A humble staging of office chairs is transformed before the sold-out audience’s eyes into the heart of a lively New York train — at least for a moment — as Wichita State’s production of “Express” met the end of the night.
Written by New York-based collaborators Janine McGuire and Wichita native Arri Lawton Simon, the musical follows three generations of women, Katherine, her daughter Jane, and Jane’s daughter Joey, as New York evolves around them.
The story jumps across 1945, 1964, 1989 and 2001 as each historical event — World War II, the civil rights movement and 9/11 — continually reshapes the city’s identity.
Alongside navigating the defining events of each era, the character’s personal conflicts paralleled each other, sharing universal struggles such as maintaining a work-life balance, pursuing risky romantic and entrepreneurial endeavors, and remaining open to accepting new perspectives.
The scenes set prior to 2001 in the musical are narrated by Jane to her daughter Joey, seamlessly set in between flashbacks of Jane and Katherine as young women.
A central conflict in the narrative’s core is Katherine’s apprehension to racial integration, even initially disapproving of Jane’s interracial relationship with Joey’s father, a Black man.
Characterizing Katherine as well-intentioned in her initial intolerance could be chalked up to streamlining her redemption arc, as she was written to be antiquated. Her general ignorance about the modern world was played up for laughs, and the show appeared to operate under the optimistic note that anyone can improve themselves with the willingness to adapt.
Tackling racism alongside post-9/11 Islamophobia and jumping between four different decades in a 70-minute runtime seemed quite the ambitious venture.
The musical’s delivery could have been severely mishandled, but a balancing act of sorts was managed, such as microaggressions followed by a quick condemnation. Making the bolder choice to acknowledge the uncomfortable realities represented in “Express” paid off in delivering its promise of being a transportive experience.
Despite the show’s minimalistic set, the cast succeeded in transporting a Wichita audience to the larger-than-life New York. Moving chairs and an alternating cast of somewhat cartoonish train conductors — alongside near-constant references to landmarks painfully baked into the script — effectively signified the start of a new era within the play.
Additionally, the lack of costume, simple set and minimalistic decor lent a massive responsibility to its performers, who fortunately drew in every bit of the audience’s attention.
Francie Robu’s performance as Katherine brought a perfectly understated quality to what was supposed to be an unintentionally humorous character. Lexye Collins’ vocal performance as young Jane transferred the animated qualities of the character into the songs in a coherent and entertaining manner and was especially notable.
One of the strongest scenes was the 1945 meeting between Katherine and Joe, played by Jacob Crabtree. Following an endearing song about missed connections on trains, their romance unfolds based upon Katherine and Joe’s shared love for the city, with him successfully convincing her to stay and see a show with him.
The songs throughout the show, directed by Dacia Brown, were adequate enough. The music was performed beautifully and emphasized the tone of the scenes, but for the most part they lacked a memorable quality besides just sounding nice.
The standout song would be MC Trax’s rap in the 1989 storyline, performed by Jyavon Hill. It was a cutesy, charming rap that played a narrative role in describing a girl on the train the character was working up the courage to pursue, with corny wordplay like, “Feelings with a capital F” that garnered a laugh out of the audience.
Receiving a standing ovation as it reached its conclusion, “Express” was many things: a crowd pleaser, a heartwarming story in the face of adversity and apprehension, relevant.
Most importantly, though, it was full of unrealized potential, highlighting a theatre department outputting quality product beyond its means, ripe to flourish when given the opportunity.
