"The Last 1.5 Librarians North of Lethbridge" is a new musical, previously a play, which follows (almost) two librarians attempting to keep a little library often in an apocalyptic wasteland. With a charming premise, strong singing, and a good message, there is a lot to like about this show, even if the execution does not quite live up to the premise.

In "The Last 1.5 Librarians North of Lethbridge", Frankie (Karalee Adams) is an excitable librarian in training who runs a tiny, free library out in Nanton following the apocalypse. Frankie is soon joined by Jean, (Courtney Swan) a former librarian who begrudgingly agrees to help out Frankie in exchange for batteries. The musical follows the 1.5 librarians as they work to save the library, and figure out meaning in their wasteland.

To begin, the performances are one of the most memorable aspects of this production. While the music didn't always feel needed, and there wasn't much of it, it was a welcome chance for Adams and Swan to show off their impressive vocals, with Swan nailing a beautiful ballad and Adams often leaving the audience slack-jawed with their powerful voice. In addition to beautiful vocals, Adams and Swan played off each other well, with Swan the grounded, darkened foil to Adams' energetic Frankie. While their scenes with each other occasionally played at too slow a pace, when they got it just right, it was truly special.

As for the script (Anna Leslie, Michael Long), it is an incredibly intriguing premise. The kind of premise that could easily become a two act, full scale production. That being said, the script could use some fine tuning before it becomes that. The script focuses on the human aspects of the wasteland, which is a smart choice to help the emotional beats of the show hit. However, in its current form, the show moves quite slow and could benefit from some more action. There are long stretches of dialogue which had low importance in the grand scheme of the show, and featured very few songs for a musical. The concept of "slice of life in an apocalypse" is a very promising concept, though the show leaned into the slice of life concept almost too much that it became mundane. There's a lot to build off here, and I truly hope the show continues to workshop, but it does not seem to have hit its peak yet.

To finish, The Last 1.5 Librarians North of Lethbridge has a heartwarming message: Even in times of great struggle, there is a community for someone everywhere, and there is benefit to keeping books & knowledge alive. It is an impacting show, and there are some great vocals, and I personally cannot wait to see where it goes.

THE LAST 1.5 LIBRARIANS NORTH OF LETHBRIDGE, THE LUMOS DENTAL STAGE. FOUR MORE PERFORMANCES.

Andrea Noga, Alberta Youth Theatre Collective.