Between the Lines at the Empress Theatre

I had never heard of the musical Between the Lines before but, when I read the description, I knew that it was obviously written for me because I usually prefer fictional characters to real people! I saw it last night at the Empress Theatre and I absolutely loved it! Delilah McPhee (Ashley Bates) is a seventeen year old girl trying to navigate her parents' divorce and a new school where she is bullied by the mean girl Allie McAndrews (Dusti Mulder) and her friends (Connor Alldredge, Talitha Jo Garrison, Tyler Parkin, and Emma Mendisabal). She finds solace in a children's fairy tale called Between the Lines and is drawn to the protagonist Prince Oliver (Alex Parkin). After a particularly stressful argument with her mother Grace (Lisa Shortridge), Oliver appears to Delilah and she tells him that she wishes that she could be part of his world. However, he tells her that things are not necessarily better in a fairy tale because they must live the same story over and over whenever someone reads it. They conspire to be together but Delilah eventually learns that she must write her own story. As someone who spent a lot of time reading during adolescence to escape from reality, I loved this story and I think anyone who has ever felt different will really enjoy it. The songs are a lot of fun and I especially loved "Mr. Darcy and Me" which is sung by the librarian Ms. Winx (Katelyn Johnson) when Delilah asks her if she has ever had a relationship with a fictional character and "Happily Ever After Hour" when the characters in Between the Lines lament the fact that they can never be who they really are because they must perform for the reader. The young cast does a fantastic job and I was really impressed with every performance! Bates is captivating and she sings "Another Chapter," "Between the Lines," and "A Whole New Story" with so much emotion. Parkin is incredibly appealing in the songs "In My Perfect World" with Bates and "Something to Hold On To" and I loved all of his physical comedy. The ensemble, who play characters in both worlds, is really strong and I enjoyed the songs "Inner Thoughts," especially when the dumb jock Ryan steps forward to sing but doesn't have any lines, and "Out of Character" because I always appreciate tap dancing. The set is one of my favorites at the Empress because it focuses on books with bookcases, book covers, and book pages located all around the theatre. Whenever the characters from Between the Lines appear, they enter from a bookcase that rotates to become a page from the book and this is such a clever way to denote which world we are in. This is an enchanting production and I highly recommend it! There were a lot of empty seats last night and I would love for more people to see this (go here for tickets). It runs at the Empress Theatre through March 15.