Why do people sing in musicals? The basic maxim says that characters sing when they can't express themselves in any other way. In Moments of Truth, a new musical at Royce Gallery, the characters express themselves in song at least 15 times in the 90-minute show. That's a lot of expressing, and if in some cases the situations don't necessarily demand a song, the songs still make enjoyable listening.
They happen in the service of a story that itself does not have "sing me" written all over it. But we also know that poor Russian milkmen, mass murderers, and Alexander Hamilton have successfully sung on stage, so why not the characters in Moments of Truth? The common denominator is that they all explore the vagaries of human behavior.
The world that songwriter Caroline Altman and librettist Patricia Milton have conjured is an intimate one, approaching insularity, but still dealing with emotions that reach beyond the specific world in which the characters operate. That realm is a little corner of the art world, where commerce and creativity often collide with jealousies and rivalries. In this case, an established artist finds her work being shunted into the passe column. Not edgy enough, critics and collectors seem to agree, even as Nan's art-dealer husband tries to prop up her career by exhibiting her paintings with another artist's inane depiction of cows. The cows end up as the stars of the exhibition, with Nan's self-confidence taking a hit.
Milton's breezy dialogue finds both the humor and anxiety of the situations, which heat up with the arrival of an artist whose work is so edgy that she was arrested at the Lincoln Memorial, deported from England, and stripped of valuable commissions. Chloe arrives, suitcase in hand, looking for a place to stay and a chance to reboot her career. Nan and Chloe were college roommates, but definitely not BFFs, and Nan doesn't even know yet about husband Gerald's dalliance with Chloe just weeks before their wedding. When he proposes a collaboration between Nan and Chloe, the impetus for emotional expressions through song becomes clear.
Altman's songs are consistently tuneful, and move around the musical spectrum �" tango, hymn, ballad, pop �" without becoming obvious pastiche. Her lyrics are smart and clever as well, and with musical director Scrumbly Koldewyn providing confident piano accompaniment, the cast is able to connect with both the words and the music. Moments of Truth director Louis Parnell smoothly moves the action on Jeff Wincek's handsome living-room set through multiple scenes.
Moments of Truth is also the name of the artistic collaboration that the impetuous Chloe convinces the cautious Nan to join. It involves hooking up volunteers to a lie detector, putting them at their ease with softball questions, and then photographing their shocked expressions when caught in an embarrassing lie. Sooner or later, you know the temptation will arise among the romantic triangle to somehow use the machine on each other.
The 3Girls Theatre Company production is enhanced by the charismatic talents of its cast, with Bekka Fink as the artistically drifting Nan, Danielle Thys as the brash Chloe, Tyler McKenna as the art dealer trapped between the two artists, and Douglas Giorgis in a series of comically overplayed cameos. Moments of Truth is not what you'd call momentous, but it has an easygoing charm �" and that's no lie.
Moments of Truth will run through Oct. 18 at Royce Gallery. Tickets are $30-$35, available at www.3girlstheatre.org.