'Heartbeat' tries for exciting, unexpected performance, lacks polish

A live concert, a dance performance, a taste of drama and a night out at the club all rolled into one, “Heartbeat: A Modern Dance Rock Concert” seems to promise audience members anything they could ever desire for a Friday night of entertainment. The multidisciplinary collaboration, spearheaded by singer/songwriter George Woods, combines live music and dance (though no dialogue) to convey its narrative. According to Woods' website, “Heartbeat’s” story is actually his -- the tale of his past romantic affairs and eventual relationship with current fiancée, Heather Smist (now an accompanying singer for "Heartbeat"), adapted and re-lived for audience consumption. As a bonus, it’s also a good opportunity to promote the release of Woods and the band’s new EP, “Backyard Sessions,” by featuring the group’s new songs and music off their full-length album, “Heartbeat” (2012).

“Heartbeat: A Modern Dance Rock Concert” was performed at the American Repertory Theater's (A.R.T.) club-like venue, OBERON, on Sept. 26 at 7:30 p.m., as one of four performances. The show returned to Cambridge once again for a brief engagement, most likely in hopes of repeating two previous runs' success at OBERON, an intentionally flexible performance space designed to accommodate out-of-the-box productions such as “Heartbeat.”

If you’ve never visited OBERON, here’s an idea: a wide, dark hallway leads to a cave-like room with black walls and dominated by a large dance floor, a disco ball and a full bar. The permanent home to “The Donkey Show,” a disco-heavy adaptation of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” a night at OBERON  is not exactly what audience members accustomed to sitting sedately in their seats and waiting to stretch their legs at intermission might expect. OBERON takes “theater in the round” to the next level, using all 360 degrees of the space to perform (the stairs, an upstairs balcony and moveable platforms are all fair game). Regular admissions visitors are not seated -- instead of  an assigned seat like 24G, “dance floor” is printed on tickets instead. And just like that, audience members become extras for a night.

Given its creative, unorthodox structure, OBERON is custom-built to handle pieces of experimental or multimedia theater like “Heartbeat.” However, for Woods’ brainchild, it may not be a match made in heaven. The various visual and sonic elements -- live music, acting and dance performances, a complex lighting design and occasional onstage projections -- are simply a lot to digest. Add these blended mediums to the helter-skelter presentation at OBERON, where it’s hard enough to find the actors as they meander through the crowd, let alone maintain a clear view of them. The erratic activity resulted in the details of the story getting lost. Worst still, the continual struggle to understand “Heartbeat’s” moving parts distracted from the emotion of the work. In one particularly critical moment, Woods’ character lays his lover to rest. The scene should be heart-wrenching -- he’s saying goodbye to an incredibly important person in his life. But instead, the hubbub of the show itself muddled the moment, sacrificing its poignancy.

The dance elements of “Heartbeat” were of good quality, particularly the performance given by male lead Keil Coit. Jennifer Crowell-Kuhnberg's choreography was expressive while still remaining playful. Sadly, though, it was hard to appreciate the art of the dancers while also being inundated by the crooning of Smist (on backing vocals) and Woods, or the jazz musicians' melodies. Though “Heartbeat” had quality dance numbers to offer, the sheer quantity of theatrical stimulus prevented viewers from appreciating the work to its fullest extent.

Similarly, Woods’ songs were often electric -- the faster and more energetic the better. The most memorable pieces of the night were undoubtedly “Shake My Soul” and “Heartbeat,” both from the 2012 album. However, the constant noise of the bar and the scuffling of dancers made it hard to hear the subtleties of the music. “Heartbeat” tries to do everything, and as a result, it’s difficult, if not impossible, for audiences to lose themselves in any one element of the “Modern Dance Rock Concert.” A particularly painful example: transitions between songs/scenes were long and almost totally dark, disorienting audiences and alienating them from the action and the art.

By incorporating a range of dramatic elements, “Heartbeat” experiments with the boundaries of traditional theater -- a brave attempt that should be celebrated. Logistically speaking, however, Woods and company have yet to work out all the kinks. And while ordinarily this might not be a huge problem, by "Heartbeat's" third go-round at OBERON, the lack of polish is a little disappointing.