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Thoughts on “Leap of Faith” First Preview- 4/3/12 @ St James Theater

04 Apr

by: Dan Mason (@djdan1079)

Leap of Faith is the stage adaptation of the little seen 1992 movie starring Steve Martin as a flim-flam, travelling preacher with an appetite for booze, women, and swindling the downtrodden. After a critically panned tryout in Los Angeles last year, producers scrambled to rework the show in time for this year’s Tony Award deadline. Originally scheduled as part of the fall season, the show was fast tracked into the St James to take advantage of On a Clear Day’s closing, and a generally weak season for new musicals, where even the dreadful Lysistrata Jones was actually being talked about as a best musical nominee.

Among the changes were the firing of the vocally limited Brooke Shields as the female love interest, and actually combining her single mom character with that of the town sheriff (played by Liam Neeson in the film). New songs were written by Alan Menken and Glen Slater, and the book was cut down to reduce the 3 hour runtime in LA. That’s an awful lot to fix in a short amount of time, but Alan Menken tweeted after the last workshop that they had “fixed” the show.

Was his assessment correct? Well, partially so. Leap of Faith, while not a perfect musical, is a whole lot of fun. Members of the ensemble walk through the house during the pre show, shaking hands with the “congregation”, asking if we’ve heard of the Rev. Jonas Nightengale. A cameraman is in the house shooting video of audience members that is projected on flat screens across the theater. But the show doesn’t really begin until the preacher takes the stage and from the moment Raul Esparza walks through that curtain, he commands the attention of all around him. Esparza (Company, Speed The Plow) is, without question, the show’s biggest asset in a role that he seems born to play. Nightengale is a bad man, with a rap sheet that would make Harold Hill and Freddy Benson blush. Yet, Esparza is so charismatic, that you can’t help but cheer for him to pull off the next swindle. Backed by his huge gospel choir, “The Angels”, the show is at its best during the tent revival scenes. The energy during the opening 15 minutes is off the charts as the huge ensemble kills the song “Rise Up”, and makes you believe Jesus is ready to walk into the room.

Once the plot is set in motion, however, some weaknesses in the material are exposed. Jessica Phillips (Priscilla Queen of The Desert) replaces Shields in the revamped role of Marla. She is the single mom of a handicapped son, but now also the no-nonsense sheriff of Sweetwater, Kansas. Herein lies the problem. Phillips, while a great singer, has a presence that feels more like an assistant principal of the local high school than a Sheriff who can handle the local criminals.  Phillips tries to make Marla tough, but it mostly comes off as cold and detached, which is especially problematic when it comes to how she deals with her wheelchair bound son, Jake, played by Tyler Ackerman (Bonnie & Clyde). In one scene, Marla goes to Jonas’ hotel to serve him with papers demanding he leave the city, but ends up giving into his charms and spends the night. When her son shows up at the hotel to speak to Jonas, not knowing that his mother has been sexing the preacher, it just feels awkward. Are we supposed to like the mother that leaves her child rolling around the streets in a wheelchair at midnight while she is sleeping with a man she knows is a con artist? What kind of parent is that? And what kind of law enforcement officer is allowing herself to sleep with a huge threat to the town’s citizens?

Some will argue that the other supporting characters are not well-developed either, and I very much disagree. What’s interesting is that much of the character development happens through Slater’s lyrics than the book scenes. Kendra Kassebaum (Wicked), plays Jonas’ sister and partner in crime, Sam. She gets a lovely song in act 2 called “People Like Us” where she explains how she and her brother were left to fend for themselves as kids and why their bond is so strong. Kecia Lewis-Evans is amazing in the role of Ida Mae, the choir leader who is also cooking the books for the Nightengale operation. Her act 1 song, “Lost” is a great song about why it’s necessary to lie to protect the people you love, and perhaps even yourself. Leslie Odom Jr (Smash), is fantastic and in gorgeous voice as Isaiah, Ida Mae’s son who wants to follow in his father’s footsteps to be a “real” preacher, and despises the PT Barnum act that his mother participates in. Finally, there is a tremendous 11 o’ clock number, “Jonas’ Soliloquy”, where Jonas confronts his own crisis of faith. It’s a stirring performance by Esparza and he hits it out of the park. In a competitive year for men on Broadway, you have to believe Esparza is in line for a Tony nomination for this show.

Ultimately, Leap of Faith wants to tug at your heartstrings with a predictable ending that you see coming 20 minutes into the show. Because you know where it’s headed, the emotional payoff falls somewhat flat. To be honest,  Ghost is more likely to be the tear inducing musical of the season. However, if the final destination in Leap of Faith feels unsatisfying, at least Esparza and this amazing ensemble will make the journey there a fun ride.

Leave a comment if you see the show over the course of previews. I’m interested to see what changes are made.

 
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Posted by on 04/04/2012 in Broadway

 

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Thoughts on “Ghost” preview performance- 3/31/12 @ Lunt-Fontainne Theatre

02 Apr

by: Dan Mason (@djdan1079)

Broadway has been overrun with musicals based on movies over the last several seasons. Some, like Billy Elliott, were the toast of Broadway, while Legally Blonde and Shrek lost most of their investment. However, this might be the first season in recent memory where EVERY Tony nominated musical is based on a movie.  Newsies and Once are the presumed frontrunners for best musical, while Leap of Faith’s producers rushed their show to the St James to be in consideration. None of those show’s movie predecessors can boast the commercial success that Ghost had. The 1990 romantic drama made over $217 million in the United states (a ridiculous figure for that era), and was nominated for several Oscars, including best picture.

