Theatre Addict

Donmar Warehouse, London • 27 October 2007 • 2:30pm
Music & Lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. Book by Alfred Uhry. Co-conceived by Harold Prince.

Director & Choreographer: Rob Ashford. Musical Director: Thomas Murray. With Bertie Carvel (Leo Frank), Lara Pulver (Lucille Frank)…

I missed Parade when it originally opened on Broadway in December of 1998 because it folded after two months for lack of an audience. It was awarded two posthumous Tony Awards (one for Best Book of a Musical and another for Best Score of a Musical… although the Tony for Best Musical strangely went to Fosse). The Donmar Warehouse is giving the show its UK premiere in a production directed by Rob Ashford, who was the original production’s Assistant Choreographer.

As was already evidenced by the CD, Parade is a brilliant and deeply disturbing show. It deals with the Leo Frank case, the story of a Jewish man convicted of murdering a 13 year-old factory girl in Georgia in 1913, who was lynched by a Ku Klux Klan mob when his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment after it surfaced that some of the evidence against him had been forged. (To this day, the controversy hasn’t ended, although there is very strong evidence pointing to Frank’s innocence, most notably the late confession of a factory worker in the 1980s.)

Parade combines a hauntingly beautiful score and a strongly built book. From the first song, “The Old Red Hills of Home,” sung magnificently by Stuart Matthew Price and Steven Page, soon joined by the entire company, it is obvious the show is going to be no ordinary experience. Rob Ashford has conceived a staging in which the story unfurls cinematically in the Donmar’s tiny but highly theatrical space. The cast is tremendously good, with glowing performances from Bertie Carvel and Lara Pulver as Leo and Lucille Frank. My only complaint is that nobody even tries to use convincing accents.

Parade is contemporary musical at its best. It is also, at times, theatre at its best. The fact that it didn’t manage to attract an audience in New York is a sad sign of the times. It is playing to sold-out houses at the Donmar, but this is only a limited run. Here’s hoping London can give this wonderful show the chance that it deserves.

Hilton Theatre, New York • 20 October 2007 • 2pm [preview]
Music & Lyrics by Mel Brooks. Book by Mel Brooks & Thomas Meehan. Based on the screenplay by Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks for the eponymous movie.

Direction & Choreography by Susan Stroman. With Matthew LaBanca (Frederick Frankenstein [understudy]), Megan Mullally (Elizabeth), Sutton Foster (Inga), Shuler Hensley (The Monster), Andrea Martin (Frau Blucher), Fred Applegate (Hermit), Christopher Fitzgerald (Igor)…

Young Frankenstein is Mel Brooks’ second Broadway musical. It is sometimes so reminiscent of the first one that it feels like The Producers II: Let’s Take Transylvania. The music is good old Broadway fare, though hardly original. And there are jokes aplenty, the lewder, the better. (Inga to Frederick, as she is resting against him on a hay cart: “Don’t hold that against me.” Him: “I’ll try not to.”)

What will probably make the show a success, on top of being inspired by a cult movie, is its fantastic physical production (sets, costumes, lights) and the great work of director-choreographer Susan Stroman. Although Matthew LaBanca did a very fine job, I was quite disappointed to miss Roger Bart in the title role. There are many outstanding performances in the rest of the cast, most remarkably Andrea Martin’s Frau Blucher (the object of a hilarious recurring joke) and Christopher Fitzgerald’s excellent Igor.

Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre, New York • 19 October 2007 • 8pm [preview]
Book & Lyrics: Lynn Ahrens. Music: Stephen Flaherty. Based on the novel by Francine Prose.

Direction & Choreography by Graciela Daniele. With Marc Kudisch (Flaminio Scala), Natalie Venetia Belcon (Columbina), Jeremy Webb (Francesco Andreini), Erin Davie (Isabelle Andreini), Julyana Soelistyo (Armanda Ragusa), David Patrick Kelly (Pantalone), John Kassir (Dottore).

