NEW YORK—When a theater piece starts out with a title such as “How My Grandparents Fell in Love, a Musical” there’s little doubt about the outcome. But it’s essential that the audience care about the characters’ journey. Thankfully, bookwriter-lyricist Cary Gitter and composer-lyricist Neil Berg have given us two individuals so appealing that the audience definitely wants to know more about them and root for their happily ever after. The result is an intimate two-person musical set against the backdrop of a rapidly changing world.
It’s February 1933 in the small town of Rovno, Poland. Charlie (Harris Milgrim), a 26-year-old Jewish immigrant who left his homeland for the United States a decade earlier, has returned in the hope of finding a wife. After an attempt at an arranged union doesn’t come to pass, he notices Chava (Becca Suskauer), a 21-year-old woman who works in a hat shop. After walking past the store several times in the hope she might notice him too, he finally enters and the two strike up a conversation.