The musical adaptation in previews now at the Lunt-Fontainne theatre is unlikely to win the Tony, but it is perhaps the first musical of its kind that will make the audience feel like they are watching the actual movie, a fact that simultaneously works to the benefit and detriment of the show.

No expense is spared in this big budget adaptation, and that is clear from the onset, where the Ghost logo wipes across the scrim onstage just like you would expect to see in the opening credits of a movie. Over the next two and a half hours, the audience will be entranced by amazing onstage illusions. Characters will walk through doors, actors will rise up from their dead bodies that are still laying onstage, villains will be dragged away to the depths of hell. All of it, expertly staged by illusionist Paul Kieve, will leaving you asking “How’d they do that?” As opposed to Spiderman, where it’s obvious the actors are attached to harnesses and cables, Ghost manages to achieve many equally spectacular effects without the audience seeing the sleight of hand that made it happen.

The stage trickery, on its own, is enough to make Ghost an interesting, oftentimes enjoyable, theatrical experience, but the creative team isn’t willing to leave it at just that. The show also uses a ton of LED projection panels across the stage throughout the show. The hustle of New York City residents going about their day is all projected across the stage, even during numbers where a large ensemble is filling the stage acting out the same things. The result is an often too busy stage and moments of sensory overload, which detract from the actual storytelling. This is certainly a case where a little less would ultimately be more.

And really, at the end of the day, isn’t the audience who pays $120 to see Ghost there because they remember the love story? Sadly, during the first act, the relationships get lost amidst the visual effects. As the couple Sam and Molly, Caissie Levy and Richard Fleeshman seem to have great chemistry. Levy (Hair, Wicked) might be one of the top 5 female belters working today. Her voice shines on her act 1 ballad, “With You”. As an actress, however, she seems more than a little wooden, a fact that isn’t helped by some terrible dialogue she is given to work with. Fleeshman (West End’s Legally Blonde), is a recording artist in the UK who has opened for Elton John, so as you can imagine, he’s a tremendous vocalist. While he also struggles with the script’s limitations, he fares much better in portraying Sam’s anger about his fate and desperation to save Molly in the second act. I will likely be in the minority that argue that Fleeshman comes across as the biggest star on the stage, a title that will likely be bestowed upon Da’vine Joy Randolph, as psychic Oda Mae Brown.

Randolph is a fabulous comedienne and consistently brings the house down as she nails every one of the zinger’s made famous by Whoopi Goldberg in the movie (“Molly– you in trouble girrrrrrlllll”). Perhaps that is why I wasn’t as enthusiastic about Randolph as others will be. To me, her performance felt more like a re-creation of Goldberg’s than something original. As big of a presence as Randolph was in her scene work, she seemed less confident delivering Oda Mae’s songs, including the 11 o’ clock number, “I’m Outta Here”. I overheard at intermission that she had missed several shows with vocal problems, so perhaps I didn’t see her at 100 percent at this performance.

All of the major moments of the film have made it to the stage as well, including the pottery scene between Sam and Molly, although it’s a lot less erotic here. A fact that is somewhat confusing since the show does not shy away from their sexual chemistry in the first act.

I will be honest, once the second act got rolling, Ghost ultimately sucked me in. That’s when the show relies less on gimmicks, works harder to tell the story, and ultimately finds its soft, gooey, center. Sniffles and sobs could be heard around me in the show’s closing moments, although I wouldn’t say the show was a home run with everyone leaving the theatre. It will be interesting to see how open producers are to continuing to make changes as previews continue, seeing as this product has already been worked on during its West End run. If it were my show, I’d try to find a stronger opening scene with better dialogue. As it stands now, Sam, Molly, and their friend Carl are stumbling around their new apartment in Brooklyn. The dialogue consists mostly of “Hey guys” and “Isn’t this great, guys”, and it doesn’t really work. I would also look for places to simplify the staging, I don’t need projections of silhouettes roaming the streets on top of actors modern dancing to represent the same thing. The LED screens work better to enhance special effects, like in the train scene where Sam is beat up in the afterlife, than they do as a scenic backdrop.

To the show’s credit, the technical aspects ran flawlessly at this performance, which is no easy feat given that they are only a week into previews. Overall, there are many great parts to Ghost, even if those parts do not seem to form a cohesive whole. If they can unbusy the first act of the show and find more clarity in their character development, Ghost has a chance to enjoy a healthy run with tourists and the “date night” crowd.

Grade withheld as the show is still in previews.

 
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Posted by on 04/02/2012 in Broadway

 

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Theatre Review – “The Best Man” @ Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, 3/31/12

01 Apr

By: Dan Mason @djdan1079

Tensions are high as two political candidates arrive at their party’s nominating convention in Philadelphia. On one hand, you have a millionaire, whose critics claim is “out of touch” with the needs of average American. On the other side, a Senator who worked his way up from the farmland and allows his deep religious beliefs to guide his vision for the country. It sounds like it could be plucked out of today’s headlines, but Gore Vidal’s The Best Man was written in 1960. Some 50 years later, the show feels as relevant as ever at the Schoenfeld Theatre.

