Every year after the Barbershop Singing National Championships, the men gather for the traditional “afterglow”. Whisky flows, dickie-bows are loosened and quartets sing booze-soaked harmonies into the small hours.
At the 2012 afterglow, Michael meets Tom. One is a barbershop purist with something to prove. The other is a first-timer with a messy suit, a bass voice and a quietly radical outlook: Why aren’t women allowed to sing at barbershop competitions too?
Over six years, their heated debate turns tender, sweet and as complex as a chromatic four-part harmony. Together, the two singers journey through their twenties and encounter some major awakenings. But barbershop has rules, both musical and social. And as Michael and Tom change, so might their place in the chorus.
From the minds of Sheanna Parker Russon (No Love Songs for Lady Basses) and Lillian M. Hearne (Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812), this touching musical rom-com will have you humming long after the lights go down.
Oh, did we mention it’s sung in four-part acapella harmony?
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