The company of Empire Records: The Musical, photo by Daniel Rader

(PRINCETON, NJ) — It isn’t often that you hear songs by The Cure and Nirvana before the opening of a play, but that’s the vibe at McCarter Theatre for Empire Records: The Musical.  Based on the cult classic ‘90s film about a group of employees fighting to keep their record store from going corporate, the play is having its World Premiere in Princeton now through October 6, 2024.

But there's a lot more going on as well.  It’s a love story, a coming of age story, and a feel-good story. Some of the employees are facing very serious struggles, some are about to head to college, some have no idea what tomorrow will bring for them. It’s a pivotal time in their lives.  It’s as if someone found a long lost John Hughes script, added music, and put it on stage.  And it all works extremely well with a terrific cast and some incredible original rock and roll tunes played by a killer band.

Empire Records opens with the store closed and locked up as a group of employees arrive.  One discovers that the back door was left open and they all enter the store and start setting things up.  It is April 8, 1995 - otherwise known as Rex Manning Day.  Rex is a very minor pop star in America (but apparently is still a star in France) who is coming to Empire Records for an autograph signing day.

Tyler McCall, Eric Wiegand, Analise Scarpaci, Samantha Williams, Lorna Courtney, and Liam Pearce. Photo by Daniel Rader

The employees include Gina (played by Samantha Williams) who learns the money her father had been putting into her college fund was stolen by her mother.  AJ (played by Liam Pearce) who is in love with one of the employees and determined to tell her today.  Mark (played by Eric Wiegand) who excitedly tells everyone that he is starting a band even though it isn’t clear whether he knows how to play an instrument or not. Corey (played by Lorna Courtney) who is on her way to a good college and has a school girl crush on Rex Manning.  Debra (played by Analise Scarpaci) who shows up to work with a bandage around her wrists.  And Lucas (played by Tyler McCall) who closed the store the night before and discovered a secret the boss had been hiding.

Empire is staffed by teenagers who are big music fans.  From the get go, it’s clear that there is a certain vibe to the store and employees are “Empire for Life”. Even Joe, the boss (played by Michael Luwoye), worked at the store as a kid and returned after his own music career stalled following a few years performing on the road.

One of the main aspects of that vibe is its independence.   There’s an anti-corporate stance in the opening number and it’s a theme throughout. The employees clearly relish the freedom they have at the store. They are all misfits who seemingly have found a place where they fit.

“Are you all like this because you work here or do you work here because you’re like that,” asks Joe.

After closing the store, Lucas learned that Empire was in financial trouble and that Joe received an offer to turn it into a chain store.  Lukas grabbed all of the money in the store ($5,000) and proceeded to go to Atlantic City in an effort to raise enough money to prevent that from happening.

Lucas wound up losing all of the money.

“I don’t regret the things I did, only what I did not,” Lucas cryptically tells his co-workers.

Even after Joe discovers that the money is gone, he doesn’t fire Lucas.  Nobody ever gets fired at Empire. It’s part of the “Empire for Life” mantra.  A potential shoplifter (played by Sam Poon) is caught and is sentenced to stay at the store for several hours.  Joe doesn’t call the cops on him, either.  By the end of the night, even the shoplifter is an employee.

Lorna Courtney and Damon Daunno and company of Empire Records: The Musical. Photo by Daniel Rader

Rex Manning (played by Damon Daunno) is a hilarious character.  He’s brought to the store by Max (played by Taylor Iman Jones) who works for the record label and was a bit of a star at one point.  Max and Joe go way back.  She also worked at the store as a kid.

Word about the store going corporate soon becomes known and the crew tries to come up with a way to raise enough money to survive. Will they succeed? You’ll have to see the show to find out.

The play was written by Carol Heikkinen who wrote the original 1995 film.  In a McCarter video, she said, “One of my favorite things about getting to do this is getting to go back and reclaim the material, finding what I really wish was in the movie… I was able to put a lot of stuff back in that I like which gave more depth and was more about character because a lot of that got lost when it was made into a movie.”

If you are a fan of the film, you probably remember that it had a killer alternative rock soundtrack with songs by bands like Gin Blossoms, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Better Than Ezra, and The Cranberries.  The musical contains all original songs featuring music and lyrics by Princeton native Zoe Sarnak.  And the songs rock!

“I have a lot of love for local record stories,” said Sarnak in another McCarter video. “I wanted to make the music feel like your record collection; something you would put on headphones and get lost inside of.  Within any given song, I would sit down and think about what is the mental space the character is in? And when I would be playing and singing that would inform the style of music that would come into the show because I grew up in that era.  I wanted to put touches of things that remind you of the ‘90s while making a score that did still live in a very fresh and current place.”

One of the songs that Zoe absolutely nailed was “Scissors” sung by Analise Scarpaci.  This number sounds like a song straight out of ‘90s alternative rock and is a tremendously powerful song.

Other favorites include “Welcome to the Empire” featuring the company; “Another Hometown Story” led by Samantha Williams; “Who I Am and Who I Was” featuring Taylor Iman Jones, Michael Luwoye and Damon Daunno; and “Girls Like Me” by Lorna Courtney and Samantha Williams.

The Company of Empire Records: The Musical, photo by Daniel Rader

I’m not the biggest musical theater fan, but I love rock based musicals. It’s a different style of musical theater, but one that attracts folks like me. Creating original rock songs for a show is hard enough, but trying to convey the vibe and sound of a particular decade is an even bigger challenge.  Zoe Sarnak was up to the challenge.

Empire Records is skillfully directed by Trip Cullman (Broadway’s Choir Boy, Lobby Hero), choreographed by Ellenore Scott (Broadway’s Funny Girl), and produced by special arrangement with Bill Weiner, Hunter Arnold and Cody Lassen.  It's a terrific musical that should have a very good future ahead of it.

If you ever worked in a record store, ever wanted to work at one, or ever found yourself going from aisle to aisle looking for something to add to your record collection, you’ll love this musical. If you were a fan of alt-rock in the ‘90s, you’ll love it even more.  It brought back memories of festivals like Lollapalooza, Warped Tour, H.O.R.D.E., and Lilith Fair.  Just remember the immortal words of Rex Manning, “Never eat the fan brownies!”

McCarter Theatre is located at 91 University Place in Princeton, New Jersey.  Empire Records runs through October 6, 2024.  Click here for ticket information.

Liam Pearce and Lorna Courtney, photo by Daniel Rader

 

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