What's Up With Broadway This Season?

-->

For Broadway musical aficionados the first half of the 2012-2013 season has been one of the worst in recent memory.  Let’s look at some of the numbers—only four new musicals have opened since August.  One of these, A Christmas Story - The Musical, can be certified as a hit.  Based on the beloved holiday movie the show, for the week of December 16^th, is playing to 99% capacity with the average ticket price just over $102.00 (average of the inexpensive balcony seats, mezzanine, and orchestra).  This made it the fourth highest grossing musical—new or continuing—on Broadway.  Not bad.  But A Christmas Story - The Musical is a limited run and will be closing on December 30th.

The other three, Bring It On—The Musical, Chaplin, and Scandalous, either have already closed or will be doing so within the next two weeks.  By January 6^th there will be no original musical playing on Broadway.  You could argue that Bring It On was a success since the producers originally planned a limited run on Broadway after an extensive national tour.  Opening on August 1, 2012 the production was suppose to close on October 7^th, but was extended to January 20, 2013.  Soft ticket sales backed up the closing date to December 30, 2012.

Chaplin will close after less then four months on Broadway.  In my review I praised Act I, but Act II was a mess and the score is rather forgettable.  I’m surprised the musical stayed open this long.  Only Rob McClure’s performance as Chaplin was noteworthy and Tony voters will not forget later this spring. 

Scandalous, shuttered its doors after four weeks.  With uniformly unflattering reviews its claim to fame is that book and lyrics were by television personality Kathie Lee Gifford.

Three revivals have opened this fall and two, Elf and Annie, are doing well at the box office.  While not selling out they are playing at 86% and 87% capacity (as of the week of December 16^th), respectively.  Their average ticket price indicates not a huge number of discount tickets being sold.  But, Elf is also a limited run show and will be shutting down on January 6th.  The third show, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, is a rousing success, but is struggling mightily.  Scheduled as a limited run through March 13, 2013 don’t be surprised if it closes beforehand. 

That’s the complete fall musical season.  Not very impressive.  When you factor in the bizarre circumstances surrounding the collapse of financing for the musical Rebecca, that was due to open in November, it makes the beginning of the Broadway season even more disastrous.

So, what does a Broadway musical fan do?  For new productions we will simply have to hold-off until April.  That’s when Motown - the Musical, Cindy Lauper’s Kinky Boots, and the London smash hit Matilda, open on Broadway.  There might be a few more new shows (Diner – The Musical, with a score by pop star Sheryl Crow, is planned for April 2013, but…) and a smattering of revivals, but as of this posting that’s it.  Why do we all need to wait until then?  There are many potential answers or combination of possibilities—the economy, the ability to raise the necessary funds to capitalize a show, theater availability, and producers wanting to open as close to the Tony Award deadline as possible, which will be near the end of April 2013.

If these three musicals are hits as well as a few other new shows and revivals then our disappointment with the first part of the 2012-2013 season will be a memory.  Right now both Kinky Boots and Matilda seem like surefire winners.  Kinky Boots received enthusiastic reviews in its Chicago pre-Broadway tryout this past October and Matilda ran away with the 2012 Olivier Awards (London’s equivalent to the Tony Awards) including Best Musical.  We can only hope a precocious schoolgirl with magical powers and a bevy of footwear fetish drag queens can save the Broadway musical season.

Review of "The Mystery of Edwin Drood"

Bawdy and raucous, the revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood has something that has been missing from most musicals this Broadway season—fun.  The actors on stage are full of boisterous merriment, which spills over to the audience who, in turn, are having a rib-tickling time in their seats.

