Oh, yes, ‘Girlfriend’: PrideArts has a cozy winner on its hands

L to R: Joe Lewis and Peter Stielstra.

Photo by Jenni Carroll.

Given that Matthew Sweet's classic 90s-as-all-get-out indie album Girlfriend was made on the back of a divorce, it would seem an odd idea to divine a gay coming-of-age romance out of it. Thankfully, Todd Almond is the sort of off-beat to do just that and do it very, very well. A multihyphenate given to the wistful and elliptical, his is the right sensibility to tell the tale of two teenage boys still too isolated from the larger world to grasp the breadth and depth of their feelings, so they speak around them. Say, by bonding over a mixtape.

Said mixtape is a surprise gift from Mike (Peter Stielstra) to Will (Joe Lewis). The former is an all-star with a full-ride football scholarship; the latter is an outcast not just for being openly gay (or at least as openly as possible in mid-90's Nebraska), but for having no plans after high school. The two have barely exchanged words outside of the one class they shared. The former has a girlfriend…a few towns over…who we never see; the latter only has us, his audience, to chat with.

It’s a slow burn, for sure, but sparks will fly.

Will is definitely the showier role, and Lewis is perfectly ingratiating in a way that’s both wide-eyed yet wary enough that the world outside Alliance, NE might be even less hospitable. (He also gets the funniest song, a creative recontextualization of “Evangeline".) For my money, though, Stielstra has the takeaway performance. An apparent newcomer to Chicago, his taciturn Mike gradually—if bittersweetly—blossoms.

While the scenery is largely imagined, Isabella Noe gets especial props for the band’s platform, decked out like so many parents’ basements where nascent jam bands nest. While up there, music director Robert Ollis gently kneads Sweet’s tunes as much as Almond has, preserving the singer-songwriter’s authenticity and intimacy. (Also, I think this is the first storefront musical I’ve seen with back-up singing in the pit, crucial to preserving Sweet’s sound.)

Following Almond’s lead, director Jay Españo never forcefully shoves these two young men together, but lets whatever will happen, happen.

In doing so, he’s guided a perfect little late-summer sleeper, just in time for school. May LGBT+ kids have it a tad easier than Will and Mike.

Girlfriend runs through September 25th at Pride Arts Center, 4139 N. Broadway. For tickets, dates, or more information, p[lease call (773)-857-0222 or visit pridearts.org.