Philly Fringe 2025: Flynn Faye, Adam Gloc, and Jenavive Banes present Catching Fireflies: A New Queer Musical

Despite the show’s Philly setting, Catching Fireflies first took flight in New York City, most notably as an off-Broadway staged reading at the Players Loft Theater in Manhattan in January 2025.

Charm and talent

At the Drake, the musical opened to a live band (Gloc, also credited as music director, Izzy Ross, and Robbie Simmons) playing at the back of the stage. Director Zoe Belle Gronner made good use of them, with band members serving as humorous off-stage voices throughout the show. The onstage band also allowed Wilder (Abi Painter) to smoothly sync their guitar-playing with the band, assuming a front man-like position that blended the music of the characters’ world with the show’s soundtrack. Unfortunately, the band’s amplifiers also overwhelmed several of the un-mic’d singers in the opening song, making it difficult to catch many lyrics.

Though straightforward and earnest, the story avoided feeling rote with plenty of humor and lots of charm from a talented cast. Malicoat’s deft handling of Willow’s dry humor allowed her character to appear simultaneously flawed, messy, and yet still sympathetic (and her belting is the stuff of dreams). Rafi S. Perez as Larke nailed every comedic moment, injecting wonderfully infectious energy into a few lagging ensemble moments, and emitting so much star power in her solo number it made me wish Perez was the lead of her own musical. Audrey Loverro’s excellent physicality and self-assured sex appeal as the songwriter Fawn had audience members audibly exclaiming “oooh damn!”, but despite Loverro’s laudable vocals, rather on-the-nose lyrics in Fawn’s solo song lessened the impact of its serious subject matter.

Evoking Rent, with important updates

In some ways, Catching Fireflies feels like Rent for the pandemic-era world: allusions to the 1990s musical include a femme couple power-dueting in sexy anger and a documentary filmmaker friend who records intimate, everyday moments of the groups’ lives. Yet Fireflies contains some important updates: this show features multiple trans characters, a demisexual character pursuing a relationship, and queer characters who all survive to a joyful finale.

But this show’s greatest innovation was its use of a mirror, depicted using a slightly-too-opaque scrim on wheels, which separated the two gender presentations of the central character. Thoughtful costume design by Sofia Louah and synchronized staging allowed the audience to visually understand Willow and Wilder as alternate possibilities of one being. Faye’s writing was at its sharpest depicting Wilder’s yearning to escape the “cage” of the mirror, and the friends' advice to Wilder/Willow drove home the musical’s message that self-actualization is necessary for personal and artistic fulfillment.

Joyful possibilities needed

I attended the production with a close trans friend, who found the documentary footage of the cast shown in the final scene particularly moving, not only as a means of understanding the musical from outside Willow and Wilder's head, but also as it revealed which manifestation of the character had actually been present in the friend group for the duration.

In a world increasingly marred by despicable attacks on trans communities from the powerful, musicals like this reflecting the experiences of genderqueer young people with joy and possibility are all the more needed. Catching Fireflies is a hopeful and timely work-in-progress that celebrates and furthers trans and queer representation. Its talent and ambition deserve a larger production budget, and I hope to see its commendable cast and team on larger stages soon.

Content note: This production used strobing lights and included mentions of sexual assault and suicidal ideation.