Shuffling through daily life in an often anonymous city, we may tend to forget that behind all those impassive faces on the subway, each person has their own story…their own anxieties, troubles, and fears. In Albert Tapper’s Sessions, the life struggles that we normally never see or hear are endearingly humanized as we eavesdrop on the group therapy meetings of Dr. Peter Peterson (Robert Newman), a well-meaning New York therapist who lends an ear to a myriad of distresses.
Dr. Peterson (Robert Newman) and his patient Leila (Rachelle Rak). All photos courtesy www.sessionsthemusical.com.
Among his patients: a man who suffers from 15 years of unrequited love, a bickering older couple who wonders where romance in their marriage has gone, a woman who can’t leave her abusive husband, and a vixen Peterson (guiltily) finds attractive. What binds them together is their common hope that therapy — “this science and this art” — will do them some good, and in the process, they instill faith that human resilience can go a long way.
Though an evening of psychological soul-baring might sound serious, Tapper’s sweet, catchy, melodious score makes this off-Broadway musical far from a pill-popping sob story. So many of the songs are moving (“Feels Like Home”) if not downright infectious (the Gospel-choir-inspired “The Sun Shines In”); the lone piano gives this production a classic-musical feel. The characters are likable, and an occasional flat joke not withstanding, they rein in some genuine laughs. Most of all, even if you don’t have any of their realistically portrayed problems, you somehow feel they are relatable: “We are all just struggling to make a path through life. That’s what makes us human.”
The Murphys (Bertilla Baker and Ken Jennings): Marriage on the rocks?
One of the most unique aspects about this musical is that, unlike other psychology-themed productions that focus only on the patients’ torment (i.e. Next to Normal, Distracted), we get a peek into the private world of those on the receiving end of such grievances. Ever wonder what your shrink thinks of you? Sessions reveals what might go through your doctor’s head after hearing your problems – and no, not all of these people are playing Sudoku or staring blankly while you talk. Dr. Peterson can be just as flawed as his patients: He advises, but also learns a great deal from them.
Below, the doctor grants a session to City Scoops. Two-time Emmy nominee Robert Newman (The Guiding Light) shares his experience on the show — and what happened when his own therapist came to a performance.
Robert Newman
City Scoops: You’ve done a terrific job portraying therapist Dr. Peter Peterson. How did you come to this role?
Robert Newman: My good friend and colleague Ron Raines, who played Alan on Guiding Light, called me one day and told me about a play he had seen. He knew that I was looking to get onstage in the last couple of months of shooting GL and felt that the role of Dr. Peterson was right for me. I met with the producers and director of Sessions a couple of days later. I read the script, liked the role, and we were off to the races. I joined the show in late May.
CS: What has it been like working with the cast and crew?
RN: It has been a joy. They are all so talented, so good at what they do. Some wonderful voices and great actors. They are also such good people offstage. Everyone onstage and off has been wonderful. I couldn’t ask for a better work experience. They have become like family to me.
CS: For those who have never seen the show, why should they see it?
RN: I think there is so much in this show for everyone. We are a society that is so broken and beat up by our various demons and our unique pasts that we go to therapists, individually and in group, to find understanding and hope. Al Tapper has put together in this piece a good grouping of different struggles. A woman who grew up with an alcoholic mother, a man who is very successful yet cannot please his own father, a woman abused by her husband, a couple married forever yet who hate each other. Several others with different issues, and then Dr. Peterson himself, who is in a sort of mid-life crisis mode. On the brink of an affair with a patient that would ruin his own marriage and possibly his career. He is at a point of wondering if what he does has any meaning or value. Throughout the play he somehow helps his patients and they help him. It’s really quite a wonderful journey. There’s quite a bit of humor, as in life, but we often have a very weepy audience throughout the night. It’s time well spent and quite therapeutic in its own right.
CS: You’ve been on CBS’s The Guiding Light for the past 28 years. What are your secrets for longevity?
RN: [laughs] You mean physically or in terms of career? Physically I’m just lucky. Strong Norwegian genes, I guess. Career-wise I’d like to think I’m just good at what I do and work hard at it. And lucky, blessed, fortunate, whatever you want to call it. It’s been and continues to be a great ride. Hey, I get paid to play make-believe. What a great job.
CS: In Sessions, you play a therapist who acknowledges that he’s only human. Has acting as a therapist helped influence any of your own views on life?
RN: I suppose so. In some ways. I’ve been through a lot of therapy in my own life. I believe in the process if you have the right match of therapist and patient. One of the most surreal nights was having my own therapist in the audience. She came about two months into the run, so she’d already heard quite a few stories from me in session about the play and the people I work with. We talked for quite a while afterward. She liked the play overall and felt it a pretty accurate reflection of that vocation. Except the singing and dancing part, of course. I guess those things don’t really happen much in real sessions.
CS: What’s next on the horizon for you?
RN: I’ll be with Sessions till at least the end of the year. We have hopes of moving it to a bigger house so we’ll see how that pans out. My general plan is to stay on stage for the next couple of years. I need a break from television, and stage is where I feel at home and at peace. It has always been home for me.
*********
Sessions plays at the Algonquin Theater at 123 East. 24th St. (between Park and Lexington). Tickets: $20-$50.
Last 5 posts by Pearl Chen
- Monetizing Emma - August 17th, 2010
- The Addams Family - August 6th, 2010
- Million Dollar Quartet - June 1st, 2010
- This Side of Paradise - April 27th, 2010
- American Idiot - April 17th, 2010
