(Michael Sommers’s article appeared in The New York Times, 5/2; via Pam Green.)
Wildly quirky in its contemporary style and tone, “Ernest Shackleton Loves Me” is an intrepid new musical at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick. Inspired by a true story and set within the frame of a fantastical romance, the musical relates one of the most amazing exploits of the last century. This year marks the centennial of the real-life, nearly two-year adventure, that involved a thwarted expedition, a ship wrecked by ice and an indomitable hero, Ernest Shackleton.
The fictional story, however, begins in a freezing-cold apartment in Brooklyn in the present day. Kat, a broke and despairing young indie composer, has just been fired from a lucrative job writing the music for a futuristic video game.