The narrative is, as you might expect, pretty thin. All is more or less well in this microcosmic kingdom until a software update arrives -- which obviously calls for a party at the Progress Bar -- bringing a handful of new emoji with it.

Packed with endearing characters and scene-stealing performances, Emojiland is a charming way to kill an evening off-Broadway. Just beware of the show's uneven pacing and scattershot character development -- it's been four years in the making, and the show still feels like it needs more focus.

The newcomers instantly give the cast a jolt of energy: The feckless, domineering Princess emoji (played with scene-stealing verve by Broadway vet Lesli Margherita) suddenly meets her match in a flamboyant Prince (Josh Lamon) who can belt just as well as she can. And Emojiland co-creator Keith Harrison soon appears as Nerd Face, the endearing, nasal pseudo-protagonist who quickly forms an emotional connection with the Smiling Face With Smiling Eyes emoji (also known as Smize) played by the show's other co-creator, Harrison's wife, Laura.

Given their years-long marriage, it's little surprise that the moments the Harrisons share onstage feel so substantial. Even though the circumstances of Nerd Face and Smize's meeting are somewhat trite, their affection embodies an earnest magnetism that's totally absent in the bond Smize shares with her douchebag boyfriend, Sunny. (You might know him better as 😎.) It's at this point that Emojiland reveals its true colors. Sure, you're there to see how emoji deal with a world-ending crisis in two hours, but it revels in fleshing out the relationships that the world is built around.

Especially affecting was the easy, natural romance between the female Police Officer emoji (Angela Wildflower) and female Construction Worker emoji (Megan Kane), which provided a satisfying contrast to the show's other love story. While Nerd Face and Smize spend the show sorting out their feelings for each other, PoPo and CoWo, as they refer to each other, have an established, caring relationship between two working women devoted to their careers and each other.

Theirs is the most mature and functional relationship in Emojiland, and the fact that the show portrays a gay, interracial love story without so much as batting an eye suggests Emojiland is in some ways more progressive than our own world. It makes the fact that the two later find their relationship strained by ideological differences over a wall -- well, a firewall -- that Prince and Princess want built all the more bittersweet. If nothing else, Emojiland is a show with a lot of heart.

That's not to say it's perfect -- uneven pacing and some rushed character development prevent the show from striking with maximum impact. Lots of time is spent sketching out the rough mythos of Emojiland, but our verbose friend Nerd Face doesn't show up until halfway through the first act. The main story is often shunted to the backburner in favor of fun musical asides that, while genuinely enjoyable, dampen the show's momentum. And Skull, a disaffected emoji with theatrical, almost emo tendencies, gets little attention despite being directly responsible for the mortal peril Emojiland soon faces.