There’s always something exciting about a Flaherty & Ahrens musical, because these two authors have a knowledge and understanding of the history of musicals that inform their work. That doesn’t mean they try to copy the musicals of the past; it means they know the territory they’re trying to expand.The Glorious Ones tells the touching story of a Commedia dell’Arte troupe in Italy at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries. While not completely conventional in form, it remains largely linear. I think it spends too much time introducing the various characters instead of finding a way for them to introduce themselves indirectly in the course of the play.

Graciela Daniele’s staging is a treat: it displays energy, inventiveness and a true sense of theatricality. The setting, of course, is the wooden stage of a travelling troupe. (I kept thinking it looked like the setting for a Schmidt & Jones musical.) The cast, led by the remarkable Marc Kudisch, give a tremendous performance.

The score is delightful but strongly reminiscent of earlier Flaherty & Ahrens musicals, especially Ragtime. There’s even a song that rhymes “silhouette” and “pirouette,” two words that stand prominently in the lyrics of Ragtime.

The Glorious Ones might not be perfect, but it’s an enjoyable and literate effort and an ode to the theatre and to comedy. It won’t open for another couple of weeks, so it’s likely to be even better then.

Theatre Royal, Brighton • 6 October 2007 • 2:30pm
Music & Lyrics by David Heneker. Book by Beverley Cross, based on Kipps by H. G. Wells. New version by Warner Brown.

Directed by Bob Tomson. Musical Direction by Tom de Keyser. With Gary Wilmot (Kipps), Claire Marlowe (Ann Pornick), Zara Plessard (Helen Walsingham), James Dinsmore (Young Walsingham), Gaye Brown (Mrs. Walsingham)…

I consider myself lucky to have been able to see a production of this classic British musical, which originally opened in 1963 and was made into a movie four years later.

The title role is forever associated with Tommy Steele who, interestingly enough, is currently touring the UK in Doctor Dolittle. But Gary Wilmot makes the part his own with great finesse and panache. He is a thoroughly likeable actor, capable of conveying a broad range of emotions. His eleven o’clock number (more like five o’clock, under the circumstances), “What Should I Feel?”, was a knockout.

This touring production is far from opulent, of course, but the sets, costumes and lighting look professional and the small orchestra (six musicians) somehow manages to treat David Heneker’s score with some due respect. A score which is in turn joyous, atmospheric or sentimental.

Bob Tomson’s staging keeps the flow moving and Jason Pennycooke’s elegant choreography raises the energy level when necessary. A very enjoyable show altogether.

Garrick Theatre, London • 29 September 2007 • 3pm
Music & Lyrics: Kath Gotts. Book: Maureen Chadwick & Ann McManus.

Director: Maggie Norris. With Sally Dexter (Yvonne Atkins), Laura Rogers (Helen Stewart), Caroline Head (Nikki Wade), David Burt (Jim Fenner), Helen Fraser (Sylvia “Bodybag” Hollamby), Nicole Faraday (Shell Dockley), Amanda Posener (Denny Blood), Julie Jupp (Julie Saunders), Rebecca Wheatley (Julie Johnston), Chris Grierson (Justin Mattison), Emily Aston (Rachel Hicks), Camilla Beeput (Crystal Gordon), Maria Charles (Noreen Biggs)…

It isn’t often that I go see a musical that I know absolutely nothing about before entering the theatre. Bad Girls, the Musical is based on a British TV series taking place inside a women’s prison that aired on ITV from 1999 to 2006. The plot of the musical is based primarily on the characters and storylines of the first season and includes a lesbian love story between one of the inmates and the wing governor. The musical originated at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in 2006 and is now being presented in the West End.

The result is hit-and-miss.

On the one hand, the book cleverly balances drama and comic relief, prison cell grittiness and typical sitcom humour. The characters are strongly delineated and the overall dramatic structure is strong. The score, although derivative, is pleasant. And the clever use of projections makes the staging very effective.

On the other hand, the show frequently fails to meet West End standards. As good as the show becomes when it uses second-degree humour, it can be quite a drag when it is more literal-minded. Several of the individual performances are weak. And the novelty of the situation and characters becomes too thin in the second act to really sustain attention.

