“Jekyll & Hyde” Broadway Review

J&H

First, I have previously reviewed this production when it played at the Fisher Theater and that review is here: https://a2view.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=992&action=edit

Second, the show now seen at the Marquis Theatre in New York is basically identical to that seen on tour.

The New York Media have not been kind to this revisal, and of course, they weren’t kind to the original either. I happen to like this show, and I like this production, and my opinion after having seen it tonight has not changed.

Constantine Maroulis remains in fine vocal form, and it must take energy of steel to keep this up night after night. Deborah Cox, if anything, sounds even better than she did on tour. She seems to have grown into the role, and appears to relish the audience reaction. Teal Wicks remains clear-voiced and lovely in her underwritten role of Emma. “In His Eyes” with Cox has become a showstopper.

I continue to be impressed by the staging, which eliminates the milling and posing by the Ensemble from the original in 97. Here, everyone has a purpose, and every move has stage meaning. Calhoun has done a fine job making it all move dramatically around Tobin Ost’s set.

The audience reaction was, of course, diametrically opposite of what the critics would have you believe — in a full house, the audience was enthusiastic throughout and ecstatic after the major numbers. This is a show that is critic-proof, and those who hated it last time will probably hate it now; while those of us who liked it last time around will probably like it much better now.

One final note: I absolutely hate the Marquis Theater, which is just one big echo chamber with no charm whatsoever. I’ve hated it since it opened with “Me and My Girl” in the 80’s. I continue to hate it now, and it is the wrong venue for this show, which would have looked and sounded better in a smaller Broadway house.

Hands on a Hardbody (review) Broadway.

I’ve held off a few days on posting my review of Hands on a Hardbody, seen on Thursday night. I have to admit right off the bat that I didn’t like the show, and haven’t been able to put my finger on exactly why.

Trey Anastasio certainly creates a good musical score, if a bit too country-twangish for my taste. Its not the fault of the very strong cast from top to bottom, though their stereotyped roles certainly didn’t draw me in very much. And its not the direction, which does everything it possibly can to draw dynamic movement from a musical about a bunch of people standing around a truck holding on for dear life, in order to win the vehicle in depressed Texas. Based on the 1997 documentary of the same name, which I have to admit I also have no interest in seeing, its not the script, which tries to wring interest out of the setup.

But then there is the opposite: things don’t move enough, The show seems slow, and the set is basically one big advertisement for Nissan trucks. Much like Once last season, which I also did not particularly like, there isn’t anything exactly “wrong” with the show…it just wasn’t of much personal interest. It all seems very “small”, the stories just one piled upon another. I really didn’t care who won the truck, and that’s a big problem in a show where the entire purpose to have someone win the truck. Its about a truck.

And I can’t imagine this show is going to survive very long: seen only days after its official Broadway opening, the house was only about 2/3 full — not a good sign during the first weeks of a show. Its not a show I would recommend a casual visitor to NYC put on their must-see list (though I did recommend Once to friends that I thought would enjoy it).  As usual, your mileage may very — and there have been a lot of good reviews for the show.

I’m going to stop here, because I really don’t have anything else to say.

Cinderella on Broadway (review) is a scrumptious mess

Let me start by saying I love Rodgers and Hammerstein, pretty much their entire repertoire.  So when a new Broadway version of Cinderella was announced, with Laura Osnes, Santino Fontana, and Victoria Clark, you know I had to be there.

Second, all the requisite songs are there, and they sound great. Everything looks terrific on a gorgeous set with delicious costumes. Cinderella’s transformation before the ball is theater magic and gets prolonged applause. The addition of a fox and raccoon that transform into carriage footmen is delightful, and yes that carriage and horses are beautiful.

But, some of what happens here is a total mess that I fully blame on Douglas Carter Beane’s horrendous script. Now granted, the original did need to be fleshed out a bit, but this social-conscious infused nonsense was not it. It all flies by breezily enough, but I can venture a bet that not one of the audience members went there to see a subplot about improving the living conditions of the villagers. Beane even recycles word-for-word a 30Rock joke (“My mother isn’t always evil, sometimes she’s asleep”)

Santino Fontana, at first an unconventional choice for the Prince, turns in a super performance and by evenings end is indeed the charming prince Cinderella falls in love with. Laura Osnes is perfectly cast as Cinderella herself. Their scenes together are delightful.

