What kept me away from this terrific show is probably the same reason it will close shortly after Christmas: who wants to see another musical about cannibalism? 'Tis a pity, because Swept Away's actual theme is fraternal love, beautifully evoked by Stark Sands, as the older brother, and Adrian Blake Enscoe (the prat from the under-seen Dickinson, heartbreaking here) who's had quite enough of the family farm. He wants to see the world so badly that he leaves behind Melody Anne, and finds employment on a whaling ship. Although it doesn't end well, you don't end up in judgment of the lifeboat survivors because the tubercular narrator of the tale, John Gallagher, makes sure the audience empathizes by breaking the fifth wall.
Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening and American Idiot) does wonders with the female-free staging, no surprise. You may even experience some minor sea sickness, and the peacefulness of the night sky is rendered as believably as a raging storm. The score, by the Avett Brothers, considerably reworked from Mignonette, their 20-year-old concept album, lends itself to joyous dancing, romantic yearning and yes, even devil worship. There's also a tantalizing whiff of situational homosexuality, but that may be wishful thinking on my part.
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