The show isn’t bad. It isn’t quite good either.

But it’s a treat to see Maria Charles, who played the part of Dulcie in the original production of Sandy Wilson’s The Boy Friend… a few years ago.

Signature Theatre, Arlington, Virginia • 9 Septembre 2007 • 2pm

Went to have a second look at this attractive production. Since I was closer to the stage, I got a better look at Robert Perdziola’s beautiful costumes, their interesting colour scheme, and the way they evolve (or regress?) between the first and the second acts. The performance was a tad less polished with a few minor flubs here and there, and the absence of amplification was definitely a problem at times (some audience members complained during intermission)… but, again, I was overwhelmed by the sheer strength of the emotional denouement of the show. Well worth a trip.

Signature Theatre, Arlington, Virginia • 8 September 2007 • 8pm
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Book by George Furth.

Directed by Eric Schaeffer. Choreography: Karma Camp. Musical Director: Jon Kalbfleisch. With Will Gartshore (Franklin Shepard), Erik Liberman (Charley Kringas), Tracy Lynn Olivera (Mary Flynn), Tory Ross (Gussie Carnegie), Bayla Whitten (Beth), Christopher Bloch (Joe Josephson)…

There is something incredibly powerful about the way Merrily We Roll Along leads us to reflect upon roads not taken and choices that cannot be unmade. It is, unfortunately, not the most frequently performed of Sondheim shows, even though I was lucky to catch the very good production at the Derby Playhouse about four months ago.

The Signature production unfurls on a sleek and chic circular set that could be the interior of Mame’s mansion (huge staircase, grand piano, monumental door), bathed in surprisingly raw colours that seem to imply a voluntary distance from a realistic depiction. It is blessed by countless displays of directorial brilliance that contribute to make the show even more affecting, especially in Act 2. The clever choreography frequently winks at styles of the past, and there are pretty clear references to the “Rich Man’s Frug” from Sweet Charity a couple of times.

There are uniformly good performances from the cast. Erik Liberman, in particular, handles the tricky part of Charlie competently, even though it is of course difficult to erase the memory of Raúl Esparza at the Sondheim Celebration a few years ago.

The 13-strong orchestra gives a joyous rendition of Sondheim’s jewel of a score. I got the impression that some scenes, especially some musical numbers, lacked pace and could still be made a little bit tighter, but it is relatively early in the run, and they are still presumably working on making the necessary adjustments.

Additionally, this production raises the interesting question of amplification — or lack thereof — in musical theatre. Although an intimate space like the Signature Theatre lends itself naturally to a non-amplified performance, there are two obstacles that are particularly obvious. Firstly, most younger singers haven’t been taught how to project their voices without amplification. There are tremendous differences in the way the various actors handle this, and some numbers like “Now You Know” lose some of their strength because of that. Secondly, Merrily was written at a time when amplification was a given. There are songs where a line sung by a solo voice segues into a choral passage, itself followed in short succession by another solo. In spite of Jon Kalbfleisch’s commendable efforts to avoid drowning the voices, there are instances when the overall impression is one of awkwardness rather than the fluidity one would expect from such a bunch of talented people.

Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, London • 1st September 2007 • 8pm
Book, Music & Lyrics by Sandy Wilson.

Director: Ian Talbot. Co-director & choreographer: Bill Deamer. With Anna Nicholas (Madame Dubonnet), Claire Carrie (Hortense), ? (Percival Browne), Rachel Jerram (Polly Browne), Richard Reynard (Tony), Kate Nelson (Maisie), Chris Ellis-Stanton (Bobby Van Heusen), Ian Talbot (Lord Brockhurst), Margaret Tyzack (Lady Brockhurst)…

I’d already seen this delightful production last year, and the magic worked all over again. There probably couldn’t be a more perfect and more loving tribute to the musicals of the 1920s. Sandy Wilson’s score is a treat from the first to the last bar, and Ian Talbot’s staging wisely avoids too much second or third degree.

The Boy Friend is a recipe for happiness: one can only leave the theatre with a warm heart, light feet, and enough positive energy for a month.