Victoria Clark has a thankless role as beggar woman/fairy Godmother and gets to sport the evenings ugliest evening gown and headwear. She also gets to spout awesome lines like “fiddle deedle dumble, fidgety diddly dee”. There is far far too much of the evil stepmother Harriet Harris, and some characters should have been cut altogether — wait, what am I saying, they should never have been added to begin with.

The score is augmented by several Rodgers and Hammerstein trunk songs (including one cut from South Pacific!) but they fit well and sound great.

So, overall, this is a gorgeous production that will leave you both satisfied and also disappointed. The kiddies aren’t going to notice anything out of the ordinary. Adults will recognize its easily 20 minutes too long. Musical Theater lovers will recognize its easily 45 minutes too long…and Douglas Carter Beane is to blame for all 45 of those minutes.

Kinky Boots on Broadway is abso-friggin-fantabulous (review)

Take one part Hairspray and one part The Full Monty. Mix together and add in generous helpings of Priscilla, La Cage, and sprinkle it all with tasty performances and shiny design work. Finally, douse it all in a superior score by Cyndi Lauper and strong script by Harvey Fierstein. Season to taste with Jerry Mitchell’s fabulous direction and choreography.  What you get is one abso-friggin-fantabulous concoction at the Hirschfield theatre.

An energetic and excellent cast leads you through a strong book musical concerning the rescue of a men’s shoe factory after four generations by the son Charlie Price (Stark Sands in another standout roll) by converting its product to kinky boots made especially for drag queens. Enter Tony-worthy Billy Porter as Lola and the stage is set.

The production numbers here soar, especially the Act One closer  “Everybody Say Yeah” choreographed using moving conveyor belts. But where the show also shines is in the more intimate moments — there is a lot of heart beneath the glitz, and it all feels natural.

Ultimately the show finds its voice in the theme of “accept who you are” but it comes from the most unexpected of places — and the audience tears come quickly, followed by a big Hairspray-like final number that had the audience cheering. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen an audience have this kind of ecstatic reaction throughout a show.

In a year when Matilda will most likely draw the most Tony wins due to its sheer scope and family-friendliness, I’ll be rooting for Kinky Boots. With the best score I’ve heard in a Broadway show in years, Cyndi Lauper should go ahead and write her acceptance speech right now.

Matilda the musical (review) NYC — something naughty this way comes

Matilda the musical, now playing at the Shubert Theatre on Broadway, is a naughty big brash musical comedy freshly imported from London where it won a record number of Olivier awards a few months back. Half of that cast has come along for the ride.

It probably helps to have read Roald Dahl’s book prior to seeing the show: some audience might otherwise walk away from this show thinking “what the heck was that?” — it plays differently to adults and kids: adults can see the destructiveness of the dysfunctional parents and teachers on an otherwise genius young girl (a superb Bailey Ryon at my performance), while kids take the characters for what they are and revel in the revenge story. Its the rare musical these days you can take your 8-year old to that they will sit captivated by, while also entertaining you.

Bertie-send-him-his-Tony-now-Carvel plays a lunatic headmistress Miss Trunchbull in kinda the weirdest drag you will ever see on any stage anywhere. Lesli Margherita and Gabriel Ebert are terrific as Matilda’s white-trash parents, the Wormwoods. Ryan Steele turns in a fantastic dance role as ballroom dancer Rudolpho and Lauren Ward is practically perfect as Miss Honey.

Tim Minchin’s lyrics are ridiculously funny, his music bland and repetitive without a single standout. When it finally gets rolling with the luscious “My House” in the show’s penultimate scene, it peters out before you know it.

Peter Darling’s choreography is outstanding throughout, with “School Song” the highlight. Matthew Warchus directs as if the musical is Benny Hill on acid…sometimes its brilliant, sometimes it falls into British pantomime…but it is never ever dull. Your tolerance of the show will completely depend on your enjoyment of broad-stroke pratfalls and slapstick. Really big, over-the-top slapstick.

