||: Girls :||: Chance :||: Music :||- 26 May 2026

A coming-of-age lesbian love story, ||: Girls :||: Chance :||: Music :|| intertwines the lives of four teenagers in a summer program for girls interested in music performance. The show utilizes intermittent music performances and impromptu moments of improvisation juxtaposed with scenes of the girls’ blossoming relationships to tell a story of falling in and out of love. The protagonist, Fax (Hillary Fisher) walks through the world mostly oblivious to Margot’s (Naomi Latta) crush, and ends up losing her love and her friendship over her inclusion of Rile (Yeena Sung) in the private conversations of their music. The fourth performer, Clementine (Gianna DiGregoria Rivera), plays a slightly younger prodigy who comes in and out of the story as necessary, filling voids and niches when they appear. The philosophical foundation of the show commands respect. In practice, the show has some scenes that aren’t impactful and could be removed without harming the integrity of the piece.

As much as I enjoyed the playful shyness of the vocal improvisations, they were hard to hear at times and the transitions in and out of them tended to be abrupt and awkward. The shyness was the prevailing impression, even in moments that could have leaned into the power of a character’s love the same way the instrumental parts did. There are some moments that get lost in translation for this reason. On the plus side, the tension in each scene is felt acutely by the audience, made palpable by a cast that really maximizes what they are given by writer/composer Eisa Davis and director Pam McKinnon. Each actress steps in and steps back with instinctual precision that is engaging; physicality creates meaning in this show, at times more than words.

By far my favorite element of ||: Girls :||: Chance :||: Music :|| was the lighting design. Russell H. Champa created unique, empowering looks that were, in a way, part of the music. The instrumental music moments were strong, and imbibed with the overwhelming power of everything the girls, particularly Margot, can’t say. The seismic shift was a strong scenic moment, but its place in the story as the moment Margot became disenchanted with Fax held the possibility for a more definitive ending. Yes, it’s realistic to have the girls go their separate ways and rarely encounter each other, but it’s also profoundly anticlimactic. The denouement in this story is a lost opportunity.

||: Girls :||: Chance :||: Music :|| has a lot of positive energy, and a very important mission. Though not all storytelling elements reach their full potential, this is a production with great pride and great joy in the telling of its story. At the end of the day, this story equates the power of music with the power of love, told through the lenses of teenage girls who have so much growing to do in both areas. Though they don’t all end up in music as a profession and they also don’t all end up in each other’s lives, their story reminds the audience that something doesn’t have to last forever to be impactful. Sometimes a meaningful moment is like a live performance— with you for as long as you can hold it before it vanishes into the ether. A good one cements as memory, but it erodes until the next time you cross a threshold in your mind that brings everything rushing back. I can think of no better production than ||: Girls :||: Chance :||: Music :|| to bring vitality to this seminal theatrical concept.

I attended this performance on a press pass from The Press Room.