Mary Testa, Taylor Trensch, Jonathan Raviv, Brooke Ishibashi, and Jordan Dobson in the Under the Radar Under Construction performance of the ART/PTC production of “Night Side Songs.”Nile Scott Studios and Maggie Hall
By Chris Wallenberg Globe correspondent
Daniel and Patrick Lazour, the award-winning sibling songwriters who grew up in Boylston, outside of Worcester, sheepishly acknowledge that their new experimental musical “Night Side Songs” might be a tough sell for some audiences. Not only does the show delve into the experience of illness and living with cancer, but it also features communal singing (audience participation is encouraged but not obligatory).
“At first blush, you’re like, ‘A musical about cancer? Can’t wait to try to sell that!’ When you tell people about it, they’re like, ‘Oh, boy. No thank you,’” agreed the show’s director Taibi Magar, with a chuckle. “And then you’re like, ‘But it’s a sing-along!’ And they’re like, ‘Absolutely not.’”
But the Lazours insist that something magical occurs when audience members move past their inhibitions and engage. The results can be surprising. Their challenge, Daniel said, was: “How do you make a show that involves audience participation approachable and effective?”
“Night Side Songs” debuts in the Boston area this month, produced by the American Repertory Theater in association with the Philadelphia Theatre Company (where it ran earlier this month). The show will be performed at the Cambridge Masonic Temple from March 27-April 6, before moving to Hibernian Hall in Roxbury, from April 9-20. The cast includes veteran Broadway star Mary Testa (“Xanadu,” “Oklahoma!”) along with Jordan Dobson (“Hadestown”), Brooke Ishibashi (“Into the Woods”), Jonathan Raviv (“The Band’s Visit”), and Robi Hager.