Review: The New Musical A Wrinkle in Time Should Have Stayed on the Shelf

For every successful novel adaptation like Matilda, The Color Purple, or The Outsiders, there’s a Tuck Everlasting or Between the Lines that fails to capture the same magic that made readers fall in love with a story in the first place. Despite some bold choices, A Wrinkle in Time, now making its world premiere at Arena Stage, falls into the latter category.

Based on the immensely popular 1962 children’s science-fantasy novel by Madeleine L’Engle, Lauren Yee’s book stays mostly true to the imaginative story, which follows 13-year-old Meg Murry, her 5-year-old brother Charles Wallace, and their friend Calvin as they journey through space and time to rescue Meg’s dad from an evil force. Using a concept known as “tesseract,” the trio travel to distant planets and encounter strange beings, ultimately learning about love courage, and the power of individuality.

Unless you’re familiar with the source material, the musical is likely to leave you confused, and that’s partly the fault of Heather Christian’s daring lyrics, which never define the essence of Meg as an awkwardly brilliant teen and her connection with her intuitive brother. Many of Christian’s musically powerful songs are full of exposition, but she misses the boat in setting up the story.

The musical is also hampered by its sound mixing. The ensemble has some incredibly strong voices, but during the many group numbers, it was hard to distinguish the lyrics or hear the harmonies. For the kind of complicated lyrics that Christian created, context is everything, and with the ensemble underscore rapping, it’s hard to differentiate voices, and important lines get lost in already poorly constructed songs.

Still, there’s a glimmer of something here, especially with a powerhouse cast led by Taylor Iman Jones as Meg, owning her role as a strong, intelligent female protagonist. While she never gets the big belting number one might expect (she was in Six on Broadway), she shines on her more subdued track. Mateo Lizcano is a real find as Charles Wallace, showing multiple colors in capturing the innocence of a 5-year-old, but unleashing an almost demonic presence when he is inhabited by a force. He also possesses a strong voice, shown best during the wonderful “What Is a Father.” The affable Nicholas Barrón rounds out the friend group, but Calvin loses some of the importance he had in the book.

Some much-needed levity is found in the trio of Mrs. Who (an amusing Stacey Sargeant), Mrs. Whatsit (an enchanting Amber Gray), and Mrs. Which (the always endearing Vicki Lewis). At one point, Charles Wallace tells the three witches that they need to explain themselves better—saying what probably every member of the audience was thinking at the time—which leads to a delightful song titled after their three names. But the trio is utterly underused, which is a real travesty.

There were moments when I felt like I was watching something created by Sid and Marty Krofft of HR Pufnstuf fame, thanks to whimsical yet minimalistic sets by the design collective dot, and a groovy number involving larger-than-life flowers that lets choreographer Ani Taj work her magic.

But there are also many dark elements that seemed a bit much. The majority of Act 2 was in near darkness, making it somewhat frightening and unsettling—an odd choice by director Lee Sunday Evans given that this is designed to appeal to children and families.

At times, there were elements of fun—such as the Act 2 opening number, “Every Day a Little More,” featuring scene-stealing Jayke Workman—but those moments were few and far between. Things do start to get interesting with the arrival of Aunt Beast and her fellow creatures (an important story point missing from the film), innovatively personified by puppet designer James Ortiz. Without spoiling one of the best surprises of the show, this added a bit of mystique, but the scene went on far too long.

That’s true for a lot of this musical, and some big edits will need to be made if A Wrinkle in Time is going to go to Broadway someday. At two hours and 40 minutes, the show drags.

While most of the important elements of the book are included, one area that Yee failed to capitalize on was including Fortinbras, the Murrays’ faithful dog. As with the beasts, Ortiz could have surely come up with a puppet to represent the beloved companion.

The stage had four quadrants of musicians in each corner, and music director Ben Moss led some riveting orchestrations—another positive of the musical. But the positioning may be somewhat responsible for the problems hearing the voices clearly.

A Wrinkle in Time pushes some boundaries musically and aims to be something different, but those not familiar with the book will be left with wrinkles in their foreheads, and those who do know it will not find the inventive favorite they are looking for.