairs with coffee.
But our hero is waylaid on his journey downstairs to reunite with his possible one true love. Instead of a Cyclops, the Sirens, the six-headed monster Scylla, and the whirlpool Charybdis, he confronts more contemporary challenges that are no less daunting: a pushy upstairs neighbor, an MLM marketer whose pyramid scheme morphs into an actual cult, a Siren-like hottie who seduces him while offering nothing but contempt.
Almond shares these episodes with a cunning mix of the mythic and the matter-of-fact that lull us into swallowing some rather bizarro narrative twists. “I have to do my laundry anyway,” he says at one point, “So I go down to the Underworld, which is where the machines are.” It’s there, naturally, that he meets a cat who claims to be 53% his dead mother (“Most of me wants you to be happy but a little less than half of me wants you to die”). It’s a credit to Almond’s gifts as both a songwriter and performer that we follow him so eagerly down the wild corridors of his story.
The infectious score is aided by the addition of harpist Erin Hill (who also voices the neighbor and adds some lovely harmonies) and bassist Noah Max Amick (who stands in as the verbally dismissive “sexy beast” neighbor). Director David Cromer withholds their appearance for a while, revealing them gradually on the pitch-dark stage of BAM Fisher venue (artfully illuminated by Stacey Derosier). When do they turn up, Hill and Amick provide not only a richer sound and some lovely harmonies but also the occasional jarring dissonance that reinforces the darker places this picaresque story goes. The show sounds great — and I can’t wait to hear the recorded version on Audible (which commissioned the piece).
I’m also eager to see what Almond, who’s written new music for Public Theater productions of The Tempest and The Winter’s Tale, might tackle next. He has the rare ability to make high-falutin’ material accessible; here, he even tosses in references to Kate Chopin and an entire song about Joyce Carol Oates without coming off as an insufferable snob. That’s no mean feat. I’m Almost There turns The Odyssey into a relatable, just-over-an-hour quest for true love and good coffee. ★★★★☆
I’M ALMOST THERE
BAM Fisher, Brooklyn
Running time: 1 hour, 5 minutes (no intermission)
Tickets on sale through June 28 for $57 to $73