The audience ate it up. The kids (many many many) in the house loved it. What the heck, pack up the car right now and head to the Shubert for this season’s biggest hit.

Spooky (Hilarious) Mormon Hell Dream…The Book of Mormon (Detroit) tour review

I won’t go much into the show itself, since there is little one can add to “review” the musical THE BOOK OF MORMON, continuing its tour now in Detroit, except to say that the production is superb, the cast excellent, and the humor as raunchy as ever. Sending our cast of naive white-boy Mormon missionaries off into warlord-torn Uganda, little needs to be said about the plot and developments that hasn’t already either been said, or shown (see YouTube). If you don’t know much about the show and are seeing it soon, the better for you — the jokes play far better if you don’t already know whats coming around the bend, so I won’t say more.

I’ve reviewed the show before when seen on Broadway: https://a2view.com/2011/07/31/the-book-of-mormon-catch-me-if-you-can-sister-act-broadway-reviews/

The show arrives at the Fisher Theater to two weeks of sold-out performances — and for good reason. Appealing to a wide-audience, the Best Musical Tony-winner ramps up the humor but keeps a lot of heart intact. South Park fans will find a lot to love in this very unconventional musical, while musical theater fans will find a lot to love in the excellent execution of it all. 

British actor Mark Evans plays a spirited and energetic Elder Price (I am assuming this was some type of trade for Gavin Creel heading off to London to do the part there), but the special kudos for this tour production have to go to the sublime roly-poly Christopher John O’Neill as his sidekick Elder Arnold Cunningham. His facial expressions alone are enough to slay them in the aisles, but he’s a great singer and dancer to boot. A bit more reserved than Josh Gad in the role, he brings amazing charisma and a star-making turn to his role.

The tour is identical to the Broadway show — down to the set and costumes, and if you didn’t get a chance to see it in NYC, see it on tour (it might be easier to get tickets on Broadway these days, the tour seems to sell every single seat within hours of tickets going on sale — check for house seat releases or cancellations a few days before each performance).

If you are among the ticket-holders for The Book of Mormon, count yourself lucky — its an excellent tour that will have you laughing (and talking about the show) all the way home. As usual, just a reminder that this is not a show that is family friendly. In fact, its not even pre-teen friendly. Apparently Broadway-in-Detroit did a pretty good job making sure that audiences know its not for kids — its a great night out for open-minded adults. My mom would still walk out. 

Kevin Rose in Concert – Encore Musical Theatre (review)

Every now and then, a rising star swings through the Ann Arbor area, most recently thanks to Dexter’s Encore Musical Theatre Company, and treats the audience to an evening of polished, superb Broadway fare that really makes you think about the amazing talent out there in the world, and how fortunate we are in the area to have them drop by.

Kevin Rose

New York City-based Kevin Rose (recently appearing in Plaid Tidings, and now the title role in Joseph…Dreamcoat) took a night off from his normal musical theater duties to present a sublime evening of (mostly) love songs from Broadway, off-Broadway, and even a little Beatles sprinkled in. Supported by the ever-charismatic Sebastian Gerstner and pitch-perfect Thalia Schramm, clear-voiced Rose sang through delightful songs from She Loves Me, West Side Story, Into the Woods, Carousel, and some lesser known shows like I Love You Your Perfect Now Change, I Love You Because, and (ever workshopping) Elyria. Accompaniment was provided by R MacKenzie Lewis and his three-piece ensemble.

Rose’s voice is particularly lush in ballads like “If I Loved You”, and “My Funny Valentine”…but he also has a delightful mischievous side that had the audience rocking with laughter often throughout the 80 minute set.  His musical choices are good, and the entire evening very well rehearsed and energized. Its a concert cabaret performance he can take with him anywhere, and I hope he does. Rose joins an ever-growing number of performers like Laura Osnes and Erich Bergen who can ply their wares nationwide, and share the enthusiasm of musical theater wherever they are through their cabaret performances. Meanwhile, you can catch Kevin in Joseph through March 3rd at the Encore.