Set in a 19^th century London music hall, the stock players of the establishment’s company set out to enact Charles Dickens’ uncompleted novel, “The Mystery of Edwin Drood.”  Dickens, unfortunately, passed on before he could finish his tale.  The actors on stage, having a jolly good time, sing, dance, plot, scheme, and entertain until they reach the end of the novel.  Well, more like where Dickens stopped writing.  From there, playwright and composer Rupert Holmes came up with the ingenious solution of having the audience vote for how the show will conclude—who is the villain?  The suspects are lined up center stage while the ensemble members of the cast flood the audience to record, unscientifically, their preferences.  The chosen culprit, along with the rest of the cast, then enacts a proper ending to the story.  Holmes concocted enough scenarios so no matter who is chosen the production has a satisfying conclusion.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood has a first-rate group of actors that are more then game to play along with the premise of the show.  Not only are they skilled in their roles but, as mentioned earlier, they give the air of close-knit camaraderie and affection towards each other, which bubbles over to the audience.  The cast includes the wise-cracking Chairman of the troupe of players, Jim Norton; the slightly crazed John Jasper, played with a frenzied madness by Will Chase; the mysterious Edwin Drood, winningly portrayed by Stephanie Block; the innocent beauty Rosa Bud, played with virtue and purity by Betsy Wolfe; and the ever-youthful Broadway legend Chita Rivera as the enigmatic Princess Puffer.  Gregg Edelman, Jessie Mueller, and Andy Karl round out the fine cast.

Rupert Holmes, in the original production, won Tony Awards for Best Book and Best Score of a Musical.  The honors were well-deserved.  The book of the show, in a boisterous music hall setting, is lively and intriguing, satisfactorily leading up to the pre-denouement of the musical. 

Holmes’ score is tuneful and lilting, which is something you don’t always hear on today’s Broadway stage.  From the opening introductory song, “There You Are,” to the comic madness of “A Man Could Go Quite Mad,” to the beautifully haunting, “Moonfall,” to the fast-paced patter of “Two Sides of the Coin,” Holmes has written both music and lyrics, which even twenty-five years later, sounds fresh and engaging.

The composer also benefits from a group of actors that can deliver.  Most notable is Stephanie Block, finally in a hit musical after such flops as The Pirate Queen and 9 to 5 the Musical.  She, along with Betsy Wolfe, have powerful voices that fill the Studio 54 Theatre.   Then there is Chita Rivera lending her half-century worth of stage experience to the production.  A theatrical treasure, indeed, but she doesn’t just walk through her role as Princess Puffer.  She can still dance and sell a song.  Bravo to her.

Director Scott Ellis emphasizes the playfulness of the musical, without sacrificing the mystery underling the production.  He skillfully handles the audience participation portion of the show which, in less adept hands, could cause this momentum building moment to derail the production.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood, a pleasurable, diverting, and entertaining bit of Broadway razz-ma-tazz.

Review of Hartford Stage's "A Gentlemen's Guide to Love and Murder"

Three cheers for Jefferson Mays the main reason, but certainly not the only excuse, to catch the world premiere musical, A Gentlemen’s Guide to Love and Murder, now playing at the Hartford Stage.  The show is an entertaining delight made even more so by the tour de force performance of Mays.  He inhabits eight members of the D’Ysquith family who, unfortunately, are unceremoniously knocked off one by one throughout the show.

The plot of the musical is based on a 1907 book by Roy Horniman and was the source material for the 1949 British black comedy, Kind Hearts and Coronets, where Alec Guinness famously played eight members of the D’Ascoyne family.  In A Gentlemen’s Guide the story unfolds as we are introduced to Monty Navarro, a handsomely charming young man awaiting a verdict in his sensational murder trial.  How did he end up in such a predicament?  We begin to find out why as the action adeptly switches to the beginning of Navarro’s tale. 

Slightly downtrodden and impoverished, he discovers his recently deceased mother was a disinherited member of the D’Ysquith family.  Joyful, yet reserved, he contacts his newfound relatives about his current familial status seeking acceptance, but finding nothing but rejection.  Learning, off-handedly, that he is now eighth in line to become the head of the family Navarro, quite innocently at first, begins to creatively find ways to bump off the relationships in front of him for succession.  Driving him onward is his need for retribution, greed, and the desire to impress the love of his life Sibella who, while loving the beguiling Navarro, desires someone more monied to settle down with. 

Enter Jeffrey Mays in the guise of all the soon-to-be fallen D’Ysquith members.   

