Safety Not Guaranteed shines 900,000 lumens bright at BAM

Featured image: Pomme Koch, Nkeki Obi-Melekwe, and Rohan Kymal in Safety Not Guaranteed. Photo by Julieta Cervantes.

Time travel? Check. Queer romance? Check. A powerhouse ensemble of performers? Check. Safety Not Guaranteed has got it all.

The new musical at BAM Strong’s Harvey Theater is adapted from Derek Connolly’s 2012 movie of the same name, which starred Aubrey Plaza as a young journalist named Darius swept up in a plan to go back in time. Now, rising Broadway star Nkeki Obi-Melekwe (known for Tina: The Tina Turner Musical) takes on the role, as Darius pursues a story about a bizarre ad in the newspaper. Someone is seeking a companion to go back in time with them, and — as per the show’s title — safety is not guaranteed. 

Darius traces the classified to its source: small-town recluse Kenneth (played by Dear Evan Hansen’s Taylor Trensch), who enlists her help to get the time machine up and running. The plot was already captivating in the film, and a modernized book by Nick Blaemire and simple yet effective direction by Lee Sunday Evans ensure the musical only improves on its source material.

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Blaemire’s book takes all the best parts of the 2012 film — the humor, the heart, and the magic of unexpected connection — and ditches the bad. Darius and Kenneth’s relationship sings with sincerity when it remains platonic (as it does here) rather than veering into romance. Darius herself also gets far more agency in this interpretation, pitching the article that drives the plot rather than being dragged along to report it, and Obi-Melekwe’s playful energy is an inspired switch-up from Plaza’s signature deadpan. Both are fantastic performances, but the fresh interpretation makes the role Obi-Melekwe’s own, and the show is all the better for it.

Trensch as Kenneth is another standout. His character’s quirks could easily verge on caricature, but Trensch’s candor and charisma in the role are off the charts — not to mention his crisp tenor voice and comedic chops, nor the dynamic duo he makes with Obi-Melekwe.

The supporting characters get their own glow-ups, too. Darius’ editor Jeff (Pomme Koch) is still a grade-A jerk, but he’s no longer spouting the ableism and fatphobia found in the film. And intern Arnau (Rohan Kymal) is no longer the movie’s quasi-creep with an obvious crush on Darius. Instead, he brings an element of queer romance to the story as he forges a connection with local librarian Tristan (John-Michael Lyles).

In fact, Arnau and Tristan’s Heartstopper-esque flirtation is one of the show’s highlights. Kymal and Lyles have obvious chemistry, and seeing their sparks fly in the stacks is enough to pull at anyone’s heartstrings. The show’s queer representation is at times clunky: Arnau’s coming-out moment being the button of a number explicitly saying he wants to kiss a boy is the opposite of subtle. But Kymal’s heartfelt performance more than makes up for it, making the character a clear fan favorite.

Ryan Miller, frontman of indie rock band Guster, penned the score for the movie and returned to write music and lyrics for this stage adaptation (bringing some of the band’s hits with him, including the show stopping and especially earworm-y ensemble number “One Man Wrecking Machine”). Miller’s melodies are undeniably catchy, and the show’s rock orchestrations are headbang-worthy to match. 

The songs’ one big flaw? Their length. By and large, each number is over before you know it, leaving the audience little time to truly fall in love with the melodies or lyrics. Often, those lyrics also feel disconnected from the plot — a break from the story, rather than an element of it — with a few major exceptions: Darius’ ballad “Chocolate Milk” is a heart-wrenching glimpse into what makes the character tick, while Kenneth’s introductory number “Jankholes” is a wonderfully weird portrait of a man with a wholly singular worldview.

The desire for longer songs, of course, only means that what already exists in the show is worth wanting more of. Safety Not Guaranteed delivers a heartfelt and hilarious book, a can’t-look-away story, and a cast just as bright as a 900,000-lumen laser.

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Safety Not Guaranteed runs at BAM’s Harvey Theater through October 20. Tickets are available here.

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