Led by an all-star ensemble of actors, the play examines the behind the scenes maneuvering of the election cycle, and asks if men choose to corrupt themselves in a quest for power? Or whether that desire for power is what makes them corrupt in the first place?

John Larroquette, an Emmy winner for his work on Night Court, and a Tony Winner for last season’s performance in How to Succeed, plays Secretary William Russell, a former member of President Artie Hockstader’s cabinet, and the current frontrunner for his party’s nomination. Russell is not without flaws. His womanizing and affairs are no secret to those around him, including his wife Alice (a wonderfully deadpan Candace Bergen). Yet, he also serves as the moral compass of the show. When his competitor begins the mud slinging and uses Russell’s prior mental health issues as a negative attack, Russell is forced to decide whether he should retaliate and go negative as well.

It’s a tactic that isn’t just encouraged by his campaign manager (a lost in the shuffle Michael McKeon), but by former President Hockstader himself. James Earl Jones plays the former Commander-In-Chief, in what is one of the more puzzling casting decisions in recent memory. The play is set in 1960, which means that the audience is to believe that America had an African-American president in the 1950′s, some ten years before the assasination of MLK, and three years before the Civil Rights March in Washington. I’m all for color blind casting in almost every instance, but it’s just hard to suspend one’s disbelief to the point of ignoring a significant part of our country’s history.

ImageTo Jones’ credit, you do forget about this point during the second act, because he’s putting on a master class in acting technique. Hockstader is rapidly deteriorating, but is motivated to play the game one last time, encouraging a little political backbiting and offering his endorsement to the man who can play the game the best. At 81 years old, it’s reasonable to expect to see him stumble over the occasional line, but Jones makes it look like an acting choice. His scenes with Larroquette, in particular are a joy to watch.

Erik McCormick of Will & Grace plays the slick, ambitious, Senator Joseph Cantwell. While the devout, religious beliefs of his character call to mind Rick Santorum, the down home, southern charm and devious smile make him feel more like John Edwards. McCormick lacked the gravitas needed to feel like a serious Presidential candidate during the first act, but he fared better as the show progressed and plays the desperate, win by any means nature of Cantwell extremely well. As Cantwell’s wife, Mabel, musical theatre veteran Kerry Butler (Hairspray, Xanadu, Catch Me If You Can) feels a little too over the top, even for a role that calls for an actress to play it big.

Oh, and there is an up and comer named Angela Lansbury in the show as well. Playing the role of the Women’s Division chair, Sue Ellen Gamadge, Lansbury’s time onstage is limited to about four scenes, but she commands the stage, nails her jokes, and left to applause at every exit she made.

Larroquette might not be the biggest commercial name in the program, but make no mistake this is his show. His character might be a philanderer, and might have a history of mental illness, but yet you admire him because he’s a good person. His Senator Russell often says “may the best man win”, but Larroquette is the best man on this stage, which is high praise given the talent involved. I can’t imagine that he isn’t in line for another Tony nomination this year.

For a three act show, director Michael Wilson (The Orphans’ Home Cycle) keeps the action zipping along at a brisk pace. The show runs at about 2 hours and 40 minutes, including two intermissions. The set design by Derek McLane is superb.

The Best Man is a limited, 18-week, engagement. The matinee I attended appeared to be a sellout. Get your tickets while you can.

Grade: A-

 
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Posted by on 04/01/2012 in Broadway, Theatre Review

 

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Theatre Review: “Beauty and the Beast” @ Broadway San Jose, 03/06/12

08 Mar

Written by: Garrett Biggs

After a successful trip to San Francisco in 2010, the touring production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast returned to the Bay Area courtesy of Broadway San Jose. This particular production achieves exactly what it aims to do, which is recreate the magic of the Disney movie, on stage.

Needless to say, Beauty and the Beast is the perfect show to bring the entire family to, and from what I saw, audiences of all ages found something to enjoy here.
From the opening of the show, you see just how “big” this show is going to be. The set is massive and intricate, giving a truly storybook feel to it. In the prologue to the show, you get a quick look at some master puppetry, as well as some of the best lighting I have seen in a touring production. It then transitions seamlessly into the classic opening “Belle” where we get a taste of how true to the movie this is.

Beauty and the Beast doesn’t just stay true to the music and the dialogue though, but the feel of the show as well. The credit for this lies probably with the casting directors, who found the perfect fit for almost every single role in the musical.

Each actor in this show lives up to the potential of their character, which is difficult to do when every single person in the audience knows and loves the characters already. Logan Denninghoff is absolutely perfect for the role of Gaston, and it feels as if he’s been ripped right out of the movie and thrown on stage. He delivered every single line hilariously and was probably the true star of the show. The number “Gaston” is one of the most exciting parts of the show with probably the best and most accessible choreography you’ll see.

