It was one year ago that irreverent theater company Banana Bag & Bodice presented New Yorkers with The Fall and Rise of The Rising Fallen, a rock musical which told the intriguing yet aurally execrable story of an oil rig's house band. They've now resurfaced with another offbeat musical extravaganza, and I'm happy to report that this production, which uses the epic poem Beowulf as a narrative template, is a far more successful fusion of rock and non-narrative theater. Credit for that goes to composer Dave Malloy, whose anthemic, bruising score is jubilantly performed by a sprawling onstage orchestra of brass, strings, piano, accordion, guitar, drums and saw. more ›