The hope was that he’d jump from his sixth floor balcony because it would have been such a surprise and rescued a maudlin story that’s been told a thousand times.

Alas, our hero didn’t jump, saved from a deadly fate by an event that you could see coming from a mile away.

That’s the ending of "The View From Here," being staged at Soulstice Theater by the Umbrella Group under the direction of Kelly Doherty.

The play, a one-man musical, is a tiresome retelling of a story that has been the subject of movies, plays, books, short stories, essays, poems and at least dozens of songs.

The wide-eyed artist (in this case a budding novelist) takes his art to New York ready to unleash his talent on the world. He’s left behind a girl. He’s overwhelmed by the size and complexities of the big city. He meets with rejection right away, but his optimism remains. Soon he’s forced to take a job that is beneath him and has nothing to do with his art. He hates his job. As the months wear on, the rejections continue. His spirits sink, his sadness grabs hold of his soul and he can see only one way out of the horror that has become his life.

He climbs onto the balcony, six stories up. He climbs over the railing. He puts his hands on the railing behind him and leans out into space. And ... long anguished pause ... the telephone rings.

The voice rings out over his answering machine. It’s his father who misses his son. His mother misses her son. And the voice of a child says with utter clarity, "Hello Daddy."

Oh, my God! A child! Just 14 months old! Time to go home.

See what I mean? This would have turned into a very interesting story if he had jumped. But he didn’t, and the only rescue for the audience was the amazing performances by an actor/singer, a keyboard player and a trumpeter.

Doug Clemons is growing into one of the very best and magnetic musical actors in this city. He plays the novelist, and he shows his chops in the Timothy Huang score that is a difficult one to sing, full of flattened notes and calling for a broad vocal range.

Clemons is so good that he took this trite story and lifted onto his shoulders so that we were willing to follow along even though it was about as hackneyed as you can get. Clemons can smile and tear up and be angry and his skill roars through the audience, making us feel what he’s feeling.

The music was delivered by Paula Foley Tillen on keyboards and Bill Seaman on trumpet. Tillen has long been one of the most dynamic piano players around, and she has a clear understanding the story and how the keyboard moves it along.

Seaman was delightful, especially cast as Sam, the trumpet busker who plays outside of Clemons window. The two of them talk while Clemons is on his balcony, and Seaman holds up his end of the conversation with his trumpet. It’s a wonderful and very interesting performance.

Much of the story is told in letters to his wife, Kelly, who is unseen but is apparently a musician on tour with a string quartet. The notes are scribbled on scraps of paper and then stick pinned to a wall in his apartment. Clemons has mood swings that range from hyper-excited to hyper-depressed. There are moments when he seems far too much like J. Pierrepont Finch, the ambitious and funny hero of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying."

But most of the time Clemons is remarkably in touch with his reality.

One of the greatest things about live theater is the ability to surprise, to create the unexpected for the audience.

As appealing as Clemons is on stage, he was dragging us through a trite story with nary a surprise in sight.

That’s why I was hoping he’d jump.

"The View from Here" runs until Feb. 28 and information on tickets and showtimes is available here.