Legendary ★★★★★

The poster for singer-songwriter Cheeyang Ng’s meditative musical Legendary is festooned with laurels: Finalist for the Relentless Award and the Richard Rodgers Award; winner of the Fred Ebb Award, the Jonathan Larson Grant, and the Princess Grace Award. Heady honors all, and entirely understandable the moment Ng leads the audience in glorious song.

Yes, leads. This isn’t a sit-back-and-vegetate-mindlessly kind of show, but nor is it the kind of interactive show that generates suspense by making audience members anxious that they might be pulled onstage. Instead, Ng has created a communal piece of theatre that’s both beautiful, soothing, and, importantly, highly engaging.

Born in Singapore but now living in America, where they first came in an effort to get cast on “The Glee Project”, Ng self-describes as “a queer Asian immigrant”, and Legendary examines their geographical and emotional journey to the current moment almost entirely through narrative songs that interweave Chinese mythology and curated excerpts of Ng’s life as a child and an adult.

Ng has composed a tuneful score that they sing while the audience provides vocal accompaniment. Throughout the show, Ng has the audience singing, beginning by asking attendees to sustain a hummed middle C as they start “In the Beginning”:

Here are the stories I was told as a child

of how the world came to be.

Let thoughts and imagination run wild.

Let these stories pass through you

as they did generations before me.

The show establishes its tone and purpose immediately, and soon after the audience learns and repeats a word or two (or more) that incorporates call and response, followed by a bit of circle singing.

It shouldn’t work. But does it ever.

Ng has assembled a strong team for Legendary. Director Emilio Rosa, associate director of the Broadway shows Hadestown and Maybe Happy Ending, guides the show with a sure hand, and music director Eric Fegan provides strong support for both Ng and the audience on keyboard.

A fascinating talent with a gorgeous voice and an impressive range, Ng never uses either to show off; all is in service of their story. The visuals provide a lift too. Ng is surrounded by yellow balloons, an apt setting as their impressive charisma, charm and humor give the proceedings a lightness that makes the entire experience feel gently profound.