Leslie Minora writes in her article for the Village Voice
Living in a Musical Hoofs into TNC
"Living in a Musical—the sixth collaboration by Mark Marcante (director), Tom Attea (book and lyrics), and Arthur Abrams (score)—is as appealing and enjoyable as the vintage glass bottles of Coca Cola in its lead character's fridge.
Nine years after college, struggling actor Frank (Kyle Fowler) is stuck: stuck waiting tables, stuck in a love triangle with a heavy-metal couple, and stuck in the musical traditions of the early 20th century. He emulates Fred Astaire, dressing in a gray argyle sweater-vest as he serenades his lady, Angel (Alexandra Grossi), a rock-and-roll druggie and Juilliard graduate, whom he has rescued from her abusive bandmate boyfriend. Angel, clad in jean-colored leggings and beat-up leather jacket, makes a stark contrast to Frank's living room, with its dark-wood record player and mauve couch with fluffed pillows.An audition to star in the Broadway revival of Top Hat is Frank's long-awaited break. But he's jerked around by Angel in their budding romance and by his old college buddy, a regular restaurant customer who continually pressures him to set aside his dream to enter the corporate world. Propelled by the spirit of Gene Kelly's can-do era, though, Frank perseveres in melding his old-fashioned ideals into modern-day reality. He and Angel make an odd, but oddly convincing, couple. Their voices mingle instrumentally and they dance smoothly "cheek to cheek," suggesting that she may enjoy his version of an alternative lifestyle more than her own. Naturally wholesome but nonetheless hilarious, Living in a Musical is plain and simply charming."
Angela Harriell (choreographer) is director and choreographer of TNC's popular annual "Nutcracker: Rated R" and founder and choreographer of the cabaret dance troupe, The Love Show. Her choreography has been called witty, moving, unique and theatrical with narratives that are simultaneously autobiographical and universal. Richmond Shepard (Seven Lively Arts) wrote, "the brilliant Angela Harriell... could be the next Susan Stroman." A graduate of Fredonia University, where she received The Graduate Scholarship for Ballet, she has worked with Elisa Monte and David Brown dance, Randy James Danceworks and taught ballet at Binghamton University. Her work has been seen at The Flea Theater, HERE, The New York Burlesque Festival, White Wave Dance Festival, The Philly Fringe Festival’s Late Night Cabaret, and different nightclubs throughout New York. She has also set original works for Jerboa Dance of Seattle and Key West Contemporary Dance. Cointreau and Vogue magazine have commissioned pieces from her. Her work has twice been selected to be presented at special galas at the National Arts Club, where she has performed alongside Elaine Stritch, Tammy Grimes, Charles Busch and Julie Halston. Harriell was a Hammerstein Beauty at Simon Hammerstein’s notorious downtown supper club, The Box, and also performs with Brooklyn Ballet, Brooklyn Repertory Opera and Opéra Français de New York. She has been spotted amongst the glitterati in the pages of Patrick McMullan’s website and has appeared in several television and music video spots, including an ABC Primetime documentary on connections in the dance world and an STD awareness video with Alan Cumming.