Joey Contreras’ new pop musical, “In Pieces” is making its Florida premiere at The Belle Theatre in Cape Coral. The show is still being developed in New York into a full Broadway musical. However, its current globally licensed productions have already garnered an international fan base, massive social media following and tens of millions of streams. That’s how Belle Theatre founder and Producing Artistic Director Tyler Young heard about it.
“My non-theater partner saw it on Tik Tok or Instagram, and we’ve been listening to the soundtrack for months and months and months, and I said you know what, the heck with it, let’s apply for the rights and see if we get it, and I did,” said Young.
The musical is a cross between “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” and “Rent.” Set in New York, it is structured as a series of interconnected vignettes.
“It’s eight people on different paths and it takes you back a period of years, and you see the different trials, tribulations, struggles, successes that they have through life and through the journey that they’re on,” Young said.
What thrills Young and the rest of the cast is the ability to truly make the characters their own.
“There’s nothing out there,” Young pointed out. “There’s no written version of it. There’s some recordings and some concert-style adaptations, but nothing really staged that you can find. So that was kind of a unique opportunity. And bringing something different to our area is something we pride ourselves on, bringing something new to Southwest Florida that hasn’t been seen before.”
Young calls “In Pieces” a song cycle. There’s no dialogue. The story is told exclusively through the lyrics of Joey Contreras’ engaging pop score, which captures the essence of youthful exuberance and the bittersweet nature of love.
Four shows remain: Thursday, June 19 at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, June 20 at 9:30 p.m.; and Sunday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
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With themes of vulnerability, resilience, and the courage to embrace change, “In Pieces” resonates as a heartfelt exploration of the human experience.
Contreras describes his musical as “a love story about the people you don’t end up with.”
Joey Contreras is a New York-based, Mexican American musical theatre pop songwriter internationally known for his various projects, performances, and studio album releases. He is a Fred Ebb Award Finalist, two-time Jonathan Larson Grant Finalist, and an alum of the Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project.
His other musicals include “All the Kids Are Doing it,” “Forget Me Not,” “I Used to Shine” (all co-written with Kate Thomas), and the modern-day adaptation of Dante’s Inferno, “Heartbreakers in Hell” (co-written with Benjamin Halstead). Additionally, he has composed for the Walt Disney Company (“Kiwi’s First Flight” from “Lights, Camera, Lex!!”), The 5th Avenue Theatre (“The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred”) and various short films.
He regularly teaches private songwriting, coaching and master classes at universities and musical theatre training programs. He received his MFA in musical theatre writing from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts.
The Belle Theatre cast includes Patience Cole as Alex, Bailey McArthur as Jael, Camila Guedes as River, Grace Koltz as Sam, Joey Bostic as Grey, Ethan McKay as Charlie, Tyler Young as Hunter and Jazmine Encalada as Austyn, with Beckie Gould and Ava Szlabowicz in the ensemble.
“The play concludes with kind of a full circle moment, bringing you back to current, after the characters have gotten to the other end of the path they’ve been on,” said Young. “Everyone is connected in some way, but not connected in other ways, so it kind of leaves some room for interpretation from the audience to see who’s connected and how they’re connected.”
While there’s scant material online or elsewhere for Young and the cast to consult in interpreting their characters, Young has had some conversations with the licensing team for “In Pieces.”
“It’s an independently licensed production,” Young noted. “It’s not through one of the popular royalty houses. So that was kind of a unique ability on my end to kind of tailor it to our stage, tailor it to our production and get a one-on-one discussion going with the author to figure out what was his intention here, where was he going with this.”
Young was quick to point out that while there are several unlicensed versions of the musical “floating out in the world,” The Belle Theatre is producing the one that is licensed.
“In Pieces” marks another milestone for Young. It represents his first appearance on stage since 2019.
“It’s been a hot minute, yeah,” Young acknowledged.
He had not intended to play a role in the show when he initially secured the licensing rights.
“Ironically, we had nobody in this part, and I sang it at rehearsal one day and I said, you know what, the heck with it, maybe I’m Hunter. So here I am. Hunter. And the fact that we picked it, that we put a lot of effort into picking the show, it’s a small cast, it’s a small setting, it’s a concert-style production. It is not overlapping the other shows I’m directing and it kind of gave me the opportunity to step back into it, and put my feet back on the stage, which is kind of nice.”
While Young admitted experiencing some anxiety about returning to the stage, he said he also relished the opportunity to “walk the talk.”
“I direct all the time. I direct kids. I direct adults and everything in between,” Young said. “I find myself sitting onstage thinking OK, what would I tell our students here? What would I tell a cast here? What would I tell the person playing Sally Bowles in 'Cabaret' here? And then kind of reflecting on that personally is an interesting take and putting those skills to use, reminding myself that I’m capable of doing it, is kind of a unique adventure.”
But it’s more than a six-year absence that makes Young nervous about playing the part of Hunter.
“It’s a very vulnerable role,” said Young. “It’s not an ensemble show. Everyone is forefront to the audience. There are very obvious moments and everyone’s onstage the entirety of the show. So no one’s ever gone. And there’s no hiding in the background. You’re there.”
You should be, too.
For tickets, telephone 239-323-5533 or visit https://thebelletheatreinc.thundertix.com/events/247604.
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.