NEW YORK—Unexpected encounters between long-lost lovers are the focal point for the musical “Reunions,” now at New York City Center Stage II. It consists of two one-act plays with a book and lyrics by Jeffrey Scharf and music by Jimmy Calire. Each is set in 1910, and each offers insights into the past and the chance to put unfinished business to rest.
First up is “The Twelve-Pound-Look,” based on a 1914 play by James M. Barrie (of “Peter Pan” fame) and set in a fashionable London home. Harry Sims (Bryan Fenkart), once a man of low birth, has done very well for himself over the years. He is worth 300,000 pounds, with an eye towards it someday being half a million, and he’s soon to be knighted.
Married with two young sons, Harry is obsessed with social standing. His life’s work is to know the right people and cultivate the right attitude for blending into proper English society. When he requires help answering congratulatory telegrams about his pending honor, Harry hires a typist. But he discovers the helper is his ex-wife Kate (Chilina Kennedy), who left him 14 years earlier. That day, she also left a somewhat cryptic note in her wake.
“A Sunny Morning” takes place in a park in Spain where the elderly Dona Laura (Joanna Glushak) relaxes on her favorite bench. While feeding the pigeons, she looks wistfully at the park’s visitors, who all seem to be in love. Her tranquility is shattered by the arrival of Don Gonzalo (Chip Zien), a grumpy old man who sits beside her and loudly complains about his own favorite bench being occupied.
As they begin a halting conversation—filled with insults and retorts—they begin to realize, without either mentioning it, that their lives were once deeply intertwined. In their youth, the two were passionately in love before circumstances drove them apart.
A common thread in both stories is the idea of insecurity. Despite his superior attitude and certainty in the rightness of his actions, Henry is terribly afraid of being seen as a fool. He repeatedly rehearses the protocol required to kneel before the king and receive his knighthood. Meanwhile, Laura and Gonzalo are terrified to reveal who they truly are to one another. Each is fearful their present self would pale in comparison to the heavily romanticized images of who they once were.
“The Twelve-Pound Look” is the more interesting of the two works. It’s a biting indictment of societal attitudes. Fenkart wonderfully personifies this as Harry, who feels the proper role of a wife should be little more than an ornamental overseer, with the servants doing all necessary household tasks. He’s determined to raise his sons with the same attitude.
The only problem with “The Twelve-Pound Look” is that it doesn’t really need music. The story is strong enough to stand on its own. Many of the songs are actually angry exchanges between Harry and Kate that would have worked far better spoken than sung. The songs are more of a distraction than anything else.
Kate warns Harry that his actions threaten his marriage to his current wife Emma (Courtney Reed). But the warnings fall upon unhearing ears, as does her explanation of what made her leave Harry all those years ago.
Kennedy’s performance as the no-nonsense, firm-footed Kate shows her to be a breath of fresh air in an otherwise suffocating household. She’s moved beyond the pretentiousness that defines Harry’s existence. This is apparent when, upon Kate’s arrival and before her identity is revealed, she knows exactly how to respond to one of the telegrams even before Emma can instruct her on how it should be answered.
Reed is effective as the third side of this equation. Her character has begun to chafe under the constraints that Harry’s world demands, which in turn cause her to begin to question her own sense of identity and self-worth.
“A Sunny Morning” works thanks to the likability of the two leads and the pleasant, if not at all memorable score. Both Glushak and Zien transform their characters from sedate, set-in-their-ways sorts to ones with wonder in their voices and twinkles in their eyes. The lies they spin as they try to explain what happened since their last, long ago encounter, while trying not to reveal their identities, are quite amusing and fool no one—least of all, each other.
Direction and choreographic work by Gabriel Barre is strong throughout, while Edward Pierce’s scenic design nicely helps to convey the proper atmosphere for each story. The costumes by Jen Caprio also work quite well.
“Reunions” makes for an enjoyable interlude, with lessons both pointed and genial concerning past decisions and perhaps a hope for a better future.
‘Reunions’
New York City Center Stage II
131 W. 55th St., New York City
Tickets: 212-581-1212 or NYCityCenter.org
Running Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes (no intermission)
Closes: Dec. 14, 2025
Judd Hollander is a reviewer for Stagebuzz.com and a member of the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle
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