Paper Hearts the Musical

Moon Rock productions has achieved that rare thing: a new musical at the Fringe that shows real promise. Sure, almost every lyric needs to be rewritten – or at least put through the rhyming dictionary one more time. But Liam O’Rafferty’s music is thoughtful, sometimes complicated, and certainly accomplished. 

The story is rather sweet, too: Atticus Smith, a writer working in a bookshop, hopes to save the shop with the cash that comes if he wins a writing competition. The shop is taken over by a new manager, Lily Sprockett, and the two begin to fall in love. A touch of Jason Robert Brown sneaks into the music, which ranges in tone from funk and soul to contemporary folk. Also, since the novel he’s is trying to write is set in Communist Russia and the characters bleed into his real life, we get some Russian style folk music too.

Despite a lot to like, the musical isn’t without its problems. The sincerity of the songs doesn’t match the levity of the narrative, so in the story the bookshop owner Norman is a camp caricature, while Atticus’s father Roger is a bad guy straight out of a comic book. 

The company, who all double parts and some of whom play instruments, make good use of the cramped stage, but the production could clearly benefit from a bigger space. The story feels a bit underdeveloped too, and with a bit of expansion it could be great. 

It’s a sweet celebration of literature, of getting lost in a novel. And it’s so frustrating because it’s almost so good.