‘Emojiland’ musical in San Jose deserves a real thumbs up

Hi, emojis have feelings too.

Those non-verbal nuggets that symbolize every lifestyle, emotion, food and sport are used to dress up banal text messages, with splashes of color and individualism. But what will happen to the archaic winking emoji as societies and technologies evolve? What about the original simple smile emoji? With every update, static symbols get a new coat of paint. The demotion of certain symbols has become metaphorically relevant.

San Jose Playhouse’s production of “Emojiland” explores these cartoonish cell characters and their humanity in fun and devious ways. How does it feel to be the nerd face, the wink, or even a huge pile of poop full of puns galore?

There’s a cheerful chatter to it Keith Harrison Dworkin And Laura Scheins inventive musical that creates an immersive world in a smartphone, with a fantastic set design by Jon Gourdine and director Scott Guggenheim that reflects the creativity of the world, with sparkling projection and graphic work by Shannon Guggenheim. And there is plenty of inventiveness, but an excess of energy and creativity sometimes makes the show feel long and exaggerated. The music, with lots of juicy, sweet humor, needs more polish to hold the audience and give every visitor a big, rosy-cheeked hug. There are also times when the lyrics themselves are too basic for their own good.

The San Jose Playhouse production is a shortened version of the show that premiered January 2020 in New York, the original cast of 14 members was combined into a tighter cast of eight. Despite the show’s limitations, the production is quite fun and delightful, interspersed with committed performances within a very specific style.

The production begins with Princess (Aeriol Ascher) and the emoji citizen residents preparing for the excitement of the annual update. Version 1.0 flashes towards version 5.0, with classic emojis preparing for their upgraded close-up, vigorously preparing to swoop in and plant one of the many flag options they have in their digital universe. There’s even a counterpart to Princess who gets his own update, the aptly named Prince (James Creer), who is just as basic and superficial as she is.

With simplicity comes familiarity. Such is the case with Smiling Face with Smiling Eyes, or “Smize” (Emily Anne Goes) and Smiling Face with Sunglasses, aka “Sunny” (Frankie Mulcahy), lovers since 1.0. But with every diachronic update comes a new disruptor, and 5.0 offers its own grumpy hero.

Enter the charming Nerd Face (Tuânminh Albert Ðo). He’s all brave and dope, looking for ways to find his place in this new world brimming with brightness, with marginal success so far.

Without a built-in peer, Nerd Face unknowingly moves to the dark side and joins the rotten Skull (F. James Raasch), who preys on such gullibility. An insider virus, with help from poor pawn Nerd Face, is now a credible threat.

While the citizens decide to build a firewall to keep newcomers out (possibly a king and queen will show up and take over the prince and princess? No!), the construction worker (BrieAnne Alisa Martin) and her police officer partner (Osher Fine) lament that walls may not be built between each other (the intention of the creators is not obvious).

What works well in the production is the varied performances of the cast, all tasked with performing in bright, shapely headpieces created with a powerful sheen by Grace Rojas. Each cast member takes on multiple characters, some of whom are tasked with interpreting up to four, making the show an exercise in dexterity. Ascher and Creer lean heavily into their moments of disagreement together (the humor in Ascher’s Pile of Poo is quite “punny”), while the youth and virtue of the love story between Goes’ Smize and Ðo’s Nerd Face build their sweet arc with subtle truths via the delightful dialogues in the book. The subplot love story and conflicts that await Fine and Martin’s characters are some of the best writing on offer. And the wayward evil of Sunny and Skull is tackled with sharp devilishness by Mulcahy and Raasch.

“Emojiland claims there’s enough heat for emojis in a cell phone because, as the song says, “It’s So Great to Be Alive.” And despite every update that comes through our phones and carries the promise of an ever-changing technological world, a basic yellow frown always suffices.

‘EMOJILAND’

Book, music and lyrics by Keith Harrison Dworkin and Laura Schein, presented by San Jose Playhouse

By means of: November 24

Where: 3Below Theaters, 288 S. Second St., San Jose

Duration: Two hours and twenty minutes with an intermission

Tickets: $65; 3belowtheaters.com

Originally published: October 30, 2024 at 11:35am PDT