He is variously pompous, arrogant, highfaluting, overbearing, and self-centered in his various portrayals.  All of them are very funny.  When he is onstage, A Gentlemen’s Guide shines and bubbles over with merriment.  This is the one slight problem I have with the show.  Mays is so masterful in his performances that in Act II, when almost all the D’Ysquith clan had by then met their untimely demise, the production focuses mostly on the loves of Navarro’s life, a slight letdown from the over-the-top shenanigans of Act I.  But this is a small complaint of the book by Robert L. Freedman and doesn’t detract from the overall enjoyment of the musical.

In addition to Jeffrey Mays, Ken Barnett is wonderful as Monty Navarro.  At first soft-spoken and unassuming he slowly blossoms into a determined and devious gentleman of the world perfectly complementing Mays’ more over-the-top characterizations.  Lisa O’Hare, as Sibella Hallward, is sexy, alluring, and more than a bit of a tease as the love of Navarro’s life.  She, along with the two male leads, provide a rollicking good time throughout A Gentlemen’s Guide.

The score by Freedman and Steven Lutvak actually provide tuneful, witty songs, which seems such a rarity these days with new musicals.  Jeffrey Mays, while not the keenest vocalist as his co-stars, nonetheless, knows how to deliver a song with aplomb as he does with the comic numbers “I Don’t Understand the Poor” and “Better With a Man.”

Director Darko Tresnjak assuredly guides the musical through its paces.   He adds a number of creative flourishes throughout the production, primarily surrounding the deaths of the D’Ysquith family (which I won’t spoil).   As the Artistic Director of this award-winning regional theater I would hope he doesn’t wait 16 years until Hartford Stage produces another world premiere musical.

A Gentlemen’s Guide to Love and Murder, now playing at the Hartford Stage through November 11^th.

Review of Goodspeed Opera House's "Something's Afoot"

When the best comment you can make about a show is the set design you know you’re in trouble.  This is the case with the murder mystery musical comedy, Something’s Afoot, the last offering of the Goodspeed Opera House’s current season.  When the show was first announced it was, to quote the King of Siam, a puzzlement.  When you think of a Goodspeed production you point to the inspired direction, a classic score, and creative dance numbers.  Most shows also have a storied history.  Something’s Afoot has none of these.  In fact, when it reached Broadway in the mid-1970’s it was a huge flop.  Maybe the reason for producing the musical is nostalgia.  The show premiered at Goodspeed 40 years ago.

Creating a murder mystery musical comedy has always been fraught with difficulties, which is why so few have been produced in Broadway history.  You can count them on one hand—Redhead, starring Gwen Verdon and Richard Kiley in 1959; and Curtains, starring David Hyde Pierce in 2007.  In addition to creating a cohesive book and score, there is the added responsibility of developing a satisfying mystery to keep the audience’s interest.  There is also the extra burden of stopping the action to insert a song or big dance number, which in this genre can be achingly difficult. 

Something’s Afoot is part Agatha Christie and part the board game Clue.   All the ingredients for a murderous time are present—a creepy mansion, washed out bridge, a Miss Marple know-it-all type, the stoic butler, young romantic lovers, a retired English Colonel, as well as other archetypal mystery characters.    Slowly, one-by-one, they each meet an untimely demise.  As the bodies pile up the audience is left to guess who.  While the deaths are inventively staged, the plot by James McDonald, David Vos, and Robert Gerlach is rather boring.  A few flourishes pique your interest every so often, but overall the story is flat.  Even the denouement is unfulfilling.  The score by the aforementioned group plus Ed Linderman is uninspired and has more the feel of a college production. 

Director/Choreographer Vince Pesce has the cast dashing on and off stage, posturing on the staircase, and maybe ramping up the actors’ performances a bit too much.  Audrie Neenan, as the amateur sleuth, seems revved up on caffeine becoming almost manical in her role.   The other cast members try their best with the material provided.

In all, Something’s Afoot is something to miss.  Wait until Good News roars in next season.

