Review by Steve Desroches
At the Provincetown Theater there are two stories being told in the production of The Jack of Hearts Club, a new musical by Jon Richardson. One is the play’s narrative, an achingly beautiful tale set in Provincetown in 1963 at a rustic gay bar, the Jack of Hearts Club, as a group of gay men and lesbians celebrate the end of the summer season, revealing personal experiences of love and loss, fear and adventure, and most of all, the protection Provincetown provides them in a hostile world. The second is the achievement of the show itself, one conceived and written by Richardson, who arrived in 2017 and fell in love with the town. In less than a decade and with the work and assistance of so many, he brought a piece of art to life, proving that the magical elements explored in The Jack of Hearts Club are still very much real, alive, and thriving in Provincetown.
The entire run of The Jack of Hearts Club is sold out, and did so quickly after tickets went on sale. Provincetown has not had such a theatrical phenomenon like this in quite some time. The arts are always full of challenges, and some here in Provincetown can be akin to climbing Mount Everest. But Richardson’s work, and his accomplishments to date, managed to enchant Provincetown, in part because of the importance of being a locale that produces art rather than just showing or interpreting works from elsewhere. For a tiny town, Provincetown has a big point of view. And The Jack of Hearts Club is a thrilling reminder of the enormity of the talent, imagination, and artistic grit that is such a part of the town’s culture. The Jack of Hearts Club is a triumph that has sent gleeful reverberations through Provincetown. Indeed, big things still do happen here.
The writing by Richardson along with the work of dramaturg Sam Myers and the masterful direction by Leda Hoffman is top-notch, thoughtful, and crisp. The cast of ten amazes as each presents such fully-formed characters to the point of a complete suspension of disbelief. It’s as if one falls into a wrinkle in time and is observing said night in Provincetown in 1963. Mary Callanan, James Jackson Jr., Angelo McDonough, Marissa Miller, Brittany Rolfs, João Santos, Christopher Spaulding, Mike Sullivan, Peter Toto, and Richardson present a master class in working as an ensemble, giving each other room to shine, while striking gold of their own with their individual creation of each character, with a musical prowess that takes Richardson’s compositions to the next level. The choreography by Jeffrey Gugliotti and the set design by Shannon Robert are sheer perfection, as is the whole production really. What’s happening at the Provincetown Theater with The Jack of Hearts Club is special and transformative. It speaks to the times by completely removing itself from them and creating room to celebrate the community commitment to radical love and inclusion that makes Provincetown what it is at its best.