SMASH is back, and its as infuriating as ever…

Reviewed after screening the first three hours of the new season (NBC has telecast to the first two hours this week).

Well, Smash is back on NBC, and your like (or dislike) of the show will directly relate to a) your ability to tolerate Katharine McPhee, b) your enjoyment of musical theater as a whole, and c) your like/dislike of soap opera.

Here’s the good news — they’ve toned down the ridiculous interpersonal stories for Messing and her husband (even if it does mean we don’t get to see the excellent Brian D’Arcy James anymore this season) and sent their whining son off to boarding school. They’ve also gotten rid of the horrendous scheming plotline for Ellis (goodbye) and enigma Dev (goodbye).

The many Broadway actors that appear in the show, in cameos, in songs, in backgrounds continues to astound — witness Brynn O’Malley’s excellent little scene firing Jack Davenport. Fun, fierce, and Facebook-worthy.

They’ve also brought on the excellent Jennifer Hudson and Jeremy Jordan, and UM’s Andy Mientus to round out a new storyline. In the first three hours, the show absolutely comes to life when Hudson or Jordan sing — and crashes when the old McPhee/Hilty story comes into view.

And the show actually follows the development of a musical more this season, rather than the soap-opera-like antics of supporting characters. How will the money for the production be raised. How will media rumors hinder the development of “Bombshell”, the Marilyn musical (note to producers: Marilyn Monroe is not interesting, and the musical version already bombed on Broadway), and how will distractions of lawsuits and sexual harassment play into the development of the show.

Pasek and Paul (another feel-good UM success story!) provide some new songs that are a notch above the “everything in Bombshell sounds like it was cut from Hairspray” music of last season.

But that is where the good news ends. The show still depends on time-worn cliches more relevant to soap opera than to musical theater, and a lack of reality that is astonishing…that any single producer or artistic staff of any show anywhere would cast the lackluster McPhee in a lead role over the superb Megan Hilty is just television storytelling of the worst kind. The entire storyline rings false from top to bottom. And when you bring in a rising star like Jordan, why saddle it all down with a ridiculous badboy drug-addict subplot…and throw superstar Hudson into another mother (Dreamgirl Sheryl Lee ralph)/daughter conflict subplot. BLECH.

The musical numbers continue to be the shows highpoint — and they are better integrated into the plotline this season; but the ongoing use of near-public-domain pop songs rather than theater songs is disappointing and panders to the American Idol and Glee set.

I say put Bernadette Peters and Sheryl Lee Ralph into a room and let them duke it out.

Don’t get me wrong, I love to see my Broadway folks at work…but I am not a fan of Smash, even though I watch it just to see what jawdropping disaster befalls the cast each week — like watching a train wreck, and enjoying it for what it is. Still, the show is a notch above most primetime soap-opera fare. But that is where it stands. Its not a comedy. Its not a drama. Its a bizarre mix of soap opera and musical theater. And that’s the view from here.

ANYTHING GOES and WICKED in San Francisco (Tour update)

While in San Francisco this past week, I had the opportunity to catch up with two favorite Broadway shows on tour — the first national tours of ANYTHING GOES and WICKED. Good news for the former, not so much for the latter.

Anything Goes (which I originally saw in NYC and then on tour in East Lansing) continues to get tighter as it goes. The entire cast is stronger than the original Broadway cast, and Rachel York is simply superb as Reno Sweeney. Erich Bergen is as smooth as a glass of scotch playing Billy Crocker (catch his cabaret act in whatever town the show is currently playing!). Fred Applegate continues to amaze as Moonface Martin. Alex Finke is lovable as Hope, and Chuck Wagner steady as the Captain. Edward Staudenmayer’s performance as Sir Evelyn has grown and grown, and he is a wonder, especially once the show plunges headlong into “The Gypsy in Me” sequence in Act Two. Overall, the Anything Goes tour is one of the strongest casts you are going to see in this very strong production. Do not hesitate to get tickets.