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London • 1st September 2007 • 2pm
Book and Lyrics by Shaun McKenna & Matthew Warchus. Music by A. R. Rahman, Värttinä, with Christopher Nightingale.

Directed by Matthew Warchus. Choreographer: Peter Darling. With James Loye (Frodo Baggins), Peter Howe (Sam Gamgee), Malcolm Storry (Gandalf), Michael Therriault (Gollum/Sméagol), Laura Michelle Kelly (Galadriel), Jérôme Pradon (Strider/Aragorn), Steven Miller (Boromir), Jon Tsouras (Legolas [understudy]), Alex Bonnet (Arwen [understudy]), Sévan Stephan (Gimli), Ben Evans (Merry [understudy]), Stuart Neal (Pippin [understudy]), Terence Frisch (Bilbo Baggins), Jennie Dale (Rosie [understudy]), Brian Protheroe (Saruman), Andrew Harvis (Elrond), Michael Hobbs (Treebeard)…

I had missed this show by a few days when I last went to Toronto, so I was sort of curious, especially given what I’d read about it.

First of all, it is a spectacular with music rather than a bona-fide musical. There are few actual songs, like the Hobbits’ song at the very beginning, which is quite good, but most of the score feels like underscoring. The staging of the first act is breathtaking, with several disappearing acts and a finale which made me wonder how they were ever going to top it.

Well, they don’t. The second and third acts are a bit underwhelming. Of course, the ever-moving 17-part turntable is used deftly and imaginatively, but there’s only so much a turntable can achieve, no matter how sophisticated. And the story can get quite dense in the last 90 minutes or so, even if the writers have tried to trim it to the minimum. Having seen the movies definitely helps.

The cast do their best to pretend they feel comfortable sporting medicinal-sounding names like Boromir, Sargenor Aragorn or Legolas. Take a spoonful of Boromir once a day. I quite enjoyed James Loye’s performance as Frodo: I think he made a better job than Elijah Wood at conveying the incongruity of having a Hobbit deal with such a gigantic task.

All in all, the show is pleasurable spectacular… but they shouldn’t have let everything out of their bag of tricks by the end of the first act.

Menier Chocolate Factory, London • 26 August 2007 • 3:30pm
Music by David Shire. Lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr. Book by John Weidman.

Direction: Sam Buntrock. Musical Direction: Caroline Humphris. With Sam Kenyon (Wilbur Wright), Elliot Levey (Orville Wright), Michael Jibson (Charles Lindbergh), Sally Ann Triplett (Amelia Earhart), Ian Bartholomew (George Putnam), Clive Carter (Otto Lillienthal), Christopher Colley, Ian Conningham, John Conroy, Helen French, Edward Gower, Kaisa Hammarlund.

Given the amount of crap we’re subjected to at each and every corner these days, a show with such a high level of craftsmanship is a knock-out, no matter how flawed it is.

Simply put, Take Flight is the Assassins of aviation. It bears more than a passing resemblance to Assassins, actually. It ties together the three stories of the Wright Brothers, of Charles Lindbergh and of Amelia Earhart in a non-linear libretto that also uses a manner of balladeer in the person of Otto Lillienthal, the German inventor of gliding. Their common passion, of course, is flying.

The first act is the less successful of the two, as the quality of the development of the three stories and their level of “integration” is very uneven. But all starts to come together at the end of the first act in a beautiful song called “Before the Dawn”… and the second act is outstanding in its ability to stitch the various threads of narrative together and have everything come full circle. The show ends, with little respect for chronology but a strong sense of dramatic efficiency, on the Wright Brothers’ first successful attempt at flying one of their aircraft.

There is tremendous talent involved, and it feels in many ways miraculous that some people are still so literate in the art of writing a musical. The score is gorgeous, especially when it manages to get past the “Sondheim complex” that it exhibits from time to time. It is highly enhanced by Shire’s own orchestrations for an 8-piece orchestra and by his superb choral writing. The music frequently soars and is especially good at expressing longings and aspirations. There are a few very clever numbers in the second act, most notably a vaudeville-type song for the Wright Brothers called “The Funniest Thing.”

