A Letter to Harvey Milk
Lyrics by Ellen M. Schwartz
Music by Laura Kramer
Book by Ellen Schwartz, Cheryl Stern, Laura Kramer, and Jerry James
Directed by Evan Pappas
The Acorn Theatre
May 12, 2018
Production website
💉💉 out of 5.

A Letter to Harvey Milk was just such a sweet way to spend a Saturday afternoon in NYC.  From the notices of the play it was difficult to tell what the musical was actually going to be about.  Was it going to be some kind of a biography of Harvey Milk or a story of an older Jewish man trying to come to piece with being a widower after so many years of a happy marriage – – or – or was it going to be a story of the power of writing as a way to release your mojo?  Which?  How? To what end?

As I said the musical was really so simple and sweet.  The songs, although all forgotten by the time you exited the theatre were engaging and did move the story forward.  They were supported by excellent voices and some truthful, passionate, detailed work form the actors.  But the show did suffer from trying to do too many things.  It rather makes since when you see that four writers actually collaborated in writing the book.  It is as if each took their favorite theme and decided to run with it – – hoping the result would pull together for one show.  Without any connective tissue it just remains separate.  

What the musical does best is set up the big surprise at the end as to why homosexuality is such a unnerving subject for John.  The end really does pack a punch – and a punch that left many audience members sniffling in their seats.  This was worth the ticket.  What brought the show down for me was all of the Borsht Belt comedy that TRIES to have fun teaching the shiksa all the best of Jewish humor – – musical theatre has been down this road one too many times for me and – – and the jokes really are never THAT funny.  

And as to telling the actual story of Harvey Milk – I believe we are going to need another play (must it be a musical?) to tell of that journey.

I liked the simpleness of the musical.  I like the tears elicited in the final moment.  I just wished for a bit more pruning of the story.