Somewhere in this convoluted twist of dissonance, glorious choral notes and witty lines; there is a story. Albeit inchoate, Eliza Bent and Dave Malloy’s "Blue Wizard / Black Wizard" possesses the beginning of a thought. Or a question. Or an answer. It isn't really clear. However, what this production lacks in clarity, it redeems with audacity.

This musical follows two cosmic referees, as they monitor the epic showdown between the Blue Wizard and the Black Wizard. However, this face-off has a noble cause: the victor will become the one who will save humanity from The Great Mediocrity. It's an existential slump of unanswered questions, intellectual monotony, and unrelenting emptiness.

We begin with two enigmatic figures robed in whimsical shades of purple and reliquary. This is Cremini and Nikkoli. As mentioned in the play's synopsis, they act both as the referees between the Blue and Black Wizard, and as your guide. However, the two characters do something else both monumental and unintentional: they, along with an army of impossibly perfect chorus singers, keep the musical afloat.

This isn't to say that "Blue Wizard / Black Wizard" isn't engaging, nor poor in delivery. It just simply isn't the best, and there are only three reasons why:

1. Focus

Perhaps through a postmodern filter, the countless directions the play seems to manically travel simultaneously is a wink at the Millennial Generation's curse of an ADD livelihood. However, after the first act is done, we still find ourselves overwhelmed with melody and wit, but no real dramatic action. Yes, the Wizards arrive. Yes, they participate in the challenges. And yes, even Nikkoli storms out in frustration after the two Wizards fail to comply with rules that never are fully explained. But how is the story progressing? What's the actual point of these challenges -- one of which includes idle chat at a bus stop with a stranger. What's missing is the ever-so-needed connection between what's happening on stage, and how each action made takes the characters closer or farther to their goal. How does reenacting Confederate soldiers help us determine which Wizard will save us from The Great Mediocrity?

2. Music Composition

There is something to admire about a team that dreams, and goes, big. A live dancing chorus, a single trombone, and an arsenal of prerecorded audio tracks that range from minimalist booming beats to peculiar industrial dissonance sounds as ambitious as it is. As reality goes, ambition doesn't always equate success. At times the trombone overpowers the vocals in a heartfelt duet. In other times, the prerecorded audio track is so low in volume, and so overwhelmingly dissonant; it underwhelms and annoys.

But: good God almighty, when it works? It. Works. A perfect example of this, and there are quite many, is the chillingly raw and honest acapella piece sung by the chorus after the intermission. Both the lyrics and melody are in all honestly an absolutely mesmerizing work of art and performance. The somber and worn vocals transform a simple devotional into a deeper ideology of hope against hopelessness:

“No matter the question.
 No matter the answer.
 We shall strive for greatness..” 

Words can’t truly convey the power of this single performance, but it warrants the release of a soundtrack in the very least.

3. Answers

Alright. By midnight, the Great Mediocrity begins.  Bent and Malloy succeed in setting a beautiful existential and contemporary problem that must be solved. So naturally, the audience waits with bated breath to see how-in-the-world they'll do it. Well, they don't; which is a perfectly fine conclusion had this big looming failure been truly acknowledged in any way. Instead, Bent and Malloy torture your curiosity to the point of near rage as each song and scene throughout the First Act reminds us of the incoming doom, but never tells exactly how they will stop it. Both Wizards offer no solutions. Cremini and Nikkoli choose to remain ambiguous about exactly what will happen after they choose the right Wizard to save humanity. How? How will they do it? It's a question that Bent and Malloy effectively infect your thoughts with, and then proceed to refuse treatment as the cancer spreads.

But don't fret. “Blue Wizard / Black Wizard” still manages to offer moments that truly make the musical worth watching. When you finally arrive to the right scenes -- and you'll know when you get there -- everything starts to click.  Nikkoli is the first to break skin. During a very raw and venerable moment of clarity at a diner with Cremini, she admits: "I love you guys, but I didn't think I’d be here this long."

She’s not talking about the Wizards battling; she's talking about her job as a referee. Then the curtains are drawn back, and we finally see it: despite the magic and pontificating ideals, these are real, damaged human beings. While Cremini asks Nikkoli about her most recent attempt at grad school, Nikkoli asks Cremini about his most recent attempt in fashion design. Though Cremini’s breaks in character allude to it, this moment at the diner investigates the reality that everyone has a life outside of this. Even the Wizards take up day jobs as coffee baristas after their first failure to complete the Challenge. It becomes a thinly veiled yet well-played metaphor for post-grad Millenials. There is what you want to do, and what you need to do. Your day job is not your career. It's not what you studied for or aimed for, and yet here you are. Nevertheless, these moments live at the end of the play, not the beginning. In fact, in a meta-theatrical moment, intentional or not, Bent and Malloy concede this point through Cremini’s words: "Just let them ride it out... They'll come back around."

Eventually, they do. You simply have to be the sort of person that enjoys the journey, not the destination.

Performances of "Blue Wizard / Black Wizard" continue through December 22nd.  Check out our full event listing here: https://stagebuddy.com/listingdetail.php?lid=16434