WICKED, on the other hand, is showing its age. While most of the performances in the current first national tour are first rate, some of the cast members have far outlived their roles. Dee Roscioli continues to play a fine Elphaba, but her counterpart Patti Murin as Glinda is starting to look tired. Cliffton Hall sings a fine Fiyero, but is getting too old to play the part. He’s been doing this for a long time, and where he used to look boyish, he now looks like a man…a 40-year old man (he’s 39). Justin Brill (35) is particularly too old to be playing Boq at this point. 

The cyclorama is water damaged and wrinkled, and it is particularly startling to see this in a Broadway set. When hit with amber or orange light, the wrinkles show from center stage left all the way to upper stage left. You can tell someone has taken the time to try to straighten things out — because the handprints show in large streaks along the edges of the clockface on the cyc. Its unforgivable. Fortunately, the First National tour is still using the fully realized sets, including the bridge, which the other tour companies have now downsized to flats. 

Its a mixed bag overall — but Wicked is in need of some fresh cast members, and some cleaning up and tightening as it continues its journey on its eternal tour. 

2012 Musical Theater Season in SE Michigan – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly…

It’s hard to make a “best of” list in this area of the country, since the blend of collegiate, community, and professional often overlap and sometimes Community theater productions can be as good as (or better) than some professional productions, while at other times, college shows can look better than Broadway tours….nonetheless, here is my summary of the good, the bad, and the ugly…

The Best overall community theater production this past year was: GREY GARDENS at Ann Arbor Civic Theater. Special kudos to Kathy Waugh for her terrific performance.

The Best summer theater production was: SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS at Croswell Opera House. Its been a long long time since Croswell had such a dance-tacular production, thanks to the Hissong’s direction and choreography.

The Best summer theater production that was indistinguishable from a Broadway Tour: AVENUE Q at Croswell Opera House. It was so good, it was hard to even compare it to other local productions, it had to be held to professional Broadway tour standards — and it was as good as, if not better, than the tour that came through Michigan a few years ago.

Speaking of tours: The best Broadway Tour to come through Detroit was: JEKYLL & HYDE — Broadway Bound with a spectacular Tobin Ost set, and a remarkable performance by Constantine Maroulis.

The best Broadway Tour to come through Wharton Center in East Lansing was: ANYTHING GOES, with a touring cast led by Rachel York that was stronger than the Original Broadway cast.

The best local university musical was: CHICAGO at the University of Michigan. Although it had strong runners-up in SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE (also at UM) and LEGALLY BLONDE at MSU. Also delicious was SWEENEY TODD at Sienna Heights.

Speaking of Legally Blonde: I saw 4 productions of this show, and despite varied levels of good lead performances, it just goes to show that this is a musical that is hard to recreate without a multi-million dollar budget. The Original Broadway production is so deeply visually ingrained (thanks to MTV’s relentless showings a few years ago) that any non-professional production just pales in comparison. One favorite note: in the Croswell production, when the trailer door stuck, David Blackburn hilariously announced “I’ll just use the back door!” and came around from stage left complete with bulldog. It was the biggest laugh of any show I saw this past year.

The best small-cast show of the year: THE LAST 5 YEARS at Jackson Symphony Space — Jayna Katz and Adam Woolsey blew the roof off of the place nightly.

The best “becoming an annual tradition around here” musical: EVIL DEAD THE MUSICAL at Dexter Community Players. Expanding community theater’s boundaries by squirts and bounds, with a strong cast and twice the splatter-power.

I wasn’t impressed much by any of the local professional musical theater productions this year, although there were some mighty fine performances. The Dionysus Theater made a strong debut as a professional theater company with their holiday offering HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS – right out of the gate hitting all the right notes in a finely performed production in a gorgeous proscenium theater space.  A couple shows will go without mention here, because I abhor when major changes are made to Broadway musicals to fit a director’s “vision” or a small budget — but it is worthy to mention the lovely GODSPELL at Encore, where Dan Cooney took a show that has become bloated and almost unwatchable over the years, and turned it into a fresh, sparse, and clown-makeup-free delight.

Finally — one “ugly” — the reworked BEAUTY AND THE BEAST arrived at the Stranahan on tour, with a non-equity NETworks production, featuring some of the ugliest costumes and sets I have seen in a Broadway tour. UGH.