You Get What You Need – Review by Isaac Robinson

Produced by Phil Kinen’s Big Show Productions, performed at Just Off Broadway Theater, directed by Philip Kinen, written and improvised by the cast and crew, “You Get What You Need” is about the recording process of one of the most famous Rolling Stones songs of all time, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”. The set is simple, but conveys just enough so that it’s easy to tell where the show is set. It’s 2 pm, November 18th, 1968, at The Olympic Recording Studios in London.

We see Mick Jagger (Roan Ricker), thinking about what the last lyric of his latest song should be. He and the production crew only have 4 more hours of studio time left. After messing around with his guitar and talking with his producer and choral arranger, Mick decides to take a much needed break. After Mick leaves, Sir Nigel Wilcocks (Phillip Hooser), the conductor of The Bach Choir, bursts onto the scene, skeptical about the music structure. He thinks that he is doing a newly found Bach piece. From this point on, confusion and chaos ensues, but I won’t spoil that for you.

Roan does an excellent job at embodying Mick Jagger, physically and vocally. Phillip brings all the humor with Sir Nigel Wilcocks, leaving the audience crying with laughter. “You Get What You Need” is a work in progress, which gives the play an experimental and raw edge to it. Phil and crew want this show to be larger than life in the future. So if you want to see something that’s humorous, well told, and a bit experimental, then I highly recommend that you support this production and take it to the top!