The lyrics are frequently funny, at times a bit a surprising, like when Maltby rhymes “Crusoe” with “do so” or when he writes that “Range means going far” (which is supposed to be comedic in context). And I wonder if any other lyric ever contained the phrase “pi square.” There’s also a line that goes “How can we be wrong? We’re the Wright Brothers!” which I saw coming from miles afar. But I guess they couldn’t help themselves.

Even if all the parts are not written with the same virtuosity, the level of acting is excellent. Particularly outstanding (and blessed with the best-written part) is Sally Ann Triplett. She sings wonderfully and develops her character very nicely. I have slight reservations about the actor who plays Lindbergh, Michael Jibson, last seen in the Sheffield A Chorus Line (playing Bobby). But maybe that’s because his character is a bit more enigmatic. The Wright Brothers are written like a Vaudeville act and they work together nicely, even if one of them, Orville, has slight problems with his singing, which is not always entirely in key.

I was also very impressed by Ian Bartholomew as George Putnam (Eaverhart’s husband). And I hardly recognised Clive Carter, who has aged a lot (and taken some weight) since I last saw him. He provides some excellent comic relief as Otto Lillienthal and he has the best song of the first act, “Pfffft!,” about the many failures of people who have tried to fly aircraft.

Sam Buntrock’s staging makes the most of the reduced space available given the subject matter of the show. The lighting, by David Howe, is particularly enchanting.

It is somewhat fitting that the Menier Chocolate Factory uses the same model of programmes that the late Bridewell used to: they are offering the same sort of classy and skilled productions, probably getting it even more right.

Royal Festival Hall, London • 4 August 2007 • 7:30pm
Oscar Hammerstein, II (1943). Music by Georges Bizet.

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, John Rigby. Director: Jude Kelly. With Tsakane Valentine Maswanganyi (Carmen Jones), Divine Harrison (Joe [understudy]), Sherry Boone (Cindy Lou), Rodney Clarke (Husky Miller)…

This was advertised as a “fully staged” production of Carmen Jones, which gave a misleading representation of the show. Since the orchestra is in a shallow pit built in the middle of the stage, there is only limited space around it for the singers to “move” around it, surrounded by some minimal, static scenery.

Bizet’s music is played beautifully by the RPO (which alternates in the pit with the Philharmonia). But that’s about as far as the list of good points goes, except maybe for the very good performance of Sherry Boone as Cindy Lou.

About everything else is underwhelming: appalling acoustics, a cryptic directorial concept, hugely uneven performances… Tsakane Valentine Maswanganyi is an acceptable Carmen, but the quality of her voice doesn’t quite compare with her stunning good looks. Unfortunately, Divine Harrison, doesn’t have the sufficient operatic training to tackle the difficult part of Joe. And the staging badly lacks inspiration.

Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, London • 4 August 2007 • 2:30pm
Music by George Gershwin. Lyrics by Ira Gershwin. Book by Guy Bolton & Fred Thompson.

Director: Ian Talbot. Musical Director: Catherine Jayes. With Chris Ellis-Stanton (Dick Trevor), Kate Nelson (Susie Trevor), Norman Bowman (Jack Robinson), Hattie Ladbury (Josephine Vanderwater), Charlotte Warren (Daisy Parke), Giles Taylor (Bertie Bassett), Paul Grunert (Watty Watkins), Rachel Jerram (Shirley Vernon), Thomas Padden (Manuel Estrada), Steve Watts (Rufus Parke)…

The gods of scheduling have been good to me: right after The Drowsy Chaperone, they allowed me to see the very kind of show that Drowsy pays tribute to. The 1924 Lady Be Good boasted a score by George & Ira Gershwin and a cast led by Fred & Adele Astaire. It is the quintessential 1920s musical: fun and light-hearted. The score of Lady Be Good may be an early effort by the Gershwin brothers, but it already contains much of what made their songs so unique.

The setup of the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park doesn’t allow for elaborate set changes or for a large orchestra. But the charming score, the energetic cast and a respectful staging which doesn’t resort too much to a defiant second degree combine to make the experience highly enjoyable.

