Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals

Bash'd: A Gay Rap Opera

Although many of the shows that I saw over the past weekend were revisits, there were three that I hadn't seen before. The first of these was Bash'd, which describes itself as a "gay rap opera." I wasn't sure what to expect, although I had read that the show was an attempt to co-opt the often homophobic medium of hip-hop to tell an empowering story about gay bashing. That seemed a bit strident to me, but this was one of the very few musicals I hadn't seen, and I was looking for something new to add to the mix.

It was also my first time at the Zipper Theater, recent home to the revival of Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, and Margaret Cho's The Sensuous Woman. It's a funky, sort of seedy space, with old car seats for chairs. Upon entering, I was informed multiple times that drinks were allowed -- nay, encouraged -- in the auditorium. (Uh oh...)

Bash'd tells the story of two "star-crossed" gay lovers from different backgrounds whose eyes meet across a crowded dance floor, and the next thing you know they're getting married. (The show is based in Canada, which is where the two stars and co-creators Chris Craddock and Nathan Cuckow hail from. And, of course, gay marriage is legal for all of our northern neighbors, not just those in a few ultra-liberal pockets, as we have in the states.) The the show tells the story of these lovers entirely through rap, which is bearable -- even fun -- at first, but the meter quickly wears out its welcome.

When the show is focusing on the courtship and marriage of our ill-fated lovers, the show is amusing and often quite clever. Director Ron Jenkins employs some artful theatrical touches, not dissimilar from those employed in Broadway's The 39 Steps. But once the gay bashing comes on the scene, the show quickly veers into preachy, maudlin melodrama, without a shred of irony. There's no question that Chris Craddock ("T-bag") and Cuckow ("Feminem") are talented performers. But since they are also the show's creators, its failings fall at their feet as well. Their lyrics reveal a certain facility, but the deftness of their words is quickly overshadowed by the perplexing nature of the show's final message.

[SPOILER ALERT: Stop reading here if you intend to see the show. In order to fully explicate my fews, it's necessary that I reveal what happens at the end.]

Since our narrators inform us from the beginning of the show that our lovers are "star-crossed," it's clear that we're not headed toward at happy ending. As the title implies, one member of the couple is beaten up rather severely by a pack of queer-hating dickwads. Gay bashing is a heartbreakingly important social issue, and one that certainly deserves attention.

But then the story takes on a certain "Thelma and Louise" vibe that muddies the authors' intent and makes the ultimate message of the show downright inscrutable. The husband of the beaten man heads out into the night seeking vengeance, and picks a fight with a group of straight guys, none of whom had anything to do with the original beating. Unbeknownst to him, his wounded husband has followed him, toting the gun that his well-meaning mother had given him when he left home to get away from his homophobic father. In a sort of West Side Story series of misunderstandings, the husband shoots and kills one of the straight guys. When the police arrive, the couple decide that rather than face jail, they'd rather die at the hands of the police, and they raise the gun to shoot at the police, and are instead both shot dead.

Normally, I wouldn't go into such detail, and ruin the ending of the show, but I'm at a loss to explain exactly what the message is here. Is it, "Here's what could happen if we don't stop the gay bashing"? Or is it, "If you do get bashed, don't pick a fight with straights in case your husband has followed you with a gun"? How is this supposed to be empowering? In a blind rage, our heroes fight back and are killed in the process. What exactly are we to take away from that? Although Bash'd starts out promising, it quickly dissipates that promise with a denouement that defies explication.

Don't get me wrong: this is very important subject matter we're discussing here. But there's a huge difference between having your heart in the right place and executing a show that does your noble subject matter justice.

Adding Machine: The Best New Musical of the Season

One of the highlights of my recent theater weekend in New York was getting a chance to see Adding Machine again before it closes July 20th. I was simply astonished the first time I saw the show (read my review), and I'm glad to report that the show holds up to repeated viewings.

And Joshua Schmidt's score, recently released on CD by PS Classics, just gets richer and more interesting the more I listen to it, and I've been doing so practically non-stop since the recording came out. I particularly enjoy trying to spot each motif that Schmidt has assigned to the characters as it recurs throughout the show, including Mrs. Zero's "Mrs. Twelve was sayin' to me..." and Daisy's "Darling, I'd rather watch you."

Director David Cromer had made a number of brave choices in putting the show together, such as eschewing applause breaks and casting...er...ordinary-looking people pretty much throughout the show. Another essential part of show is Keith Parham's neurasthenic lighting design, which does more than merely create a grim atmosphere, but rather punctuates the proceedings with stark slashes and staccato rhythms that firmly coalesce with the authors' intent.

