LIMELIGHT

In 1996, a Staten Island teen gets into an elite performing arts high school and tries to find his place in the world.

Danny Victorio has had a hard year. He and his mom left his abusive father and their materially comfortable old life in exchange for a cramped, dingy apartment belonging to Danny’s deceased uncle. With only the cassette tapes of Broadway cast recordings Uncle Richie left behind as inspiration, Danny auditions for LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts. When he’s unexpectedly accepted, he’s thrilled to leave behind his Catholic school, which students call “St. Pete’s Cellblock for Horny and/or Satanic Boys.” At LaGuardia, he quickly befriends a quirky group of young fellow artists, including Christian, a Filipino American drag queen and ballet dancer, who gives white-presenting Danny butterflies. But to discover where he truly belongs, Danny will not only have to step outside his comfort zone, he’ll have to let his friends see the real him. Broadway actor Keenan-Bolger evokes musical theater classics like Billy Elliot and Fame along with even older performing arts school novels like Rumer Godden’s Thursday’s Children and Noel Streatfeild’s Shoe Books series. The rich setting and beautifully developed main characters balance the more two-dimensional side characters and quickly wrapped up ending. Still, musical theater fans will devour this story of finding your “corner of the sky.”

A vivid queer Broadway celebration with a classic feeling.