Dane Agostinis as Beast and Emily Behny as Belle. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Dane Agostinis (Beast) shines, but in a different way than you would think. He doesn’t stick to the classic Beast, like Denninghoff does to Gaston. Instead, I suppose you would refer to him as more of a “bro-like” Beast. Some of the scenes in the second act when Lumiere and Cogsworth are helping him woo Belle are wonderful as he is acting like nothing short of a bro. Agostinis took the role as far as he could, but not so far it made you feel uncomfortable. The children seemed to enjoy him the most of any of the actors.

My personal favorite though was Jen Bechter (Madame de la Grande Bouche) who left me falling out of my seat in laughter, in a featured role at best. She was just another example of the cast living up to their potential as a whole.

One of my few complaints with the show was the staging. It was obvious to see what they were doing: It was supposed to be as big and eye grabbing as possible. That probably worked brilliantly with little kids. For me though, it was simply annoying and by no means aesthetically pleasing.

Also—Does Lefou need to roll onto the stage literally every single time he made an appearance? It’s fun once or twice to see that, but he rolled almost every single time. The directors attempted at physical humor all throughout the show between Gaston and Lefou, yet it was nothing but awkward. It looked horribly unrealistic. Yes, it’s supposed to be exaggerated, but not that much.

Beauty and the Beast also gets major respect from me for some of the “smaller” technical aspects they used. Maurices’ invention at the start of the show is a beautiful technical contraption that had me turning to my friend asking if he was really driving that thing. There were also the confetti cannons that were used at the end of “Be Our Guest”, which came from both the top and the sides of the theater.

“Be Our Guest” is brilliant and lives up to the movie 100%. The set changes completely, but it is seamless and exciting. This song defines the entire show: big, flashy, fun and classic Disney. Kids love it, adults love it, it is just why this is the perfect family show.

Beauty and the Beast isn’t going to change your life, but does everything you want it to. It stays true to the show, but has enough changes to keep you interested throughout.

 
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Posted by on 03/08/2012 in Bay Area Theatre, Theatre Review

 

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Theatre Review: “Bring it On” @ Orpheum Theatre, SF, 12/14/11

15 Dec

With a combined creative team that brought us some of the best musical theatre in the last decade – Next to Normal, In the Heights,  and Avenue Q - you might think Bring it On would end up being another amazing musical theatre masterpiece, but unfortunately this hot mess is nothing but an uninspired mess. It’s like Glee after the second episode. The story meanders but doesn’t give an real insight into any of the characters (I don’t even remember any of their names), the unmelodic music is a mash-up of In the Heights throwaways and through-composed whiny Next to Normal bits and the choreography looks like In the Heights, and yet tries to be something you would see on “America’s Best Dance Crew” but doesn’t even land close to either.

Nothing works, except for the real cheerleaders that are in the production. They fly to new heights, quite literally and amazingly. And because of this, Bring it On ended with huge cheers from cheerleaders (young and old) in the audience when they leapt to their feet and gave it a standing ovation.

Finally, someone put their life on the stage.

I sat there annoyed and felt cheated that some of my musical theatre idols delivered a sugar-coated passionless production of a movie musical that isn’t really based on the movie (except the subject manner). It is, after-all, only “inspired” by the original movie, written by Jessica Bendinger. Can we say, false advertising?

Maybe my expectations were high, but come on, Tom Kitt (Next to Normal) and Lin-Manuel Miranda (In the Heights) wrote the music and Jeff Whitty (Avenue Q) wrote the book and they have all won Tony Awards for their previous works on Broadway. This should have been the musical theatre “dream team”. Yet, the style was disjunct and the music is split between Miranda’s signature rapping (which didn’t work into this production at all, especially when the white girls are rapping at the beginning of Act 1) and Kitt’s (usually) brilliantly through-composed compositions. I left not being able to remember a single melody. The only few good songs in the show were the ones that were pre-recorded: “Legendary”, “Don’t Drop” and “Cross the Line”. And those are not even close to anything I would listen to on my iPod.

Opening Night at "Bring it On" - photo by SHNSF

Then, there’s the other pre-recorded tracks. To be honest, the whole show was mostly tracked. They left a few songs, mostly in the second act, that aren’t pre-recorded, I guess, to give the musicians in the pit something to do. There’s even pre-recorded singers on these tracks. Are we serious? With a cast of 30, you’d think you wouldn’t need to pre-record singers, but you do when it sounds like there are only 10 people singing on stage during the big group numbers.

The vocal stylizations by Taylor Louderman (Campbell), a character fashioned after Elle Woods but without any of the charisma or charm, was so bright that is was borderline screaming at points. She could obviously belt notes that most girls only dream of, but song after song sung in these high belts were absolutely obnoxious. I don’t fault her because she had nothing to work with. Even her character’s arc was uninteresting. She does her damnest to carry the show, but it’s hard when the material you are given is spiritless.

One of Campbell’s best bits in the show, is when she shows up to the dance crew in her new high school’s mascot: the leprechaun. She dances the hell out of it and gets the girls on the dance crew to be her friend because she dances so well. But the best part is that Louderman isn’t the one wearing the leprechaun costume, it’s another cast member (supposedly unbeknownst to the audience), so she doesn’t even know the dance. Totally unfortunate.