As for that intent, Schmidt and his co-librettist Jason Loewith aren't afraid to portray Elmer Rice's downtrodden characters as stupid and bigoted, yet somehow sympathetic. The main character Mr. Zero emerges as a flawed but credible, three-dimensional anti-hero. "I'm like anyone else...What would you do?," he sings, as he confesses to the central crime of the show. Somehow, I felt for Zero, even as I said to myself, "Well, I was laid off recently by an asshole boss, but I didn't kill him. Much as I would have liked to..."

The show's performers maintain a high level of engagement and subtlety. Amy Warren as Daisy was particularly nuanced, giving every line reading what seemed to be a different spin from both the previous performance I saw and the recording. But they were all somehow equally effective. Warren is a marvel, fully embodying this woebegone drudge of a character. Also strong were Joel Hatch as Zero, Cyrilla Baer as his banshee of a wife, and a focused Joe Farrell as the intense and tortured Shrdlu.

Adding Machine is certainly not the feel-good hit of the year, although there seemed to be considerably more laughter from the audience this time. It didn't seem to stem from anything the actors were doing. Perhaps this crowd was simply more attuned to the comedy, or maybe I just don't fully recall the laughter from the first time I saw the show. I do have some minor quibbles with the production, including the inordinately long set changes. But on the whole Adding Machine is easily the most daring and satisfying musical of the year.

Passing Strange: Revisit and Broadcast News

Over the weekend, I revisited a whole bunch of shows, including A Catered Affair, Passing Strange, Adding Machine, and Boeing-Boeing. See my Catered re-review below, and watch for my Boeing-Boeing and Adding Machine reappraisals later in the week.

As for Passing Strange, my initial enthusiasm for the show has been waning somewhat as I listen to the cast recording. (Read my first review here.) The music doesn't seem quite as compelling upon further investigation, and I find myself increasingly irritated by the over reliance on assonance (rhyming "sex" with "cigarettes") and poor scansion in the lyrics (e.g. "un-DER your wing," "far lon-GER than you," etc.).

But since I had plenty of available show slots during this trip, I figured I'd take the show in again to see how it would hold up. Plus, it was one of only five shows with matinées on July 4th, and none of the others really struck my fancy.

Even with the limited competition, Passing Strange still wasn't able to attract a full house. In fact, the show played to just 37% capacity last week. So the show's probably not long for this world; I wouldn't be surprised if we heard about a closing notice sometime soon, perhaps this week.

Which is probably for the best, because Stew and Heidi Rodewald look like they're ready to pack it in. Stew seemed to be phoning it in, although frankly he didn't really seem all that demonstrative the first time either. The crowd energy was low; there were far fewer downtown alternativo types in attendance, and not that many African Americans either. The audience seemed mainly to comprise middle-class vacationers who got their tickets at TKTS and weren't really sure what to expect. The couple next to me left at intermission.

But the supporting cast was really on, perhaps because they're trained actors, not rock musicians. Colman Domingo and Chad Goodridge were particularly sharp. The dynamic Daniel Breaker was out for this performance, but understudy Lawrence Stallings was very animated and capable.

Even so, Passing Strange remains a bold work, one that challenges Broadway conventions and demonstrates new ways of approaching the form. For those of you who won't be able to catch the show before its imminent demise, Playbill.com reports that director Spike Lee will be filming the show for a TV broadcast on a cable channel TBD. Lee will reportedly record three performances later this month, two of which will have a live audience, and then edit the three together.

For a while there, it looked as though Passing Strange might turn out to be another Hair: a safe way for the middle class to experience the counter culture all within the relative safety of Times Square and the familiar Belasco proscenium. Even though Passing Strange doesn't seem to be catching on, the show's score is more mainstream than those of most Broadway shows. Ever since Hair debuted, people have been talking about how Broadway needed to stay relevant by reflecting changing tastes in music. Forty years later, it's finally starting to occur in earnest.

Wall-E: Or How Showtunes Could Save the World

I really don't go to the movies that often, but I do try to see every Pixar feature. Their animation and storytelling are head and shoulders above those of the competition. So I was planning on seeing "WALL-E" anyway, especially after it received such rapturous reviews.

But, then I was in the Drama Book Shop on 40th Street, one of my few remaining theater haunts, now that Footlight Records closed its retail store, and Triton Gallery moved to God knows where. I overheard the Drama Book Shop staff discussing "WALL-E," and how Hello, Dolly! somehow played a key role in the plot. I left almost immediately, lest I overhear any further spoilers. But I left intrigued, and decided to get going a bit early yesterday and catch an early show of "WALL-E" before I saw Passing Strange in the afternoon and then Bash'd in the evening.

