{"id":152002,"date":"2026-03-04T04:37:30","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T04:37:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/152002\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T04:37:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T04:37:30","slug":"night-side-songs-faces-illness-with-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/152002\/","title":{"rendered":"Night Side Songs faces illness with music"},"content":{"rendered":"

Theater review by Tim Teeman\u00a0<\/p>\n

When you enter the Claire Tow Theater to see Night Side Songs, a welcoming cast member provides you with a songbook so that you can join along when prevailed upon to sing. If you\u2019re the kind of person who freezes with horror at the very mention of audience participation, fear not: The spotlight will never fall on you. The scattered moments of group song that emerge as the heart of the show are entirely communal.<\/p>\n

This original musical, which features text and a folk score by the brothers Daniel and Patrick Lazour (We Live in Cairo<\/a>) and was developed with director Taibi Magar, is about living in the shadow of terminal illness. Drawn from real-life testimonies of patients, caregivers, doctors and nurses, the show focuses on the experience of Yasmine (Brooke Ishibashi), joining her on a physical and emotional rollercoaster that begins with the shock of her cancer diagnosis. Along for the ride are Yasmine\u2019s quirky, supportive husband (Jonathan Raviv), her gay doctor and former eighth-grade crush (Robin de Jes\u00fas), her nurse (Kris Saint-Louis) and her impossible but fiercely loving mom (Mary Testa, commanding as ever). Alex Bechtel supplies precise musical direction and piano arrangements; Justin Stasiw\u2019s sound design and Amith Chandrashaker\u2019s lighting\u2014which includes a stunning circular orb of empty bottles\u2014are also impressive.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Night Side Songs | Photograph: Courtesy Marc J. Franklin<\/p>\n

Night Side Songs takes its title from a line in Susan Sontag\u2019s influential 1978 book Illness as Metaphor: \u201cIllness is the night side of life, a more onerous citizenship, in the kingdom of the well and in the kingdom of the sick.\u201d The show is most powerful when it maps the topography of the latter realm in detail: the exhaustion of treatments, the insanity of medical bills, moments of laughter and joy (as crystallized in a brilliant song, \u201cA Little Wine,\u201d that celebrates merry defiance in the face of mortality). It is somewhat less compelling when it detours into Yasmine\u2019s family background and the general history of cancer treatment, but its lovely score, engaging performers and heartfelt story soon reassert themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The subject matter may be challenging, especially if it elicits memories of your own loved ones\u2019 struggles, but the nature of Night Side Songs ensures that it isn\u2019t lonely. In those aforementioned instances of collective singing\u2014about loss, endurance, happiness and care\u2014the show movingly enacts how sharing hard experiences can be a powerful tool for togetherness, learning and healing. For a few precious minutes, we\u2019re on the same side.<\/p>\n

Night Side Songs. Claire Tow Theater\u00a0(Off\u00a0Broadway<\/a>).\u00a0 By the Lazours. Developed Directed by Taibi Magar. With Brooke Ishibashi, Mary Testa, Jonathan Raviv, Robin de Jes\u00fas,\u00a0 Saint-Louis. Running time: 1hrs 35mins. No intermission.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Follow Tim Teeman on Instagram: @TimTeeman
<\/a>Follow Tim Teeman on X: Tim Teeman
<\/a>Follow Time Out Theater on X:\u00a0@TimeOutTheater
<\/a>Keep up with the latest news and reviews on our\u00a0Time Out Theater Facebook page<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Night Side Songs | Photograph: Courtesy Marc J. Franklin<\/p>\n