The Off-Broadway Theatre Review: Ain’t Done Bad

By Ross

It says it all in the title, one could say, as Ain’t Done Bad, the modern dance piece takes over the main stage at the Pershing Square Signature Center. It’s a compelling physical piece that opens to the harmonica melodies of Orville Peck in the badlands of America. It’s tender and engaging, honest and relatable, simple in scope but exquisite in style. Conceived, directed, choreographed by, and starring Jakob Karr (“So You Think You Can Dance” Season 6), Ain’t Done Bad shines its starlight on the story of a young gay man growing up and coming out in the American South. Navigating family dynamics, parental rejection and love, Karr finds dynamic form in his athletic dance of self-discovery and acceptance.

The dance piece’s physicality draws us in and keeps us tuned in, yet somehow lacks a certain level of complication and overall dynamic tension, even as it hints at a kind of brutal violence or sexual eroticness at the edges of the story. Backed by a crew of wonderfully engaging and supremely talented dancers, Karr as “The Son” throws himself completely into the story, uncovering the importance of community, the evolution of his sexual development, and the discovery of the love of another man, all told without a single word spoken. The music of Peck swells and envelopes the stage and the dancers with expressive contemporary queer country sounds, feeding the formula with expressive and impressive movement and twangy strong storytelling.

With 17 captivating songs played out over a tightly wound two acts and 70 minutes running time, this “theatrical dance experience” leaps out into our souls against a smart backdrop of lights and mirrors, designed by Blake Schulte and Joey Coombs. It is hard not to think of the other dance show, Illinoise, which took over a Broadway stage after a successful off-Broadway run at the Park Avenue Armory. Whereas that show had live musical performances, which is something this show could have utilized to great effect, this performance piece relies on already recorded music by a well-known queer country music artist. Peck’s voice works wonders on the arena, but something live might have enhanced the experience, like it did in that other dance show.

Three years after its debut at the Orlando International Fringe Festival in Florida, Ain’t Done Bad delivers the story with physical aplomb, developing characterizations that feel true and important. Karr’s Son is connected to his Mother, a very compelling Megumi Iwama, and his Brother, embodied handsomely by Ian Spring, but the relationship he has with his Father, powerfully portrayed by Adrian Lee, is filled with obvious violent energy. It’s the stereotypical dynamic, embodying the beautification of the young, beautifully bodied gay man against the hetero-masculine normality of the cold distant father.

It takes a few beats and songs for one to work out the relationships of these characters at the beginning. The engagement of Iwama and Karr first feels more high school friendship then parental, but later becomes more apparent. Karr’s way of engaging with Spring and Lee carried with it a connecting complication that I couldn’t make out, but when it clicks in around the dining table, the physical manner of relating makes perfect sense. And when these two supremely talented and physically impressive dancers change their garments from family members to sexually charged young lovers, thanks to the strong costuming done by J. Marie Bailey, the essence of the choreography becomes more impressively crystal clear and solid.

The Son necessarily runs away, finding comfort and support in his friends, delivered by Yusaku Komori and Jordan Lombardi, who gives off the love and care that he needs to find the courage to leave town on a much-needed adventure in the big city. It’s a story any LGBTQ+ person understands; the leaving so one can discover their sensual and sexual energy in the forms of many bodies and lovers. Karr dives in with a vengeance, joyfully unpacking sexual tension with others before finding the One, Joshua Escover. It’s lovely and romantic, and somewhat simplistic, but very relatable, and with the One by his side, he finds the courage to return home and present his authentic self to his family, hoping for a loving reconciliation with them all, but most importantly with his Father.

“Your momma will never understand why you had to leave, but the answers you seek will never be found at home. The love that you need will never be found at home…” sings Peck to dance movements that elevate and connect. Peck’s vocal recordings command the space, delivering tracks that are both smooth and power-filled. They unpack a story that is compelling and pleasurable with a small crispness that ignites a simple urgency that feels almost more important and dramatic than the story conceived here for the stage.

Ultimately, the tale is a slight one; stereotypical, yet also filled with a certain level of joy and desire. There is the feeling of expecting violence or a more complicated unraveling in the ending, but I wonder what that says about our historic connection to the coming out process that we have been fed for years in movies and television shows that focus their dramatic eye on LGBTQ+ process of coming out to family and friends. Does it always have to have drama attached to it, or is that a theatrical ideal we have grown accustomed to?

Ain’t Done Bad‘s dancing and choreography by Karr illuminates beautifully the engagements in a gay man’s life, in a repetitive dance cycle around the somewhat overblown moments that leave us feeling connected but not overwhelmed with emotion. The romance of finding shy love inside moments of innocence and nervousness is beautifully unpacked by Escover and Karr. They easily take us inside their developing attachment in an authentic delicate dynamic, magnificently matched by the more sexually charged moments that preceded it with that roomful of waiting, cruising lovers. Watching those two beautiful dancers find acceptance in the other, and in their own head, is tender and touching, leading us to the Son’s desire to find the same authenticity within his family. The closing scene is both touching and relevant, even if somewhat sugar-coated. We need kind, caring stories as well as more dynamic ones. The whole experience will not leave you overwhelmed with emotion (as I expected), but satisfied and content that love and acceptance can exist in some families in the American South. And that’s a good story to see.