Up Here

 

Based on: musical of the same name by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez

Developed by: Steven Levenson, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez, and Danielle Sanchez-Witzel

Written by: 

Steven Levenson, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez, Danielle Sanchez-Witzel, Berkely Johnson, Evangeline Ordaz, Kate Gersten, Courtney Perdue, Baindu Saidu, Sam Sklaver, Noah Diaz

Starring: 

Mae Whitman (Lindsay), Carlos Valdes (Miguel), Katie Finneran (Joan), John Hodgman (Tom), Andréa Burns (Rosie), Sophia Hammons (Celeste), Rehanshi Mirza (Sara), Emilia Suárez (Renee)

Up Here trailer:

Imma be straight up: I never would've watched this show if Mae Whitman wasn't in the lead. 

There's a strong chance that I will watch (or at least try) everything with her in it from now till the end of time for one simple reason. She's Katara, my second-favorite character in my most beloved piece of media of all time. I would say the same of Zach Tyler Eisen (Aang), but he dropped acting directly after that role. The casting of Carlos Valdes in the supporting role certainly helped: I've grown to love the entire cast of Arrow and Flash, and he's very much included. It also definitely helped that the main character, Lindsay, is an aspiring writer, which I am as well. So those were all my biases! 

Musical romantic comedies aren't exactly my go-to, but I can enjoy them. And that's pretty much what I concluded of this series: it was good. It was a cute story about Lindsay, a young woman who'd settled into the monotony and expectations of a suburban life with the husband her family expected her to marry. When she comes to a realization that she has no joy or goals in life, she makes the snap decision to leave everything behind and move to New York to pursue her dream of writing. Once in New York, she runs into a man, Miguel, whose passions mirror hers, and they enter a whirlwind romance as they pursue their respective dreams. 

Miguel & Lindsay

But the real fantastical element about this series is-- we get to hear all the voices in Lindsay's head, a little like Inside Out. Three actors follow her around in nearly every scene, providing audible commentary of her hopes and doubts in every situation. It's a fantastic flair and a perfect one for a show about a writer, a career in which the voices in your head form the foundation of your abilities and confidence in your profession. It also made for even more creative singing performances as the "inner voice" characters formed extra dance partners or could interact with "real" characters in a way that kind of breaks the fourth wall, but not? 

Lindsay & Miguel yelling at their respective "inner voices" 

Mid-dance choreography

Lindsay's "inner voices" scolding her

The show's musical layer also provided extra comedy and flair in how the producers incorporated these dance sequences into the show. More than once, a scene in the story would pause and get physically torn apart by the actors moving set pieces, walls, and furniture in real time to accommodate the over-the-top and hilarious sequences. Lindsay or Miguel would join the performance, being swept away in an apparent daydream with the background dancers, only to be ripped back into their previous stage positions as they snapped back to reality.  And Lindsay wasn't alone in either "inner voices" or dance sequences. Miguel had his fair share of backstory, and as soon as the story introduces him to a significant degree, we're treated to his own representative characters of doubt and confidence. Not long later, he's the star of his own dedicated dance sequences, too. 

I have no complaints about this series. Everything about it was enjoyable: the songs were good, if a bit awkward at first. The pilot episode had the troubling task of both introducing the show's musical tone and singing about an inherently boring lifestyle, and that came off a bit... oddly. But after that, it was exciting to watch Lindsay's process as she abandoned the life that she didn't care about--and that didn't care about her--and jump into her ridiculous shenanigans in NYC. 

The series has been cancelled as of this writing, but I don't think that's necessarily a big bad thing. The season wraps up neatly, making it a solid one-off story for anyone to watch and enjoy.