“I contain multitudes,” Walt Whitman wrote in his ringing poem “Song of Myself.” It’s to the credit of Olney Theatre Center’s world premiere I & You: The Musical that its intimate focus on two ostensibly mismatched teens — who, not incidentally, bond over Whitman — so deftly expands to encompass multitudes, too.
To start with, there’s the wealth of specific, sometimes spiky personality channeled by the performers in this show, which is based on Lauren M. Gunderson’s 2013 play, with a book by Gunderson and music and lyrics by Ari Afsar. Co-produced with New Jersey’s McCarter Theatre Center (which mounted a prior version), the musical hurtles us into the world of Caroline (Alex De Bard), a headstrong, caustic high schooler living with a serious health issue and an emotional reliance on her plush toy turtle. When her smart-jock schoolmate Anthony (J. Antonio Rodriguez) barges in one day to collaborate on a class assignment — a poster-and-presentation about pronouns in “Song of Myself” — Caroline initially lashes out with the snappishness that’s her form of self-protection.
Were Anthony not as determined as he is empathetic, he’d leaves-of-grass it right out of there. But as it is, director Sarah Rasmussen’s production shows the teenagers slowly warming to each other, in part thanks to Whitman’s audacious strangeness. Here they are, reveling in “Song of Myself” headscratchers like “I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.” There they are, jokily using a paint brush as a pretend microphone, or — after some bickering — agreeing that niceness is sometimes just fake.
De Bard, a terrific singer, ably layers Caroline’s humor, cynicism, and vulnerability. Meanwhile, Rodriguez’s Anthony exudes the right earnestness and laid-back charisma: Not only does he convincingly argue Whitman’s merits (“Like this guy broke poetry,” he says admiringly), but at points he tosses off dance moves and a kung fu-style kick, either out of sheer exuberance or to put his cranky hostess in a good mood. (Movement director Steph Paul does a fine job keeping the physicality larger-than-life but not strained.) As the tale barrels toward a shocking plot twist, the kids’ nascent friendship and the specter of Caroline’s illness resonate and refract Whitman’s notions of fellowship and individuality, the body and the universe-embracing soul.
Those thematic reverberations are faithful to Gunderson’s straight-play original I and You, which Olney mounted in 2014 as part of a rolling world premiere. The musical version benefits from the way Afsar’s zesty score underscores the characters’ spirit and idiosyncrasies — from the punk rhythms echoing Caroline’s rebelliousness, to the swinging riffs that nod to Anthony’s love of John Coltrane, to indie rock and other eclectic sounds pulsing with coming-of-age authenticity.
When Anthony fantasizes about being a jazz star, in the song “dream with me,” Caroline joins in the blue-note reverie, and for a moment, the characters exult in a moment of flow that’s like a jazz ensemble’s or like Whitman’s mystical sync-up with the cosmos. (The five-piece offstage band, conducted by music director and pianist Marika Countouris, delivers many a fetching hook. The orchestrations are by Yair Evnine and Afsar; the arrangements, Sujin Kim-Ramsey and Afsar; the sound design, Elisabeth Weidner. Bryan Perri is music supervisor.)
Adding intensity is Beowulf Boritt’s detailed set, whose walls — madly collaged with art and photos — speak to Caroline’s cooped-up life and rage for self-expression. (Caroline’s clashing-pattern loungewear, by costume designer Kara Harmon, is similarly telling.) Japhy Weideman’s lighting ratchets up colors and shadows in a way that underscores the characters’ imaginations and the story’s element of mystery.
Because of the way each character is briefly introduced in song before Anthony’s surprise visit, the I & You musical doesn’t begin as explosively and suspensefully as does the I and You straight play, a small masterpiece of two-person give-and-take. In the musical, too, certain sung asides or moments of underscoring add a touch of sentiment, or spell out subtext in a fashion that seems obvious: When Anthony clambers up on the bed to fix a beeping smoke detector, and gets a close-hand glimpse of Caroline’s art-plastered walls, several bars of poignant music telegraph the fact that he’s gaining appreciation for her situation and mindset.
Overall, though, the catchy, varied music in I & You helps the show with a key achievement: conveying a sense of awe — awe at poetry, at human generosity and resourcefulness, at mortality and creation. As Whitman did, this show can say, “I am afoot with my vision.”
Running Time: About 90 minutes, no intermission.
I & You: The Musical plays through May 24, 2026, on the Roberts Mainstage at Olney Theatre Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Rd, Olney, MD. Purchase tickets ($42–$103) online, with discounts for teachers, active military, and first responders available, or at TodayTix.
The cast and creatives are here.
SEE ALSO:
Cast announced for Olney’s world premiere of ‘I & You: The Musical’ (news story, March 18, 2026)
