Chasing Grace

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Chasing Grace is an original musical by writer/composer Elizabeth Addison (In Between…, This Is Treatment) that excellently combines compelling drama and biting satire. The narrative follows Grace, a Black woman who checks herself into a recovery program for alcoholism. In the second act, however, the show flips and suddenly becomes a satire about the theater industry and its shallow view of Black existence, especially Black pain. Addison’s script is razor-sharp – emotionally compelling and hilarious in equal measure.

Addison, in addition to writing and composing, also directs. The production is in a black box theater with a minimal (uncredited) set, but Addison’s careful placement of the actors within the space allows the show to feel quite big even in such a small space. There’s a lot of group scenes in the play – scenes where most of the cast is on stage at once, often doing different things – and these are the scenes that make best use of the black box. The blocking is such that actresses walk to different sides, allowing the action to feel natural and busy while still letting the audience see everything. JP Pollinger’s sound design is well-balanced for the space, which helps on this front as well.

The songs themselves are electric. Some numbers are classic musical theater, others have a bit more of a pop-rock vibe to them. “The Get-In” is exactly what one wants from an 11 o’clock number – it’s catchy, energetic, and hilarious all at once. The song is anchored around Shamiea Thompson’s (The Purple) performance, and she absolutely nails it. The choreography, the singing, and her sheer charisma all come together flawlessly. The medley of songs that are sung during the show-within-a-show parody section are all stellar – in particular, Marlaina Powell (Broadway: The Lion King, Smokey Joe’s Cafe) is a riot as the parody version of Tanisha during “God Is.”

In the first act, “Spade’in With” is a great ensemble number, while the opener of “Back to Work” is quite well sung by by Harper Miles (The Radio, Broadway revival: Caroline, or Change), who plays Grace. Miles is overall an excellent lead in the first act, portraying Grace as quite anxious and nervous, but with an undercurrent of curiosity that adds a great deal to the character. It’s a necessarily subtle performance for such a grounded character, but Miles adds a lot of interesting emotional depth to the role. Gabrielle Beckford (Once Upon a One More Time, national tour: The Prom) plays the unnamed lead of the second act (credited simply as The Writer), and while her performance is not quite as strong as Miles’, she never drags the play down. Both leads aside, many of the memorable moments in Chasing Grace come from the ensemble cast.

LaDonna Burns (White Girl in Danger; Caroline, or Change) gives a layered performance as Ms. Caroline, the recovery program’s director. She plays the character as someone utterly convinced of her own righteousness, regardless of how her actions affect others – it’s a very nuanced take, and her portrayal of that repression and inner conflict turns Ms. Caroline into quite a compelling villain. That, along with her rich singing voice, makes Burns a major highlight of the first act.

The show really kicks into high gear in the second act, when it becomes more of a satire. The narrative focus shifts to an unnamed writer trying to sell the musical from the first act to producers, all of whom want her to make it more “marketable.” Maximizing marketability, much to The Writer’s chagrin, means removing the original work’s emotional depth and interesting themes and replacing them with Black stereotypes and by-the-numbers gospel songs calculated to soothe white audiences. Even the name is changed from “Chasing Grace” to “Rehab! The Musical.” Chantelle Guido (Brecht in Exile) is quite funny as theater producer Magical Why-Tee, delivering all her lines (and wearing a kente cloth) with a wonderfully shameless abandon. Thompson is firing on all cylinders as the show-within-a-show’s new lead actress and co-writer (she’s not given a name, and is credited simply as “The Black, Tony-Award Winning Writer/Director of Stage and Screen), playing her as an over-the-top embodiment of selling out with such charisma that everything on stage seems to bend towards her.

The other actresses are all equally excellent. Most are double-cast, with the most strikingly different dual-role going to Kiara Wade (Macbeth, Carousel) as Sheri/Janessa. She’s fantastic as Janessa, the longtime fiancee of The Writer. Much of the emotional drama of the second act is derived from Janessa and The Writer’s slowly deteriorating relationship, and one of the greatest emotional strengths of the play is Wade’s performance as Janessa. The audience can feel the character’s inner conflict – of wanting to support her longtime fiancee but also feeling utterly neglected in the relationship – through Wade’s acting. She’s equally adept at playing Sheri, especially during the parody show-within-a-show. She fully commits to the satirically-offensive stud lesbian caricature and is a riot, keeping an infectious smile on her face the entire time. Theo Michaela (regional: Be More Chill, Donkey Show) vamps quite well during the satire musical, delivering her lines with the exact right amount of parody-sincerity. Michaela is also dual cast – outside of the show-within-a-show, she plays Kelsey, and gives a subtle but deeply resonant performance, especially in the first act. Her singing during the ensemble numbers is always a highlight as well.

The overall production also ramps up appropriately during the parody section – the lighting (from designer Athziri Morales) gets cheesier and the costumes (by designer Anna Grigo) become more stereotypical. Outside of the parody, the costumes are quite casual, but still communicate a lot of detail. Cece’s tank top and jeans, the program director’s suit, and Janessa’s overalls all show small aspects of their characters’ personalities quite nicely.

Chasing Grace is a musical that has a lot to say – about the idea of recovery, about race, and about theater. The show shifts between thoughtful exploration of addiction recovery and tongue-in-cheek satire of the theater industry – and nails both. The two halves of the show are, despite their differences, never at odds with each other. The second act’s satire and relationship drama wouldn’t be nearly as compelling without the first act’s more serious treatment of its subject matter. The show pulls off a masterful one-two – Act One gets the audience invested in the story, and Act Two gets the audience invested in the reality.

Chasing Grace (through March 19, 2026)

SheNYC Arts

A.R.T./NY Mezzanine Theatre, 502 W. 53rd St, in Manhattan

For tickets, visit http://www.shenycarts.org/chasinggrace

Running time: two hours and 15 minutes including one intermission