First there's a gyrating lead singer with the moves and lips of Mike Myers doing Mick Jagger. Then there's a bundled-up schoolgirl who seems to be aping Molly Shannon's Mary Katherine Gallagher. But long before Lorne Michaels needs to get the lawyers involved, Lunch pulls back from the brink of retread sketchdom and settles into an appealingly confident groove, tossing off enough catchy tunes and clever comments to stand out among shows set during those traumatic days when you don't know how or why but you sense that soon life will never be the same.
Lunch builds towards the eighth-grade dance, which supplies both a focal point for its loose plot and a frenetic yet satisfying mishmash of a finale. Though characters and setups are decidedly stock, they are fleshed out with acute detail thanks to an enviably coordinated effort by author Shawn Northrip, director Shirley Serotsky, and a cast of 10 deeply talented and committed young performers.
In Lunch, the black-clad outsider (Alessandra Migliaccio) doesn't just sit alone in the cafeteria; she wages a cold war with her food. Sketching rather than doing her homework, she sings, "Stick figure/Drawing you/Wishing you were me." Northrip's most sensitive writing, though, is reserved for a pair of diverging best friends: Dmitry (Bryan Davis) is catching on with the fast crowd, while Ben (Rich Hollman) is still concerned with sci-fi and sleepovers. When high school arrives, both intuit that Ben's knack for storytelling will no longer be indispensable.
The climactic dance is the expected free-for-all, catalyzed by the characters staring down the vast, terrifying expanse between themselves and high school. As the cast sings, "There's no such thing as a permanent record," it's clear there are nevertheless permanent moments. Lunch is a tribute to those moments -- sweet, silly, at times grotesque, but irreplaceable.
Presented by Fugly Productions and Bouncing Ball Theatrical Productions as part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival
at the 45th Street Theater, 354 W. 45th St., NYC.
Sept. 15-24. Remaining performances: Wed., Sept. 20, 8 p.m.; Sat., Sept. 23, 1 p.m.; Sun., Sept. 24, 1 p.m.
(212) 352-3101 or www.theatermania.com.