The reading of Joel Krantz’s Ocean in a Teacup at the 2026 Next Step festival was far closer to production ready than than at the 2022 Theater Row reading I saw previously. What I do not know is if that is due to improvements in the book and score or if the acting, singing, and direction makes it better.

There is no question that Zach Fogel playing lead “Tom Henderson” is far superior to whoever played the lead in 2022. Fogel’s amazing tenor and acting skills give “Tom” much more appeal than the character had had. It also seems that the balance of the cast, a bit older than 2022 cast, had a much better understanding of the script and Krantz’s intentions than the original cast.

The pacing of this reading was far better than the 2022 reading. Fogel’s acting chops brought scene changes clarity that were previously missing.

The feeling that one got in 2022 was that “Tom” was a naive, but ego-centric farm boy who, while to pretending to care for others, really cared only for himself. Fogel’s “Tom” is of much better character but still never gets beyond naivety and self-absorption. “Thaker”, the Indian physician/spiritual leader, and his wife, “Boro-Ma” (not sure why Krantz doesn’t use the actual name of Thaker’s wife) were also played in 2022 as more manipulative, self-indulgent and self-centered than they are in the 2026 reading. “Julia Gordon”, Tom’s fiancée, was played as a rather submissive young woman at the start of the 2022 reading who becomes more self-assured and capable as the show progresses. In 2026 her personality is more consistent and demands less attention.

The result of this is that this Ocean in a Teacup makes it much more possible for “Tom” to be the protagonist that Krantz wants him to be. Krasntz goal is probably consistent with what is written in the 1961 biography of “Thaker” by Ray A. Hauserman Jr. and Constance Loveland which also features the story of Tom Henderson prominently. Hauserman and Loveland (who was very young when Teacup was written) seem to have a Christian/Spiritual agenda that taints their objectivity.

The problem that Krantz has is that the 2022 reading probably reflected the reality of the situation in post-war India and Thaker’s compound more accurately than the 2026 version of Ocean does. It probably had a more definitive portrayal of Thaker and his second wife (the story of what happened to Thaker’s young first wife that caused him to marry his even younger second wife, the first wife’s sister, might be very revelatory). “Tom”, despite the appeal that Fogel brings to the character, is still not a very interesting protagonist.

It is “Julia” who generates the most interests from the audience. Her journey from the shy, submissive minister’s daughter to the young woman who can walk away from a fiancé set on “finding himself” in order to return to her more secure and defined life is one that any true protagonist would take. It would not be hard for Krantz to move this story away from “Tom’s” meandering journey to that of a girl coming into her own as a woman. It has never been Krantz’s goal, but it is the far more interesting story.