Well, I was thoroughly enchanted, as I have been for nearly every Pixar feature. ("Cars" didn't really do it for me, but I adore "Finding Nemo," "The Incredibles," "Monsters Inc.," etc.) I had heard that there was very little dialog in the first half of "WALL-E," and that once the talking starts, some of the magic disappears. I disagree: I was charmed from start to finish.

Pixar movies have something that no other animation studio has been able to replicate: a heart. Not a schmaltzy sense of sentimentality, but a genuine, honest heart. Of course, the real fun for me came from WALL-E's obsession with the "Hello, Dolly!" movie. He's particularly enamored with "Put on Your Sunday Clothes" and "It Only Takes a Moment," and the latter becomes especially important to the movie's dénouement.

In "WALL-E," the world has been overrun with garbage, and the entire population of earth takes off in spaceships to wait for the world to become inhabitable again. Now, it's not as though showtunes are the mechanism by which the world starts to heal, but they certainly serve a very important role. It appears that there's a big old queen working at Pixar, and he's working a little Disney magic to subliminally suggest to kids that showtunes are crucial to human survival.

Now that's some propaganda I can live with.

A Catered Affair: An Underrated Gem

When I got down to NYC yesterday, I was pleased to discover that A Catered Affair now has a Thursday matinée. This meant that I could see two shows on Thursday, maximizing my weekend show-attendance potential. But more important, it gave me a chance to see this marvelous musical again before it closes on July 27th.

I'm not entirely clear on why the producers would change the schedule so late in the run. Perhaps the show is especially popular with the matinée crowd, which tends to skew a bit older. But since A Catered Affair was the only Broadway show with a matinée that day, the theater was pretty full, most likely with discount-ticket buyers.

As I said in my original review, I saw a very early preview, but was nonetheless captivated by the show and its quiet charms. The production seems tighter now, and the performances more rich and dimensional. The various pieces have coalesced nicely since last I saw the show, emanating more humor and greater nuance. Director John Doyle has gone out of his way to avoid pat, obvious sentiment, crafting an efficient show that tells its story with very little ornament or pretense. It's really a shame that it hasn't caught on with the broader ticket-buying audience.

The performers are a marvel to a person. Faith Prince has tempered her tendency toward excess and evinces a very modulated and moving performance, although she does tend to scoop a bit too much in her upper register. Leslie Kritzer was again a model of restraint and honesty. Matt Cavenaugh was far more three-dimensional than before. And Tom Wopat is still a crotchety wonder as the frugal father with a really slow burn. Harvey Fierstein does tend to mug a bit (well, a lot), but he does it so well that it seems churlish to object.

I do still have some minor quibbles with the show. The blocking during the "Never Stop Saying 'I Love You'" song is still inscrutable. (Why does Ralph leave Janie in the middle of the scene, walk down the fire escape, and then continue the scene from downstage right?) John Bucchino's otherwise stellar lyrics fall victim to a cliché or two, and I spotted at least one anachronism: one character refers to a potentially prosperous situation as a "win/win/win," a usage that hadn't yet been coined at the time in which the show is set.

But overall, this is a lovely little gem of a show. If you have a chance, take in one of the remaining performances of A Catered Affair. It's not a splashy blockbuster, but it is a show with a stirring score, a humorous and heartfelt book by Fierstein, and a cast-full of moving performers at the top of their game. 

Upcoming Musicals - Further Out

Following up on yesterday's list of immediately impending Broadway musicals, here are some shows that are a bit further out on the horizon:

EVER AFTER:
Source: Based on Drew Barrymore movie "Ever After," itself based loosely on the Cinderella story.
Cast: None yet announced.
Creators: Music by Zina Goldrich, lyrics by Marcy Heisler (Junie B. Jones, numerous Disney projects). Mauritius playwright Theresa Rebeck will co-write the book with Heisler.
Staff: Doug Hughes (Doubt, Mauritius) will direct, Rob Ashford will choreograph.
Status: The show will have a pre-Broadway tryout at San Francisco's Curran Theater in April 2009.
My Take: Goldrich and Heisler are unknown to me. Rebeck and Hughes are pros, but new to musical theater. Ashford's the only true musical veteran on board. I should probably see the movie before I make any grand proclamations about the quality of the source material, but I hear good things.

