Up Here

‘Listen to your heart, not the voices in your head’ advises the poster for Up Here, a new musical show that debuts on Hulu in the US this March. It’s a well-chosen phrase that provides a neat summary for the central dilemma of the main characters, and the central novelty here. Lindsay, played by Mae Whitman, and Miguel (Carlos Valdes) are followed around by a chorus of the influencers in their heads, some good, some bad and mostly mental, and the new couple struggle to find the kind of quiet amongst emotional noise that might give them a chance at love. With the US on high alert right now for internal conflict, the genuinely upbeat romantic nature of Up Here couldn’t be further from the pervasive negative zeitgeist in March 2023, but maybe we should all be listening to our hearts and not paying heed to those crazy, crazy voices in our heads…

The human story is eternal, but we’re zeroing in on the 90’s and the lead-up to Y2K; hailing from Vermont, Lindsay is a creative young woman pursuing the eternal dream of becoming a writer in New York ie she’s poor AF. Fake it till you make it is usually the way forward, and Lindsay has her cover story straight until she meets Miguel, who may be a high-flier on the Manhattan finance scene, but may also be a faker just as much as Lindsay. If Romeo and Juliet are the archetypal lovers torn apart by their family conflict, Lindsay and Miguel are the modern-day equivalent; it’s their pretence to be something they’re not that both pulls them together and yet also tears them apart, and the voices in their heads don’t let up…

Up Here originally debuted as a stage musical back in 2015, and has stone-cold, must-see credentials for anyone who loves musicals; husband and wife team Robert and Kirsten Anderson-Lopez were responsible for the beloved songs featured in Frozen. Robert Lopez also worked on uber-smash successes Avenue Q and The Book of Mormon, and it’s easy to see how Up Here could follow these projects to becoming a popular stage hit. If Up Here feels like a Broadway production sliced into convenient, munchable episodes for streaming, that’s no big problem; why should enjoying modern musicals be a pleasure limited to the moneyed inner-city elite with theatre access? Re-packaging a polished show like Up Here for home viewing feels like a revolutionary act, and while Up Here’s deft plotting, likeable characters and knockout songs might initially turn out to be caviar to the general, it’s likely to gain a substantial following on the basis of being so good.

Robert Lopez has described the original stage production as ‘Annie Hall meets Cirque de Soleil,’ but Up Here has its own unique vibe. Yes, it’s a classic boy meets girl story, but it’s effectively updated with the kind of savvy wit and wisdom that’s welcome in any form of the arts. With a clutch of grade-A songs, vibrant performances and a warm, wholesome but still amusingly catty vibe, Up Here is a musical delight that may be out of step with today’s promoted internal aggression, but provides a welcome escape to an aspirational, fun, romantic world. The take-away; there should be a copy of Up Here displayed in all US public spaces behind a ‘In Case of Emergency, Break Glass’ sign, and boy, do we need it now…

Thanks to Hulu for advanced access to this title. Up Here screens from March 24th on Hulu.