The best part of the show was the “chubby” sidekick, Ryann Redmond (Bridget). She’s the only one that kept landing her lines and bits consistently throughout the night. While, there were a few good oneliners in the show (“I got google. Bitch.” and “No cheerleading squad? What’s the point of school?”), Redmond was the only character that felt fresh and new. The rest of the characters were a colliding mess of Legally Blonde, In the Heights and Next to Normal. (Three really awkward shows to put together.) And, of course, none of it fit.

"Bring it On" cast during opening night bows - photo by SHNSF

The set design (David Korins) and lighting design (Jason Lyons) were pretty spectacular. The set used four different LCD screens that moved around the stage extremely well and created some very cool stage pictures. It was unlike anything I have seen. And the lighting was perfectly amped up for all of the big production numbers. Overall, both elements were extremely impressive.

The producers were right not to transfer this to Broadway. Besides, the huge overhead that it would cost to run nightly on Broadway and the fact that the musician’s union would probably boycott the show since everything is pre-recorded, the critics would rip it to shreds in New York City. Instead, Bring it On will bring cheer and happiness to cheerleaders all around the country. People will go, enjoy themselves, laugh at the silly jokes, and walk away entertained. But, Bring it On will never land in the same category as Wicked which is the very demographic they are trying to sell this show to.

And the show will not even be readily produced on the regional/community/high school musical theatre circuit because of the cast demands, technical difficulty and pre-recorded tracks. There’s not even life after this national tour for this show.

The creative team had the opportunity to mold pop music, cheerleading and musical theatre together all into one amazing package, but instead it was just a big tug-of-war and no one won. Instead, it just ended up being a unenthusiastic mess that the creator’s worked on to pass the time, waiting until their next stroke of genius will come. And God, I hope it’s soon, for everyone’s sake.

 
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Posted by on 12/15/2011 in Bay Area Theatre, Broadway, Theatre Review

 

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Thoughts on “Lysistrata Jones” Preview @ The Walter Kerr Theatre, 11/21/11

28 Nov

Michael Riedel has written at length about the recent scramble by Broadway producers to find open theatres for their new shows. As many as a dozen productions are looking for a home on the “Great White Way”. Even some of the big names were almost left out in the cold, as the new vehicle for Broadway heavyweights Matthew Broderick and Kathleen Marshall, Nice Work If You Can Get It, looked like it might be in trouble until Funny Girl fell by the wayside last month, leaving an opening at the Imperial.

However, I’m here to deliver a bit of good news for those other producers, who are undoubtedly biting their fingernails…. The Walter Kerr Theatre should be open by Christmas!

Lysistrata Jones, the new musical from Douglas Carter Beane (Sister Act, Xanadu, The Little Dog Laughed), is the season’s early front-runner for the “Glory Days Memorial Trophy” for the shortest run in Broadway history. An updated retelling of the Greek comedy, Lysistrata, the show centers around the plight of the Athens University basketball team, who hasn’t won a game in 30 years. A perky cheerleader and revolutionary named Lysistrata Jones tries to change their fortune by convincing the rest of her squad to not “give it up” until the boys wins a game. The show had a well received tryout at the 100 seat Judson Memorial Church in Washington Square that was successful enough to convince producers to transfer to Broadway.

And oh, where do I even start with this…

First of all, the press release for the show promises that Lysistrata Jones “takes student activism to a whole new level”. Herein lies the first problem. In an age of the “Occupy” movement, where young people are getting pepper sprayed in the face for protesting a hierarchy of power that they feel is oppressive to the “99 percent”, it feels a little shallow to sit through a two-and-a-half hour musical about college athletics, packaged as a tale about “activism”. Of course, the production team cannot be blamed over the current political landscape. It’s more an issue of “the wrong show at the wrong time”. However, there are numerous other problems that do fall on their shoulders.

Case in point, it’s completely unclear to me as to when this show is really taking place. I mean, I walked into a curtain with an Athens University logo that read “411 B.C.”.  Yet, all of the students are carrying Macbooks, and spitting out “jokes” about Siri and Herman Cain. So is the show set in the present day? Is our heroine using the tale of Lysistrata for inspiration on how to fix the basketball team?  Or is this show really set in 411 BC and we are to believe that we are watching a different spin on Aristophanes’ characters? If it’s the latter, why are they making so many references to 2011 pop culture?

The same device is used (far more effectively) in Godspell, where they riff on Steve Jobs, Lindsay Lohan, and Donald Trump. At least in the case of that show, they establish early on that we are seeing a present day retelling of the parables and applying them to life in 2011. In Lysistrata Jones, the pop culture references do little to advance the story or prove a point. They just seem forced in to get cheap laughs for a script that isn’t that funny on its own.

Perhaps I would have better understood the context of the show if I could have understood anything that happened in the first 15 minutes. Sadly, I was left to my own devices as 3rd row center wasn’t good enough to hear anything due to the muddiest sound mix ever. Shouldn’t this be fixed after 8 days of previews?? Liz Mikel, as the one-woman Greek chorus, Hetaira, was nearly inaudible as she raps through the opening number of the show.