Novello Theatre, London • 3 August 2007 • 7:45pm
Music & lyrics by Lisa Lambert & Greg Morrison. Book by Bob Martin & Don McKellar.

Directed & choreographed by Casey Nicholaw. With Steve Pemberton (Man in Chair), Summer Strallen (Janet Van De Graaff), John Partridge (Robert Martin), Elaine Paige (The Drowsy Chaperone), Joseph Alessi (Adolpho), Nick Holder (Feldzeig), Selina Chilton (Kitty), ? (Mrs. Tottendale), Nickolas Grace (Underling), Sean Kingsley (George), Adam Stafford & Cameron Jack (Gangsters), Enyonam Gbesemete (Trix). [Other audience members’ programmes had an insert with the cast list for the performance. Mine didn’t. It was obvious Mrs. Tottendale was not played by Anne Rogers, and there could have been other understudies without my noticing it.]

When I saw The Drowsy Chaperone on Broadway with Bob Martin himself, I reflected that the show relied a lot on the ability of Man in Chair to take us with him into that enchanted world where light-hearted shows, albeit no masterpieces, help make life less difficult when one feels blue. Steve Pemberton, who took over from Bob Martin in this London production, does that superbly. His take on Man in Chair makes the show deeply poignant, especially in the end.

Drowsy is about to close close after two-and-a-half months. Maybe it isn’t that surprising that such a self-referential and somewhat specialist show finds it difficult to touch a wide audience, all the more as the score, although a good pastiche of 1920s music, contains few outstanding numbers. Beside, I couldn’t help thinking that this British version is too broad on the comedic front. Too loud, too farcical, too much mugging. The show doesn’t require that. On the contrary, it kills some of its charm.

But, thanks to Pemberton’s deeply-felt performance, I had a wonderful time, probably even more than on Broadway.

Helen Hayes Theatre, New York • 21 July 2007 • 2pm
Book by Douglas Carter Beane. Music & Lyrics by Jeff Lynne & John Farrar. Based on the Universal Pictures Film Screenplay.

Directed by Christopher Ashley. With Kerry Butler (Clio/Kira), Curtis Holbrook (Sonny [understudy]), Tony Roberts (Danny Maguire/Zeus), Mary Testa (Melpomene/Medusa), Jackie Hoffman (Calliope/Aphrodite)…

Some movies, however bad, can hold a special status in our minds… and that, for me, is very much the case with Xanadu, one of the very first movie musicals I saw in the early 1980s. The film is generally considered as a dud, but it marked Gene Kelly’s last appearance on the silver screen and it boasted a glorious soundtrack which quickly became my most-often played LP. Then the soundtrack was released on CD, and I thought life couldn’t possibly smile more on me. Then the movie came out on DVD, and I thought I couldn’t be luckier. Well, as it turns out, I could. Somebody came up with the crazy idea of turning Xanadu into a Broadway musical… and the outcome is a wildly enjoyable show which seems to have gotten just about everything right.

While the score is virtually intact and reproduces the excitement of the movie’s soundtrack, the book has been infused with a lot of second- and third-degree humour. The short, intermissionless, 90-minute show thus becomes a sort of loving spoof of the movie.

Kerry Butler gives a wonderful performance as Clio, the part played in the movie by Olivia Newton-John. Butler’s portrayal comes complete with a mock Australian drawl and some of Newton-John’s trademark postures. There are also two irresistibly funny performances from Mary Testa and Jackie Hoffman. And it is always a treat to see Broadway veteran Tony Roberts (recreating, of course, the role originally played by Gene Kelly).

