A little musical with a big heart is coming to Bloomington. Label•less stops at the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts on March 8 before heading to New York for a 10-day off-Broadway run.
The show is formatted a bit like A Chorus Line, with songs and monologues spotlighting each performer. Unlike that 1975 Broadway workhorse, Label•less was created from the real-life experiences of a cast of young adults.
“These are the cast members’ true stories,” said Drew Lachey, co-producer of Label•less.
Yes, that Drew Lachey.
Lachey and his brother, Nick, became household names in the late 1990s as members of the boy band 98 Degrees. Drew acted on Broadway in Rent, Monty Python’s Spamalot and Hairspray. The triple threat also went on to win the coveted mirror ball trophy on season 2 of Dancing with the Stars. About 15 years ago, Lachey and wife Lea moved back to their hometown of Cincinnati.
“Lea and I have been together since high school,” said Lachey. “She went to New York on a dance scholarship and then instantly started booking jobs.”
She was a dancer and assistant choreographer with the Radio City Rockettes and choreographed tours for 98 Degrees, Nickelodeon and Jessica Simpson. More recently, she was a dance consultant on the films Carol, Miles Ahead and A Christmas Melody.
“I had a little different path,” said Lachey. “I went into the Army and then joined this boy band. When we moved home, we were trying to figure out what our path would be.”
Being seen
The couple revived the shuttered musical theater program at their former high school, the School for Creative and Performing Arts. Then they built Lachey Arts, a nonprofit studio providing arts access and education regardless of financial barriers. That’s where Label•less came from, beginning in 2018.
“Lea and I were doing a Lachey Arts acting class—an exercise in empathy,” Lachey said. “We wanted our students to write down ways they felt like they weren’t being seen, weren’t being valued, or were discriminated against.”
The idea was to have students draw another person’s note from a hat and put themselves in another person’s shoes. But Lachey said when he and Lea reviewed the cards between sessions, they were heartbroken reading stories about kids being bullied, or experiencing sexism, racism or homophobia.
“Lea had this idea to create a show to give a voice to people who didn’t feel like they had one,” he said.
The first few versions were produced and performed in-house, with a jukebox approach covering existing songs. Over time, Lachey has steadily added original music, created with songwriting and production team Paul Duncan, Jamie Jones, Aaron Ellsworth and Isabella Langley.
“There’s nothing better than being able to write a song that is specific to a person,” Lachey said.
The show delves into difficult and sensitive topics, discussing bullying, violence and discrimination. Lachey said no topic is off the table—except religion and politics.
“We tell human stories. We tell people’s real, true-life stories,” he said. “We try to do it in an entertaining way, with great music, monologues, storytelling—the choreography is spectacular. We like to say we hide the pill in the bologna a little bit. We help people open their minds a little bit—and their hearts.”
Label•less takes place at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 8 at the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts, 600 N. East St., Bloomington. Tickets are $21- $45 at 309-434-2777 and artsblooming.org.