If Mr. Beane, who successfully punched up the Sister Act book after its West End run, fails to work any magic with this script, the songs aren’t helping either. Almost every number in the first act of Lewis Flinn’s score sounds like that “Getcha Head In The Game” song from High School Musical. At one point, a character actually sung the lyric “What’s The Word? Tweety Bird”, which is just flat-out indefensible. The only two musical highlight’s are Lysistrata’s act one ballad “Where Am I Now?”, and the show’s closing number “Give It Up”, which is quite catchy. The rest of the songs are pedestrian, at best.

There are many instances over the last few seasons where great, veteran, stage actors, can lift up bad material. For instance, for all of it’s problems, I was able to still enjoy The Addams Family, due mostly to the work of Nathan Lane and Carolee Carmello. Brian D’arcy James and Sutton Foster made Shrek the Musical far more watchable in New York than it was with a less seasoned touring cast. Unfortunately, Lysistrata Jones does not have this luxury. Patti Murin, as the title character, has a nice voice and a perky personality, but she doesn’t have the star power to carry the show on her back. Josh Segerra, who has no Broadway resume to speak of, is a hard bodied, uninteresting, piece of wood as basketball captain, Mick. Lindsay Nicole Chambers, despite being a more capable performer, looks ten years older than the rest of the cast, making her the Lyssie Jones equivalent of Gabrielle Carteris in 90210.  The only cast member that shines in their role is Ms. Mikel, who doubles as the narrator and madam of the local brothel. She gets the most consistent laughs quite honestly deserves to be in a better show than this.

At the end of the day, “Lyssie Jones” will go down as the single worst show I’ve ever seen in New York. I have no problem with fluff pieces, as long as they are done well. I continue to be closet fans of Xanadu and Legally Blonde. Lysistrata Jones lacks the charm and fun of both of those shows. It’s the first time I have ever paid full price for a Broadway show and wanted to leave during the second act. While the reviews for the off-off Broadway version of this show were favorable, perhaps it would have made more sense to move the production to an Off-Broadway venue like New World Stages, because it’s not a show that is a fit for a 1000 seat house.

I will set the over/under for a closing date at January 3rd and take the under.

 
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Posted by on 11/28/2011 in Broadway, Preview, Theatre Review

 

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Theatre Review: “The Mountaintop” @ Bernard Jacobs Theatre, 11/22/11

25 Nov

Katori Hall’s The Mountaintop, is the Broadway transfer of a show that was enormously successful in Britain, winning that country’s Olivier award for “Best New Play” in 2010. American critics have been far more harsh in their treatment of Hall’s fictionalized account of Martin Luther King Jr’s final night before his assassination, and although I can see where they are coming from, I would disagree.

In order to buy into what Hall is selling, there are a couple of things you need to keep in mind when you walk in the theatre.

1. The play isn’t shedding new light on the Civil rights movement.

2. The play isn’t really telling us anything that hasn’t been said about MLK. In fact, the depiction of the human side of Dr. King, as a man who chain smokes, drinks, womanizes, and has really smelly feet, might be a problem for American audiences, who are more inclined to feel a sense of ownership over King’s legacy than the Brits.

3. The play isn’t really making any big statements about present day race relations.

In essence, “The Mountaintop” is like MLK “fan fiction”, and if you can follow Hall on a giant leap of faith through a plot twist that requires a certain suspension of disbelief, you will enjoy the show. I won’t giveaway the plot twist on this blog, although the info is certainly out there if you google search it (or you can tweet @djdan1079).

The two person show is set in a run down Memphis Motel, where King (a more subtle than expected Samuel L. Jackson) is in town to help settle a sanitation worker strike, and is in the midst of preparing a sermon on why America “is going to hell”. While waiting for a colleague to bring back a pack of Pall Mall’s, King meets a hotel maid named Camae (Angela Bassett). She arrives at his room to deliver coffee, but it’s obvious that King is looking for reasons to keep her there. The two seem to find an instant chemistry and the next 40 minutes shows the two in a flirty, sometimes foul-mouthed exchange, on a variety of topics, including family, race relations, the proper way to smoke, violent versus nonviolent protests, Malcom X, Jesse Jackson, and more. The banter is more suited to a sitcom than to a MLK play, but it works largely due to Bassett’s impeccable comic timing.

And that’s when we get to the plot twist.

It is at that moment, an hour into this one-act show, that the audience might feel like they have hopped aboard the “WTF Express”. The show takes a turn for the metaphysical, and it starts to get weird. Dr. King and Camae are engaged in a pillow fight straight out of the slumber party scene in Grease. We even learn that God is actually a black woman with spotty cell phone coverage. But if you can follow Ms Hall’s journey through a choppy 15 minutes, the payoff on the backend is breathtaking. David Gallo’s motel room set literally blows apart before your eyes into a film projection documenting the last 50 years of black American history. Bassett narrates with a spectacular slam poetry monologue set to original music by Branford Marsalis. It is a sequence that you would more expect to see in a $14 million dollar Broadway musical, but it doesn’t feel at all out-of-place in this production. After it’s completion, Jackson delivers one final, stirring monologue that brings the show to a satisfying close.

As MLK, Jackson brings a natural energy to the character, giving us more of a sense of the “man” rather than the “preacher”. However, he is completely overshadowed by Ms. Bassett, who gives as fine of a performance as I’ve ever seen on any stage in my lifetime. It’s almost hard to believe that this role was originally set to be played by Halle Berry. While she might have been a bigger box office name, I can’t imagine that she would have brought the same ferocity to the role.

