Girlfriend 09/10 - Berkeley Repertory Theatre

2009–10 season > Girlfriend

book by todd almond
music and lyrics by matthew sweet
choreographed by joe goode
directed by les waters
limited season | thrust stage
april 9–may 16, 2010
world premiere

Extended through May 16

Running time: 1 hour and 50 minutes,
including one 15 minute intermission

the play

Romance unfolds in a new musical wound around the tender love songs of Matthew Sweet’s landmark album, Girlfriend. Meeting in homeroom. Cruising through town. Holding hands. Cheering from the stands. That awkward first kiss. In the world premiere of Girlfriend at Berkeley Rep, boy meets boy. It’s an eternal story turned upside down, a dual-Romeo duet directed by Les Waters that’s innocent—and Sweet. “Girlfriend is the breathless testimony of a fool for love,” raves Rolling Stone, “a rock ‘n’ roll valentine that delivers subtle wisdom with an exhilarating kick.” Fall in love with the boy next door at Girlfriend.

the players

Matthew Sweet became a star when the title track from Girlfriend hit the Billboard Top 10—and today it’s a tune on Guitar Hero 2. A protégé of Michael Stipe, Sweet left his native Nebraska in the ‘80s to become part of the music scene in Athens, Georgia. Among Matthew’s 16 albums are 100% Fun (1995), Altered Beast (1993), Blue Sky on Mars (1997), Earth (1989), In Reverse (1999), Inside (1986), Kimi Ga Suki (2004), Living Things (2004) and Son of Altered Beast (1994). He has recorded two volumes of classic hit duets from the ‘60s and ‘70s, Under the Covers, with Susannah Hoffs, and his most recent solo album is Sunshine Lies (2008). Matthew is also a skilled potter. His handmade ceramics are available at etsy.com/shop/LolinaArtPottery. Visit matthewsweet.com.

Todd Almond’s musicals include Kansas City Choir Boy in collaboration with director Sam Gold, On the Levee with playwright Marcus Gardley (premiering in June at Lincoln Center Theater) and We Have Always Lived in the Castle with playwright Adam Bock. Almond is currently adapting A Separate Peace with Tony-Award winning playwright Warren Leight and is recording a follow-up to Mexico City, his solo album of original songs. toddalmond.com

Les Waters is the associate artistic director of Berkeley Rep. In the last five years, his shows have ranked among the year’s best in The New Yorker, New York Times, Time Out New York, Time Magazine and USA Today. He made his Broadway debut last fall with his acclaimed production of In the Next Room (or the vibrator play).

the buzz

“Love is in the air at Berkeley Rep’s Thrust Stage…A gentle, heartfelt, two-character chamber musical that celebrates the pain and joy of first love…Adolescent insecurity and the awkwardness of first romance inform every glance, gesture and warbled note in the performances of Ryder Bach and Jason Hite…The music, two attractive actors, and music director, keyboard player and vocalist Julie Wolf’s electrifying four-woman band make it an exhilarating joy.”—San Francisco Chronicle

“A delicate gem of a musical that’s genuinely, well, sweet…The show soars during the musical interludes as Sweet’s pop anthems sweep us away with their irresistible exuberance…At its most powerful, Girlfriend takes you back to the time in your life when your favorite pop songs took on an almost-religious significance. It’s as if you turned up the dial on your own redemption.”—San Jose Mercury News / Contra Costa Times

“A rare treat—authentic, intimate and romantic, and, as the ‘I’ve Been Waiting’ lyric goes, ‘perfect in so many ways.’”—San Francisco Examiner

“Sweet is one sharp fool. While quivering at times like a teenager gripped by a fearsome crush, he’s actually a knowing lover—the spirit of his songs suggests a grown-up Everly Brothers, straining still to be starry-eyed but savvy enough to have survived love’s disenchantments…Musically, Sweet is equally adept at balancing the tough and the tender…This is popcraft raised to the level of artistry—a rock & roll valentine that delivers subtle wisdom with an exhilarating kick.”—Rolling Stone

“Girlfriend, the 1991 album by Matthew Sweet, is considered by many people to be one of the most memorable pop records of the past decade: a simple, earnest, yet occasionally gorgeous collection of hook-laden songs about over-the-moon love and bittersweet heartache. Also known for its photograph of fur-wrapped Tuesday Weld on its cover, Girlfriend was the pretty record that everyone played when they were pretending to be listening to Nirvana—and its success immediately made Mr. Sweet, an apple-cheeked Nebraskan, a most unlikely rock star.”—New York Observer