Review of "Bring it On"

With high-flying flips and aerial maneuvers, Bring It On, the new musical inspired by the popular movie of the same name, is fitfully appealing.  At times stereotypical, at other points refreshing and engaging, the show has a hard time settling into one coherent identity.  The big draw of the production, which will appeal greatly to the pre-teen and teenage crowd, are the highly choreographed cheerleading routines.  For the most part, they provide the pizzazz to the musical though by the final curtain you may have had enough of the precision numbers.

The plot centers on two competing high school cheerleading squads.  Campbell, played with a determined enthusiasm by Taylor Louderman, is about to start her senior year as captain of the school’s cheerleading team.  But, with a mysterious twist of fate she and a friend Bridget, portrayed with a bubbly eagerness by Ryann Redmond, are suddenly redistricted across town to the inner city high school that has no squad.  Determined to fit in with the mostly African-American and Latino student population proves daunting at first until she befriends Danielle, who is the leader of the school’s hip-hop dance crew.  She is played with a gritty fortitude and toughness, edged with a layer of warmth and caring by Adrienne Warren.  Together, after much teenage angst and bonding, they form a cheerleading squad so Campbell can compete with her old high school team, now led by her scheming protégé, Eva, a plotting minx portrayed with evil relish by Elle McLemore.  There are new boyfriends, subplots, and more, but the focus is on the associations Campbell and Bridget have once they transfer to their new surroundings at Jackson High.   Their interactions with the new student population are characterized by more honest teenage depictions and feelings.  At their former school the students are more the boilerplate variety as exemplified by the self-centered blonde Skylar; and her frumpy follower, Kylar.

But the emphasis of Bring It On is the world of extreme cheerleading and that is when the show shines.  These daredevil routines bring the musical to life since they are mostly combined with the sizzling choreography of Director/Choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler.  His urban, street smart feel, epitomized in his Tony Award winning dance sequences for In the Heights, produce some of the best production numbers of the early Broadway season.  His direction of the musical, however, is more perfunctory. 

Bring It On could be described as high-powered fluff.  But, in addition to Andy Blankenbuehler, it has a notable creative team behind the scenes.  The score is by Tom Kitt (Tony Award for Best Score and Pulitzer Prize for Next to Normal), Lin-Manuel Miranda (Tony Award for Best Score for In the Heights), and Amanda Green.  The book is by Jeff Whitty (Tony for Best Book of a musical for Avenue Q).  It is interesting the aforementioned group would be involved in such a light-weight concoction.  Jeff Whitty’s libretto fluctuates between the standard formula for teenage crisis and concern and the more realistic portrayal of the post-pubescent crowd.  The score, while not the caliber of the team’s previous work, is well-crafted and tuneful, providing some appealing songs to augment the action on stage. 

Bring it On—a spotty, yet exuberant musical more for the middle to high school crowd then those with more sophisticated taste.

Review of "Chaplin"

Chaplin, the new musical that chronicles the life of The Little Tramp, Charlie Chaplin, lacks buoyancy and zip.  Add to that a lackluster score and a pointless Act II and you end up with the first major disappointment of the new Broadway season, which is a shame because of the mostly winning performance by Rob McClure as Chaplin.

The musical starts off with an affecting look at Chaplin’s impoverished younger years in London, his early music hall days, family (brother Sydney and mentally ill mother) and, finally, his formative years in Hollywood.  The book by Christopher Curtis and Thomas Meehan provide an engaging and entertaining look at Chaplin’s growth in the movie industry.  Director/Choreographer Warren Carlyle moves the production along with a steady hand.  The problem holding back Act I from blossoming is the colorless and banal score by Christopher Curtis.  The action on stage is engaging enough, but there is no musical spark to energize the show, to elevate it from a conventional biography to a spirited Broadway production.