The leading male part of Sonny is officially played by James Carpinello, but he couldn’t open the show due to an injury during rehearsals. In his absence, the part of Sonny is usually played by Broadway heartthrob Cheyenne Jackson, but “due to a prior commitment,”Jackson is out of the show July 17–26, so the two understudies for the role play the part in turn. I caught Curtis Holbrook, who acquitted himself very nicely. I must admit I would have been curious to see the other understudy, André Ward, a black actor who gives one of the most outrageously outlandish performances in a series of roles that include Terpsicore and a Centaur…

New Amsterdam Theatre, New York • 19 July 2007 • 8pm
Based on the stories of P. L. Travers & the Walt Disney film. Original Music and Lyrics by Richard M. Sherman & Robert B. Sherman. Book by Julian Fellowes. New Songs and Additional Music & Lyrics by George Stiles & Anthony Drewe. Co-created by Cameron Mackintosh.

Directed by Richard Eyre. Co-direction & Choreography: Matthew Bourne. With Megan Osterhaus (Mary Poppins [understudy]), Gavin Lee (Bert), Daniel Jenkins (George Banks), Rebecca Luker (Winifred Banks), Cass Morgan (Bird Woman), Janelle Anne Robinson (Mrs. Corry)…

I would be hard pressed to list all the differences between this version and the original London production, but it is obvious that the show has been made a lot less dark and a lot more cheerful… thus paradoxically making it remoter from the P. L. Travers stories.

Dark or not, I still have mixed feelings about this show, which fails to create the level of excitement that one would expect from such an ambitious venture. The score, in particular, doesn’t really convince, for a number of complex and related reasons: the new songs aren’t very inspired; the sound design struck me as unnatural and somewhat muddy… and the absence of violins (and violas) in the orchestra confirms a regrettable trend towards diminishing the number of instruments in the pits of Broadway shows, thus making the “live” sound of the theatre less and less pleasant and more and more dependant on the limited capacities of sophisticated synthesizers.

Visually, the show is quite impressive and it offers several highly enjoyable moments of theatrical wizardry. Bert’s walk around the proscenium is still a treat… as is Mary Poppins’ last flight across the auditorium (it must be quite a challenge to rush back to the stage in time to take her bow). The cast (which included quite a few understudies and swings) gives a warm performance, which strikes just the right chords and makes the overall experience pleasurable.

Palace Theatre, New York • 18 July 2007 • 8pm
Music & Lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe & Nell Benjamin. Book by Heather Hach. Based on the novel by Amanda Brown & the MGM Motion Picture.

Directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell. With Laura Bell Bundy (Elle Woods), Richard H. Blake (Warner Huntington III), Christian Borle (Emmet Forrest), Orfeh (Paulette), Michael Rupert (Professor Callahan)…

Here’s a show that has no discernable music, dreadfully trite lyrics and a book that frequently embarrasses itself. I haven’t seen the movie (yet), but I’m sure there was better comedic material to work from than what emerges on stage. The whole “Gay or European” scene in the second act is simply appalling. Thank God, the show moves along quickly and the fantastic set gives something to marvel about.

The Jerry Orbach Theater, New York • 18 July 2007 • 2pm
Book & Lyrics by Tom Jones. Music by Harvey Schmidt.

Directed by Tom Jones. With Stuart Marland (El Gallo), Anthony Fedorov (Matt), Whitney Bashor (Luisa), John Deyle (The Boy’s Father), Martin Vidnovic (The Girl’s Father), Tom Jones (The Old Actor [as Thomas Bruce]), Robert R. Oliver (Mortimer), Nick Spangler (The Mute).

This show is still as fresh and charming as when I first saw it at the Sullivan Street Playhouse during my first-ever trip to New York in 1997, five years before the original 42 year long run ended. It has the right mixture of comedic flair from the older characters and of innocence and grace from the two young actors, who are delightful. And of course the score is non-stop bliss from the first to the last note.

While seeing the show, I was trying to figure what it must have been for the theatregoers of 1960 to see something so conceptual and probably so different from anything they had ever seen. Nobody can quite tell when the concept musical was born (Lady in the Dark? Company?), but The Fantasticks certainly belongs in that list somewhere.

City Center, New York • 17 July 2007 • 7pm
Book by Arthur Laurents. Music by Jule Styne. Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.