The Mountaintop might not be a perfect play, but it’s a show that needs to be seen. The engagement has been extended through late January, with talk of possibly extending again with a new cast thereafter.

Grade: A-

 
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Posted by on 11/25/2011 in Broadway, Theatre Review

 

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Theatre Review: Godspell @ Circle In The Square – 11/19/11

22 Nov

Written by: Dan Mason


SPOILER ALERT (For Dummies) – Jesus gets crucified in the second act of Godspell. I don’t think I’m giving too much away by telling you that the last image the audience sees is that of Christ’s followers carrying his body away towards the great, white, light. Interestingly enough, that image is the perfect metaphor for this revival of the Stephen Schwartz musical at Circle in the Square.

If I told you that Jesus was the least charismatic performer in the show, you would automatically assume that the show itself is certain to be nailed to the cross. However, through the benefit of a talented and extraordinarily energetic ensemble, combined with clever, fast paced,direction by Daniel Goldstein, you can’t help but smile through all 2 hours and 15 minutes of the show.

Theatre snobs are likely to scoff at the cutesy, tongue in cheek, pop culture references that permeate the production. Everything from Lindsay Lohan, to Steve Jobs, to Occupy Wall Street, to LMFAO’s song “Shots” are integrated into the retelling of the parables. But Godspell has never been a show intended to challenge the audience or its beliefs in Christianity. This is lighthearted, family fare, designed to appeal less to Ben Brantley, and more to the masses who remember performing the show in high school.

As Jesus, Hunter Parrish (Spring Awakening, Showtime’s Weeds), is arguably the weakest link in the cast. Despite possessing boyband good looks and the whitest teeth you have ever seen, his vocals in the first act on songs like “Save The People” and “All for the Best” sounded thin, and his presence is almost too goofy to be believable as a leader of men. Parrish is a talented actor though, and shines much more in the second act, when the stakes are raised and Christ comes to terms with his impending demise.

Doubling in the roles of John and Judas, Wallace Smith (American Idiot, The Lion King, Hair) boasts the longest Broadway resume in the cast, and it shows. He is the most polished performer on the stage. A recent blog in the NY Post suggested that producers missed the boat by not casting Smith as Jesus, and I would be hard pressed to argue that point. Although Parrish has more of a commercial name from his TV work, and ultimately, this show will need some crossover celebrities to maintain ticket sales. Other standouts in this production include Uzo Aduba (Coram Boy), who is breathtaking as the prostitute that Jesus saves from stoning, but also generates huge laughs with a hysterical Donald Trump impersonation. Aduba is hard to keep your eyes off of when she is onstage, which led to a post show discussion between my fiance and I as to whether you could cast a charismatic woman as Jesus as the run goes on. Hannah Montana’s Anna Maria Perez De Tagle sounds beautiful on “Day by Day”, and Telly Leung (Rent, Glee) kills it on “All Good Gifts”.

The show takes advantage of the intimate space of Circle In The Square, placing the orchestra throughout the house and routinely bringing audience members onstage to participate in the fun, including an intermission jam session where you can join the cast onstage to partake in the drinking of “wine” (it’s really grape juice). Michael  Holland’s orchestrations breathe new life into Schwartz’s score. Goldstein’s direction is fun, yet tasteful in its handling of the crucifixion.

Grade – B+

 
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Posted by on 11/22/2011 in Broadway, Theatre Review

 

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Thoughts about “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever” Preview – 11/19/11

21 Nov

Written by: Dan Mason

It’s not unheard of for Broadway producers to gamble on reviving a dated piece of material and using it as a star vehicle for Broadway royalty. Just last season Kristin Chenowith packed houses at the Broadway Theater for the critically panned, but commercially successful Promises, Promises. Given the fact that the show recouped a sizeable investment, it seemed like an intelligent risk to team Harry Connick Jr (The Pajama Game) with Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening, American Idiot) and let them take a crack at the 1965 flop, On a Clear Day, a show largely praised for its score, and crucified for a book about reincarnation, ESP, and other psycho-babble nonsense.

Mayer has completely re-conceived the show, taking the original story about an eccentric young woman, who was an English aristocrat in a past life, and turning it into a story of a young, gay, florist, who was formerly a female jazz singer. David Turner (Arcadia) plays David Gamble,  the love interest for Connick’s recently widowed psychoanalyst, Dr. Mark Bruckner. Except he’s not really the love interest, because middle-aged females aren’t paying to see their beloved Harry Connick romancing a man on stage. So the real love interest is the jazz singer, alter-ego, Melinda Wells (Jessie Mueller in her Broadway debut).

Confused yet? Because that love triangle is only part of what’s going on in this cluttered mess. Drew Gehling (Jersey Boys) is David’s badly treated boyfriend, Warren. Kerry O’ Malley (Into The Woods, White Christmas) is completely wooden and uninteresting as a medical colleague who is secretly in love with Dr Bruckner.