Heading into the second act the show simply implodes, for a variety of reasons.  First, the book by Curtis and Meehan turns from a mostly absorbing and satisfying examination of Chaplin’s movie-making and personal life to an unappealing and listless mess focusing solely on Chaplin’s left-leaning political sentiments as well as the witch hunt conducted by gossip queen Hedda Hopper to discredit the man.  That’s Act II.  Chaplin gives speeches supporting the Russian people.  Hopper, upset because The Little Tramp will not appear on her radio program, prowls the stage digging up dirt on him and trying to prove he is un-American.  Not exactly absorbing or enthralling musical theater.  Second, the score by Christopher Curtis continues to be humdrum and forgettable.  Third, the choices by Director/Choreographer Warren Caryle, agreeable and adroit in Act I, become tired and aimless later on.  The Act II opening, where Chaplin dukes it out in a boxing ring with his ex-wives, is rather strange.  A roller skating number, with only three skaters, is tame and boring.  All the freshness and wonder surrounding Chaplin’s early days has simply vanished.

Rob McClure, as Charlie Chaplin, is lively and energetic.  He also displays the pathos and intensity of a ground-breaking artist.  I hesitate to wonder what the show would be like without his talents.  The rest of the cast is fine.  Yet only Zachary Unger as the young Chaplin truly resonates with the audience.

Chaplin, one to miss.

Review of Goodspeed Opera House's "Carousel"

Composer Richard Rodgers has stated that Carousel was the favorite score he wrote during his collaboration with Oscar Hammerstein.  Who could argue with his choice when you have should songs as “Mister Snow,” “If I Loved You,” “June is Bustin’ Out All Over,” “Soliloquy,” “When the Children are Asleep,” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone” interwoven within the show.  The musical selections are just one of the highlights of the Goodspeed Opera House’s marvelous production of Carousel, running now through the end of September.

Rodgers and Hammerstein were always looking to stretch the boundaries of musical theater.  Oklahoma! in 1943, their initial effort together, was a landmark event.  It was truly the first time the score, book, and dance were so well-integrated into a musical production.  The songs and choreography developed naturally through the storyline.  Their second effort, Carousel in 1945, continued their experimentation.  For example, the overture was displaced.  Instead, a pantomime prologue, performed to the beautifully haunting “Carousel Waltz,” starts the show. 

Rodgers and Hammerstein adapted Carousel from the play Lilliom.  The locale was moved from Budapest to the Maine coastline.  The plot centers around Billy, a charismatic, yet roguish carousel barker, who falls for the innocent, but strong-willed mill worker, Julie Jordan.  Soon married, their marriage, is about to dissolve when Billy learns Julie is pregnant.  Suddenly, he becomes a changed man looking forward to fatherhood.  Not knowing how to support his impending family, since he has been out-of-work the night he met Julie, Billy agrees to team-up with his scheming and treacherous friend, Jigger, to rob the mill’s owner.  The plan goes horribly wrong and Billy stabs himself rather then going to jail.  Now in heaven, waiting to be judged, he is given a chance to return to earth, for one day, to redeem himself.  He meets his daughter, now 15 years old and more of an outcast due to Billy’s legacy in town, in an encounter that does not go well.  As the musical ends Billy’s spectral presence stands by his child, seated at her high school graduation, as the commencement speaker states “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”

Hammerstein’s book successfully shifts the action to a quaint Maine town in the late 1800’s, which enables him to encapsulate a bygone era when life was simpler.  The end can be viewed as rather schmaltzy and preachy, but does leave you exiting the theater with a lump in your throat.   The score, as mentioned before, is outstanding.  Enough said.

All of the main actors are outstanding, leading off with Erin Davie as the vunerable, yet resolute Julie Jordan.  When she started with the first notes of “If I Loved You,” I got goosebumps.  Jenn Gambatese, as Julie’s best friend, Carrie, also has a golden voice and the perfect comic touch for her role.  James Snyder’s Billy Bigelow is rakish, stubborn and proud, with a full-throttled baritone.  Tally Sessions’ Jigger Craigin provides a menacing presence that hangs over the New England village.

The choreography by Parker Esse, while muted throughout the production, breaks out for the act two ballet sequence, an homage to adolescent passion and youthful abandon.

Rob Ruggiero’s direction, sure-handed as ever, effortlessly guides the musical through its multi-layered storylines.

Carousel, now at the Goodspeed Opera House though September 29^th.