Front Porch Theatricals' musical 'Baby' is a labor of love

Walking into the New Hazlett Theater on the North Side on Saturday night was like walking into a supersized, candy-colored building block structure in a sunny nursery. It was a sight that was both intriguing and comforting, a perfect introduction to Front Porch Theatricals’ season opener musical, “Baby.”

The show originated on Broadway in 1983, with music by David Shire, lyrics by Richard Maltby Jr. and a book by Sybille Pearson. The production earned seven Tony Award nominations, but sadly left the 1984 ceremony empty-handed. Then, in 2021, the musical was updated to make several changes for modern-day audiences. That is the version Front Porch brought to the stage, running through May 25 at the New Hazlett.

“Baby” allows the audience to get to know three couples. The first is Lizzie and Danny, a pair of college students in their early 20s who are deeply in love and just starting out on the adventure of cohabitation. Then there’s Pam and Nicki, in their 30s and trying hard to swallow the setbacks they’ve suffered in their journey to conceive. Lastly, there’s Alan and Arlene, new empty nesters who are fumbling to find themselves — and each other — after kids.

In the show’s opening number, all three of the couples find out that they’re expecting. Lizzie and Danny are forced to navigate the way to fit a baby into the life they’d planned together. Alan is excited, but Arlene is reticent about starting over and losing herself to the riptide of parenthood again. And Pam and Nicki are met with even more fertility challenges, both individually and together.

While “Baby” is all pastels and peppy score, there are heartbreaking issues lurking, too — indecisiveness about the future, the feelings of failure brought on by fertility difficulties and fear of the loss of identity.

The six main actors in this cast all brought their A-game to these emotional beats, but the true tearjerker is Becki Toth as Arlene, who has perfected the art of the sing-cry and who still managed to be funny despite portraying a complex character. Allan Snyder, who played Alan, managed the impressive feat of being both adorable and infuriating at times with authenticity. Lindsay Bayer Ray as Pam and Maria Bechtell as Nicki had a lovely chemistry, both in dialogue and in song, both bringing first-class vocal performances to the table. Braden Max Stroppel as Danny had the most evident journey of growth of any character and a sparkling earnestness.

And Saige Smith as Lizzie was a shining light of charm and enchanting vocals; her act one closing song “The Story Goes On” was a (literal) showstopper.

With such personable actors playing them, this cast of characters began to feel like friends with whom you celebrate the good times and mourn the bad times. There were plenty of gasps and “oh nos” audible from the audience throughout. It may be a strange criticism for a musical, but that’s the reason why I almost wanted fewer songs — while many of the tunes are catchy and cute, the true digging into these relationship happens in between.

That being said, music director Deana Muro and the show’s orchestra give flourish and twinkle to the score and Maltby’s witty lyrics elicited many well-deserved laughs in the capable hands of the cast.

The aforementioned set, designed by Johnmichael Bohach, is both visually appealing and functional, and only aided by many-hued lighting design by Forrest Trimble. In the first two numbers of act two — one a comedic number with shifting, brightly colored lights and the other a much darker, more vulnerable solo song — showed the tone-setting vesatility of the lighting design. Director Kristiann Menotiades delicately knitted together these stories and pinpointed the emotional honesty and humor in this musical to portray the experiences of love, pregnancy and charting a path into the unknown.

Front Porch Theatricals put a lot of love into this production, and it’s all laid out there on the checkerboard stage. With an ending that delivers pure satisfaction, you’ll enjoy it right through the third trimester.

“Baby” runs at the New Hazlet Theater on the North Side through May 25. Tickets are for sale at frontporchpgh.com.