Emily's Song

Writer-director Chet Holmes wrote "Emily's Song" as a screenplay and sold it to Warner Bros. as a vehicle for LeAnn Rimes, but the movie never got made. Now Holmes has turned it, more or less, into a stage musical. Even after considerable trimming, the screenplay has 100 scenes, some lasting only a minute or two. This necessitates 90-odd blackouts for scene changes, some of them longer than the scenes. The running time is thus extended, the action is slowed to a snail's pace, and the predictable plot line becomes ponderous.

Songwriter Charlie Everson (Tom Schmid) is devoted to his wife, and when she dies during childbirth, his newborn daughter, Emily, wins his adoration. He coaches young Emily (Darcy Rose Byrnes) in music, and by age 10 she has become a musical prodigy. Then tragedy strikes: While on a business trip, Charlie is mugged and robbed of all his identification, and his throat is cut. He survives, but as an amnesiac, with no idea who he is or where he came from. When attempts to trace him fail, Emily is left an orphan, separated from her devoted governess Rosa (Elena Campbell-Martinez) and farmed out to unsympathetic foster parents.

Flash forward, and Emily (now played by Lindsey Haun) is a young adult trying to make a career as a singer. She takes a job as a waitress in a coffee shop, where her boss Jake (John Bigham) recognizes her talent and uses his shop as a showcase for her, launching her on a successful career path, leading to rapid stardom. She's also involved in a romance with young law student Edward (Carmine DiBenedetto).

It's clear almost from the beginning how the piece must end: with a reunion between father and daughter. But the obligatory scene is a long time coming, and Haun is given nine back-to-back solos (songs by Holmes, Tom Shepard, and music director Amanda Holmes), further slowing the action.

Aside from the debilitating blackouts, the design elements are excellent. Schmid is a likable and persuasive Charlie, and young Byrnes is impressive as young Emily. Haun reveals strong vocal skills as the adult Emily, though she doesn't yet have the skill to make each of her many songs an event. DiBenedetto lends a diffident charm to Edward, and Campbell-Martinez is a stalwart presence. Cassidy Brown is an attractive and sympathetic figure as the physical therapist who treats, and later loves, the memory-challenged Charlie.

Designer Joel Daavid provides a handsome abstract background for the action, Shon LeBlanc supplies the glam costumes, and skillful musical accompaniment is provided by a five-piece combo.

Presented by Jordan Productions at the Hudson Backstage Theatre, 6539 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. Jan. 21–Feb. 27. Fri.–Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m. (323) 960-7788. www.plays411.com/emily.