Directed by Arthur Laurents. Music Director: Patrick Vaccariello. With Patti LuPone (Rose), Boyd Gaines (Herbie), Laura Benanti (Louise), Leigh Ann Larkin (June), Tony Yazbeck (Tulsa), Marilyn Caskey (Electra), Alison Fraser (Tessie Tura), Nancy Opel (Miss Cratchitt/Mazeppa)…

Interesting to see Patti LuPone go from a great performance as Rose last year under Lonny Price’s guidance at the Ravinia Festival to a substandard, at times mind-bogglingly bad portrayal in this misguided production, which is supposed to be a (way) out-of-town try-out for a forthcoming London run.

The pace and delivery feel so wrong at times it looks as if Arthur Laurents took a sort of perverse pleasure in harming his own material. And some pieces of stage business — like the amount of scenes played in front of the curtain — really look amateurish.

The paradox is that some of the actors give wonderful performances: Boyd Gaines is a sensitive, heartbreaking Herbie; Laura Benanti’s transformation from shy tomboy to star stripper is sensational; Nancy Opel steals every scene she’s in as Miss Cratchitt… and the three strippers are a hoot.

But Patti LuPone looks as if she left something in the oven and is in a hurry to get back home after the performance. Many subtleties of the book and lyrics are lost to an absent-minded or rushed delivery. And her famed botched enunciation is back. Beside, she ends an otherwise fine “Rose’s Turn” on an ugly scream which must be the most tasteless thing I’ve seen on a musical theatre stage in a long time.

But the audience didn’t seem to mind. They were all on their feet after “the scream.” Go figure…

Lucille Lortel Theatre, New York • 17 July 2007 • 10:30am
Music by Stephen Flaherty. Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens. Book by Lynn Ahrens & Stephen Flaherty. Based on the works of Dr. Seuss.

Produced by Theatreworks USA. Directed & choreographed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge. With Shorey Walker (The Cat in the Hat), Michael Wartella (JoJo), Brian Michael Hoffman (Horton the Elephant), Karen Weinberg (Gertrude McFuzz), Kelly Felthous (Mayzie La Bird), Ebony Marshall-Oliver (Sour Kangaroo/Young Kangaroo)…

When I originally saw Seussical on Broadway in 2001, part of the fun came from being in the middle of an audience of kids who responded heartily to what happened on stage. Strangely enough, the audience at the Lortel, consisting almost entirely of groups of kids from various summer camps, failed to show the same level of enthusiasm to this version labelled “for Young Audiences,” which lasts about 75 minutes. (In the mezzanine, where I sat, it was obvious the kids who filled the three rows in front of me were utterly bored.)

And yet the show is very professionally done, with an outstanding contribution from director/choreographer Marcia Milgrom Dodge, who really keeps things going in a fluid and energetic manner. But maybe the smaller format of this production puts more emphasis on the show’s faults. Sometimes the big dollars of a Broadway production come in handy when the material is not 100% perfect. There is no time for the audience to really identify or empathise with the characters on stage. Beside, the actress who plays The Cat in the Hat really looks and acts too much like a school teacher, which creates a serious lack of magic exactly where it should come from.

John Golden Theatre, New York • 16 July 2007 • 8pm
Music and Lyrics by Robert Lopez & Jeff Marx. Book by Jeff Whitty. Based on an Original Concept by Robert Lopez & Jeff Marx.

Directed by Jason Moore. With Howie Michael Smith (Princeton, Rod), Aymee Garcia (Kate Monster, Lucy et al.), David Benoit (Nicky, Trekkie Monster, Bear et al.), Jennifer Barnhart (Mrs. T., Bear et al.), Evan Harrington (Brian), Ann Sanders (Christmas Eve), Haneefah Wood (Gary Coleman), Jonathan Root, Matt Schreiber.

There are shows that I could see again and again. And again. Avenue Q certainly is one of them. I already said how great I think this show is when I saw the London production four months ago. Although most of the cast has changed since I first saw the show when it opened in 2003 (except for Jennifer Barnhart), the experience is still as fresh as it was then. The score might be uneven, but there are several songs that deal with issues that had never been tackled on a Broadway stage before… and in ways that are quite ground-breaking.

The show has been running for four years now. Here’s hoping that it runs for at least four more.