There has always been a wide range in the quality of shows presented at the Capital Fringe festival. Some belong in major venues, while others can be cringe-inducingly amateur. There seems to be consistency to those plays that hit that perfect spot in the middle and make for a simply pleasant evening out. They tie themselves into local culture and aim neither too high or too low for the DIY feel of the overall festival. How To Quit Your Day Job, whose run at the festival ends tomorrow, is just such a piece.

The musical weaves through the lives of four twenty-somethings, most of whom are typical Washington 9-to-5ers that long for something more: namely love and a life in the creative world. There’s Izzy (Janani Ramachandran) and Kate (Shannan E. Johnson), who yearn for the bright lights of Broadway, and TJ (Vaughn Midder), an accountant who dreams of penning the next Great American Musical. The only non-office worker is Manny (Olufemi Daaka), a hip-hop artist whose immediate future hinges on receiving an arts grant.

There is a lot here that young Washington professionals can relate to, and as much of the audience’s enjoyment came from that fact as it did from Star Johnson’s script. While the songs are not particularly memorable, they do provide laughs and carry a lot of insight into the feelings of so-called “Millennials” (as a member of Gen-X, I tend to agree with one of the characters who questions what these types of labels even mean). Midder and Johnson are the more charismatic of a generally balanced cast whose members are all capable of carrying their own weight in the Fringe context.

My inner voice initially wanted to tell the characters to quit their bitching and make a choice. Recalling my own feelings and conversations at that age helped to achieve the proper mindset for enjoying what is a charming and heartfelt piece. The same way these people blame Barney for making them unduly optimistic, people my age cite the death of Optimus Prime as the source of some of the pessimism that is laid at our feet. The closing song in How to Quit Your Day Job is one of hope, telling us that everything is going to be alright. People like me can attest to the fact that if Izzy, Kate, TJ and Manny stay motivated and engaged, it indeed will be.

Tickets to tomorrow’s final performance of How to Quit Your Day Job are available here.

See here for more of DCist’s Fringe 2015 reviews.