What Comes Next

When the curtains closed, there were few dry eyes in the house. The melancholy tunes still rang in the audience’s mind, and few wished to leave their seats. 

From Friday March 12 to Sunday March 14, two casts brought to life What Comes Next, a musical originally composed by the Academy’s own Choral Assistant and Teaching Intern Jerome Walker and written by his former Yale classmate Noah Parnes as part of Walker’s senior thesis. Their work traces, in non-linear time, the Fisher family’s recovery from the unexpected death of their son, Max Fisher. 

“We came up with the form of the show before the actual story,” Walker recalled. “I love this musical Merrily We Roll Along, which tells the story of these three friends who ended up growing apart but it tells it all backwards. I love playing with time, but we were trying to figure out the payoff.”

Parnes had worked on playwriting prior to this project with Walker. “I love family dramas,” Parnes laughed. “And I love it when the show is grounded in one place. One of my biggest inspirations is The Humans, a play by Stephen Karam. It’s just a long family dinner scene. And that really helped us What Comes Next. A musical in one place but during separate times, separate snapshots of the different moments in their lives.”

“So then we literally sat down,” Parnes continued, “And we asked: ‘Okay, is it going to be happy or sad?’”

“We said sad at the same time,” Walker reminisced. “I think we succeeded.”

“The element of uncertainty really just comes from the both of us at Yale. We were both dealing with unexpected personal stuff and felt stuck and didn’t know what to do. What Comes Next speaks to that moment in our lives then, and in our lives now,” Walker said.

Walker and Parnes connected many personal details of their own families to the play. Walker has an older sister who went to law school and separated parents. Parnes inserted some of his own family’s dynamics and quirks. “My parents put mail on my sister’s bed, and my dad does shift every egg when he goes to the supermarket,” Parnes said. “I love those things about my family, but I absolutely made fun of them in this show because… well that’s what you do.”

The co-creators are proud of the little physical motifs scattered in the musical. “The Exeter iteration of the show really made me think it’s all about lasagna,” Walker joked. “We added the Michael portrait, the move, the unexpected guest, the ice-cream all as touchstones. We want the audience to feel like they’re in the same space, for them to feel safe and familiar as the show goes on. We didn’t put much thought into the lasagna, we just needed a certain dinner food. But now the meaning of the lasagna has grown on me.”

Neither Walker nor Parnes are Star Wars nerds. “In the original first draft we didn’t mention Yoda at all. And now it’s in all three acts, culminating in the third. Of course, the mention of the Star Wars prequels a little self-referential, a bit of a pat on my own back,” Parnes said. “I just find Yoda so fitting because he’s so calm, you know? ‘Do or do not, there is no try.’ There’s some meaning in that. This show’s also a trilogy, just saying.”

The co-creators loved the student actor’s interpretation of their play. “This project had been contained and just between the two of us for so long. It’s lived in Google Docs and practice rooms and voicemails. So whenever you have other people reading it aloud, singing it aloud, trying it out, reacting to it. That is huge,” Walker said.

Director of What Comes Next Lauren Josef spoke of the challenges that came with the pandemic. “We usually begin production meetings early on with the design team – lights, set, costumes, et cetera,” she said. “This show differed, because we went into it with multiple backup plans when it came to the actual production because of all the uncertainty.” 

Cast members agreed. “On Zoom you don’t get a lot of opportunities to interact with those with whom you share scenes with,” upper Kiesse Nanor (Cast 1 and 2, Ellie’s lover, Chrysanthemum Hastings) said. “My character’s a supportive one in Act I, and it’s hard to find your place. Thankfully our cast was really close to begin with and my lover is my best friend. We held our ground.”

Senior Oliver Hess (Cast 2, Max’s father, Michael Fisher) added that the virtual format did not work with the style of the piece. “The dialogue is really fast paced and it involves a lot of people cutting people off. It feels very natural and I love it, but it’s hard to pick up on the nuances on Zoom. Details like these enrich a musical, and it’s a shame we’ve lost some of that,” he said.

Conditions during the pandemic only allowed 22 total rehearsals for the two casts, more than half of which occurred virtually. Nevertheless, Josef and the rest of the team prepared to the best of their ability. Josef expressed that a strong sense of teamwork and “upholding expectations” was more necessary than ever. “There’s a special relationship and understanding that’s developed between a cast and director when you’re meeting everyday in the same space, working together on a production,” Josef said. “I definitely missed that, but Mr. Walker and I tried to foster that same support remotely.”

