Review: Victoria Martin: Math Team Queen

Moxie caught Victoria Martin: Math Team Queen last night at the Women's Project. What a fun little ditty! Jessi Campbell plays Vicki, the "third most popular girl in the Sophomore class." Vicki gets recruited to the Math Team, a group of four of the nerdiest boys in high school, because they need a girl. The obvious ensues - ideas of geekiness and coolness are shattered, revelations are made, and popularity isn't all it's cracked up to be.

It's not earth-shatteringly new material (Mean Girls does the same thing pretty well), but VMMTQ is a delightful look back into just how tough high school was, and how real the problems were. Some of the conflicts are silly (what does one do when Jen and Jen, the most popular girls in school, oust you from their clique?), but plenty are more complex. Vicki has a mom who's never home, and a dad who lives in California and only calls on Sundays and Wednesdays. Turns out, Vicki's dad is a math nerd, too, and the two have always bonded over stuff like memorizing the neverending digits of Pi. Another character deals with some new and entirely different feelings for his life-long best friend. "In case you forgot" becomes a repeated mantra spoken directly to the audience, reminding us how hard it was for all of us in those tough years.

Each cast member portrays their character with sympathy, giving each grimy-haired 15-year-old the gawky respect he deserves. Jessi Campbell holds her own as the only girl onstage, caught between the pink-wearing note-passing posse and her own math-loving secret self. Adam Farabee shines with awkward brilliance as the frustrated freshman pining for Vickie's attention. It's at times startling how accurate these kids are at creating high school onstage - I really saw my old classmates up there, and reflected for the first time in a while on just how horrible gym class, the hot lunch line, and 3rd marking period really were.

Two side notes: One - I hate to say it, but someone should really make a musical out of this. It would be a serious smash and make some smart producers very, very rich. Two - my enjoyment of the show was nearly ruined by a fat couple in THE FRONT ROW who ate a full three-course meal from Wendys during the show. First came the burgers in act one, then stinky chili during intermission and the top of act two, and then frostees throughout act two! People, this is what's wrong with America. Children are starving in Africa and working for pennies in sweatshops in Asia, and we Americans can't sit still for two hours without stuffing our fat faces. Disgraceful.

Victoria Martin: Math Team Queen runs at The Women's Project through February 4th. Photo yanked from The NY Times.