There are many different things happening in Clear Day, and the problem is that it’s hard for the audience to feel emotionally invested in any of it. The notion that Dr. Bruckner could be in love with a jazz singer who died 30 years before is completely implausible and hard to buy into. Yet, you don’t believe for a second that the doctor has a true romantic interest in David Gamble. In fact, Bruckner comes across as largely uncaring about his patient, using him only to gain more knowledge about a dead jazz singer. The only character that elicits any sympathy through the first two and a half hours is David Gamble’s long-suffering boyfriend Warren, but he gets treated so badly that you just wish he would run off and find someone new who actually appreciates him.

All that being said, there is one genuinely beautiful scene in the last 15 minutes, where the show exquisitely explores the one relationship that is compelling. That is when Dr. Bruckner confronts the idea of death and tries to find closure over the death of his wife. It’s a powerful scene, and one of the few moments in the show where Connick appears emotionally connected to anything happening onstage. Unfortunately, the payoff still doesn’t justify the stupidity of the previous two and a half hours, where we are treated to ridiculous dialogue about reincarnation, ESP, and even a song asking whether it’s possible for one to learn of “pre-incarnation” and know what their next life will be.

The pacing of the show is something that needs to be addressed as previews continue. The first act checks in at 80 minutes, but feels like two hours. The second act does move along better, although the songs that feature Dr. Bruckner’s students could be cut completely, as they serve no purpose to the show at all. The set design is an eyesore, using a black and white, checkered, opt art look that gives way to bright, vivid colors, that may be appropriate for the 1970′s era, but stand in stark contrast to a show that is not “bright” at all.

The audience reaction from the Connick fan base that I spoke with at intermission seemed to be mixed, with some women just excited to see him onstage, and others who found the story to be ridiculous. One couple sitting next to us left at intermission and never returned. It will be interesting to see whether Connick’s name alone can get this show through it’s run. It will likely have to because I think the script problems are too great to be fixed in previews.

 
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Posted by on 11/21/2011 in Broadway, Theatre Review

 

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Theatre Review: “Follies” @ Marquis Theatre, 10/06/11

14 Oct

At this point, it’s impossible to not have heard or read about the rave reviews of recent revival of Sondheim’s Follies, directed by Eric Schaeffer. The New York Times calls it, “vibrant“ and Time Out New York says, “…this is a show no grown-up should miss”.  It’s a masterpiece of a production. The cast, the orchestrations, and design are all stellar. Currently, it’s playing as a limited engagement and it’s breaking box-office records at the Marquis Theatre. I can’t argue with numbers and the general reaction that everyone has had with the production, but I can say that I walked away not caring as much as I probably should have.

I think the main error was the fact that I wasn’t able to connect to the material as quickly as I needed to. It took me until, “Who’s That Woman”, sung by the unbelievable, effortless Terri White, to actually feel something for the characters. The lack of emphasis of the younger characters at the beginning of the show created a sense that this musical is only for old people. (Obviously, that changed in the 2nd Act, but it was hard to digest at the beginning.)

Jan Maxwell in "Follies". Photo by Joan Marcus

As the characters started to unfold, the raw emotions were easily relatable to at any age. Jan Maxwell (Phyllis Roger Stone) was a triumph in her song, “Could I Leave You?”. It was an absolute triumph (worthy of an instant Tony nomination). Ron Raines (Benjamin Stone), Maxwell’s onstage husband, was equally as impressive with his rich baritone voice that made his solo, “The Road You Didn’t Take” sound like honey. The two of them had an uncanny stage relationship that was deeply moving.

My other main hang-up I had was Bernadette Peters (Sally Durant) and Danny Burstein’s (Buddy Plummer) relationship. I just didn’t get it. Peters’ vocals were filled with her classic “character” charm, except I felt it didn’t fit Durant’s character. (Granted, she could have been tired because the cast had spent the beginning part of the week in the recording studio creating the cast recording. I honestly think that Peters’ voice was tired and worn-down.) Peters’ two main songs, “In Buddy’s Eyes” and “Losing My Mind” were completely lackluster. I felt Burstein was making up for this issue and was working too hard throughout the entire show. Since I never really believed their relationship, I wasn’t heartbroken for either, nor was I happy when they walked off the stage together. Durant was a psychotic emotional drunk, with little redeeming qualities. Do I dare say that the musical theatre legend, Bernadette Peters, was miscast? I feel blasphemous and shameful even questioning my allegiance to Ms. Peters. It was after all my first time seeing Ms. Peters live.

Photo by: Sara Krulwich - The New York Times

Sondheim’s beautiful lush score and witty lyrics is where the true masterpiece lies in this piece. The orchestra, directed by James Moore, was remarkable. I’m very excited that I will be able to relive the score with the new cast recording. (Hopefully, Ms. Peters performance will “read” different on the recording.)

It was also an honor to see Ms. Elaine Paige (Carlotta) perform. Her rendition of “I’m Still Here” was stunning – funny, heartfelt, engaging and deeply emotional.

Overall, I was very impressed with the production qualities and performances of Follies but I needed to connect on a different level to really “love” the show as so many others have already have. Whether or not that was the director, Eric Schaeffer’s, fault or my own, I still left thinking that it missed the opportunity to be sensational. Fantastic, yes, but it never reached sensational for me.

 
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Posted by on 10/14/2011 in Broadway, Theatre Review

 

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