In the effortlessly romantic Passing By two people must come to terms with the realization that the saying about god making fun of one’s plans might very well be the truest thing that ever was. When we first meet Jenny Zimmermann and Edison Wolters they’re children living in the small town of Jacksonia, Wisconsin. Little Jenny dreams of becoming a famous writer, so she jots down her every thought in a journal which she refers to as Diana, the Roman goddess of wildland and protector of girls, which makes one assume the name is no coincidence. Meanwhile Edison takes his pride in the farmlands owned by his father, which he hopes will become his one day.

As they grow up and form a friendship which slowly gives way to romance, they must make a crucial decision shortly after graduating high school when Jenny announces she will be leaving to college. Edison begs her to stay with him, but she chooses to follow her lifelong dream, little does she know that life has in store some surprises for them both. With music, book and lyrics by Patrick Thompson, Passing By is a small wonder of a show which manages to be wildly idealistic without being naive. If anything, it’s a show that perfectly encapsulates the notion of young love, as Thompson adds little details that make the characters inner lives utterly rich. For instance we can determine that someone as focused as Jenny could fall in love with someone like Edison when he points out that “clouds are made of cotton candy”, his worldview not only sounding charmingly silly, but also helping her see the world in a different way.

With beautiful orchestrations (the guitar solos are particularly gorgeous) that make the heart ache as the characters sing about love lost, Passing By could very well become a sweet little holiday special, a show one would want to return to time and time again in order to reminisce and find hope.