Out of necessity, the set design was kept simple, but it allowed for profound creativity. “This show is cyclical, and represents past, present and future. I thought a turntable would help represent those themes, and also help with some of the blocking challenges presented by the dinner table. It is always a treat as a director to be able to lean on your designers,” Josef said. 

Walker, on the other hand, considered the surprising blessings that came from being apart. “We were productive and enthusiastic, which is what matters,” he said. “The idea of learning all of the material then coming together to bring all your own puzzle pieces is also a process that happens out in the world with real productions. I’m glad the students had a chance to be involved in that process. In the end I don’t think it’s a production ‘really good considering this and that.’ It was really good.”

The co-creators found that the Exonians took their production to the next level. “The talents here have taught us so much about our own dialogue. And we’re learning to give space for them to take more liberty in interpreting our text and our music. We can take our hands off the wheel and we don’t, we can’t dictate how everything sounds or is sung or is reacted to,” Walker added.

Senior Yona Kruger (Cast 1, Max’s mother, Angela Fisher) noted the immense honor they shared as the original cast. “We’re the first people to ever put this work together, and it gives us the liberty to make all of the emotional decisions for these characters, making them recognizable and unique and genuine to ourselves,” she said.

Kruger’s favorite metaphor of the show was the ticking timer. “Angela’s constantly worried about the time and the chocolate lava cake. And she’s running out of time,” Kruger said. “She wants to be there for her husband, be there for her son, her daughter, but time is running by. The turning stage, the turning table, the turning clock hands all remind me that Max’s time is running out. That’s just so powerful to me. It grounds me in the show.”

“I’m someone who does not like change. It’s the worst,” Kruger added. “But I’m thankful for Angela for helping me confront the unknown, especially going into my senior spring, and showing me how to deal with it.”

Senior Felix Yeung (Cast 1, Max’s father, Michael Fisher) shared his appreciation for the recurring physical motifs that add to the realism and emotional depth of the musical. “We set the table in every act, on every birthday. We discuss the photo—the similarities, or lack thereof, between Michael and Max. We talk about the mail on the bed. We mention Yoda. And, of course, there’s the ‘ritual,’” he said. “It’s the same every year, but each time the audience sees a different side. Each time it takes on a new meaning, even as old meanings persist. It comes to show how life is dynamic, you know? 'It’s just cool storytelling,' to quote Aaron.”

Hess, who also played Michael, appreciated his continuation of the “disgruntled father role” since his two major performances last year. “Michael is fascinating because in each act you find him handling emotions in a different way. He’s not the same as Tim. We hate Tim as a character because of his narcissism and his lack of regard for other people. Though Michael comes in and acts a little rude or insensitive, it comes from a place of deep caring and compassion.”

“Michael wants to freeze the time frame, to steer Max away from the path he followed. He wants to control everything, but he can’t. He can’t do that,” Yeung added. “I relate to that as a person, to some extent. I also want to control things. But I think that it is beautiful that he can’t control it and that he learns to accept it.”

“At the end of the show, Ellie finally has someone who loves her, yet her career hits a new low. The parents are about to separate. And Aaron is still finding his own ground. We get a resolution to this show, but we’re also suspended in this beautiful space between resolution and irresolution,” Yeung added. “I love that. It’s not a happy show. But it’s to some extent hopeful. We don't know what comes next, and that's okay.”

Yeung also praised the show for embracing queerness. “We don’t dance around the subject, and that’s just so common. There's a lot of queerbaiting in popular culture. What Comes Next is a show that roots us in the specificities of queerness, but the show’s tragedy is also not defined by it. This isn’t a show about a family that hates their children because of their queerness. It’s about a family and their future, and queerness is an inalienable part of that,” he said. “I think that’s a powerful statement about the kinds of stories we can tell and the role that queer people play within such stories. Queerness is not synonymous with tragedy, even if this is a difficult show."

Senior Stephen McNulty (Cast 1, Max’s friend, Aaron Anderson) considered Aaron’s part to be the “coolest quirky side plot.” “This is a character who is a massive intersection between grief and queerness, two big parts of my own life,” he said. “Aaron has so much beneath him that you could mull over for weeks and months. As you’re trying to piece together Aaron’s meaning, Aaron’s still piecing together what Max meant to him. It’s powerful.”

“I think it’s so hard to build a play that captures all of the complexities of how grief impacts people and family,” McNulty added. “And we see that there’s anger, there’s blame tossed around, there’s guilt, there’s despair, there’s disarray, there’s a family falling apart, but also moments of joy, and memories of Star Wars, making a cake. They’re trying to make sense of all this. And those are interwoven. The ability of the casts to hold all of these emotions and all of them in that same space, co-existing at once, is really difficult for teen actors. This is my favorite cast and the favorite show that I’ve ever been in.”

“The cast would over-dramatically dance to someone singing and be stupid together,” senior William Peeler (Cast 1, Ellie’s boyfriend, Tim McDonough) recalled. “A ladder got knocked over during one show, a mac popup appeared on a window in another, and a scene had enough dropped lines that we needed Yona's improv to save us. It was chaotic, and I’d say we pulled it off. There was no small number of tears shed during rehearsals or performances”

Peeler described his process for deciding how to play his character. “The most important decision for Tim was deciding on why, exactly, he acted like an ass. His mannerisms were a mixture of bad habits that annoy me from all sorts of people I’ve met, and his behavior can be boiled down to a lack of awareness, a lack of emotional control, and the fact that he never wanted to go to Max's birthday in the first place, all mixed with a heaping dash of obliviousness,” he said. 

Lower Polly Vaillant said that an aspect of the play that struck her was its relevance. “It was written before COVID, but it’s all about how much can change in a year.” 

Prep David Goodall (Cast 2, Max’s friend, Aaron Anderson) spoke to the great chemistry of the cast outside of the production. “If I ever needed help, I could just ask if someone else in the cast and everyone was always there for each other.” he said. 

“I hope the audience had a good time, of course. But I also thought that the entire play was an exceptional opportunity for me to reflect. We don’t know the whole picture. We don’t know what’s coming next. That’s heavy stuff.” Goodall said. 

The casts’ hard work and talents certainly shone through. “The way that kids interacted with the parents, the way they argued. It was all so real,” prep Indigo Ogtiste said. “I also found the casts’ voices amazing. The way they flawlessly went from singing to talking. Wow.”

“I appreciated how the Ellie-Chris and Aaron-Max relationships portrayed queerness so realistically and normally,” Ogtiste added. “It wasn’t shown in an awkward, preaching way. It was just as teenagers would encounter it in life.”

“You know, the musical reminded me to take a step back and take a look at life with my eyes open,” prep Atishay Jain said. “I don’t want to constantly rush through life. Hustle and bustle. I want to look back and find my purpose in life and live every day slowly.”

Jain echoed Josef’s vision for the show. “I wanted the audience to see a piece of themselves in this show. The themes of ‘One Whole Year’ hit close to home right now,” she said. “It’s been a year of Covid, a year since we’ve been able to smile at each other walking along the path, a year where many of us have been cooped inside with our families or caretakers. I hope the audience walked away remembering that life is short, and it’s important to embrace what we do have, even in the hardest of times,” Josef continued.

“The show is about family and acceptance and I hope people felt moved by that, and maybe inspired to be kind and to hold their loved ones tight,” Vaillant said.

The casts are considering recording a spring term original cast album, and the co-creators are open to this possibility. “I love recordings of things,” Walker said. “The album idea pleases this dream part of my brain that’s dying to get a whole bunch of instruments and some lovely talented folks to come in and make really good recordings of the whole thing. I love it. It’s really cool. Oh my goodness it’s so cool.”

“I love that all of this happened physically. In space,” Parnes said. “It’s shockingly wonderful. It’s such a huge deal seeing your work be spoken and sung by other people. It’s crazy that people like it and want to do it and enjoy looking at it. People have said such kind things to both of us about this piece. And it’s a blessing to be able to waltz in here and just enjoy the amazing work everyone has put in.”

“I love musical theatre. I love that it all came together. This has been such a wonderful community, and that is really what I’m into in all of the work that I do,” Walker said. “We’re living in a pandemic but this show makes us feel otherwise. We’re together in this theatre. Someone’s calling the lights. Someone’s queuing the sound. Someone’s working the mics. Someone’s spinning the friggin turntable. And we’re all in this together. I appreciate that so much.”