TURN OF THE CENTURY:
Source: None! (An original idea? What a concept.) The musical centers on a female singer who can't catch a break, and a male piano player. At the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve 1999, they both receive a fantastical power and set out together to "discover" America's most popular songs.
Cast: Jeff Daniels and the always delightful Rachel York.
Creators: Book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, of Jersey Boys fame. The score will comprise various standards "from the American songbook."
Staff: Tommy Tune will direct and choreograph.
Status: September 19th to 26th at the Goodman Theater in Chicago. Will the show head to Broadway after that?
My Take: That's a pretty dull, generic title, but any show that creates the possibility of Tommy Tune returning to New York is reason to celebrate. Compilations scores are never a good idea (Big Deal, anyone?), but this one seems to fit in with the theme of the show, so we'll have to see how they pull it off.

THE ADDAMS FAMILY:
Source: Duh.
Cast: No roles have yet been cast for the Broadway production, but Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth will be part of reading in August. Lane was supposed to appear in the upcoming Catch Me If You Can, but according to Michael Riedel, "may find the role of Gomez Addams too good to pass up."
Creators: The very busy Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice are writing the book. The score will be by Andrew Lippa of The Wild Party fame.
Staff: Improbable Theater founders Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch (Shockheaded Peter) will direct and design.
Status: Scheduled for the 2009-2010 Broadway season following an out-of-town tryout.
My Take: I'm not personally thrilled at the prospect of Morticia and Gomez bursting into song, but it could be fun if the creators find the right story to tell and the right way to tell it.

That's all for now. I'm off to New York City to see [title of show], Bash'd, and Damn Yankees. I'll also be revisiting a few shows, including Adding Machine, A Catered Affair, and Passing Strange. Look for my reviews next week.

Upcoming Musicals - Coming Soon

There's certainly no shortage of musicals, both new and classic, settling into Broadway berths for the next season. Some have already found a home and are even selling tickets (Shrek, Billy Elliot, A Tale of Two Cities, [title of show]). Other have been announced, but are either waiting for a suitable theater to open up, or just haven't started to sell tickets yet (The Story of My Life, Pure Country, 13). Then there are the shows that are a little bit further on the horizon, but remain distinct possibilities for the coming season:

GODSPELL:
Cast: Gavin Creel
Staff: The upcoming Broadway production will reunite the creative team from the recent Paper Mill Playhouse production: Daniel Goldstein (All Shook Up) will direct, and Christopher Gattelli (South Pacific, 13) will choreograph.
Status: Details have been scant, but according to Broadway.com, Godspell will begin previews at the Ethel Barrymore Theater in September and open in October.
My Take: "I know I've seen this show before, in some old high school gym, on someone's basement floor..."

VANITIES:
Cast: Lauren Kennedy, Sarah Stiles, and Anneliese van der Pol
Creators: Book by Jack Heifner, who wrote the play Vanities, upon which the musical is based. Music and lyrics David Kirshenbaum (Summer of '42)
Staff: Judith Ivey will direct, Dan Knechtges will choreograph.
Status: The show will play the Pasadena Playhouse from August 22 to September 28, before bowing on Broadway, reportedly in the fall 2008.
My Take: I saw the play many years ago, and recall it being fun but slight. A group of high school friends meet in the bleachers to talk about their lives: Will this wind up being Glory Days with girls?

9 TO 5:
Cast: Allison Janney, Stephanie J. Block, Megan Hilty, and Marc Kudisch
Creators: Score by Dolly Parton, book by Patricia Resnick, based on her original screenplay.
Staff: Directed by Joe Mantello, choreographed by recent Tony winner Andy Blankenbueler.
Status: Will play the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles from September 3rd to October 19th. Possible Broadway bow shortly thereafter?
My Take: Great source material, fantastic cast, and Dolly Parton's first Broadway score. The show has so much going for it, but then so did Cry-Baby.

Tomorrow: Upcoming Musicals - Further Out

Dirty Dancing Headed to Broadway?

The producers of the upcoming national tour of Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story on Stage are billing it as the "pre-Broadway American premiere."

Thanks for the warning.

I'll be catching the show during the Boston leg of its tour in February. Never let it be said that I'm unwilling to give even the most cynical, venal, and misconceived shows the opportunity to prove me wrong.

After all, I saw Happy Days. And after an extended period of intensive therapy, I may yet be able to mitigate the damage to my psyche. Just in time for Dirty Dancing.

Adding Machine to Close July 20th

The critically acclaimed Off-Broadway musical Adding Machine will end its run at the Minetta Lane Theater on July 20th. The show had extended its limited run through August 31st, but apparently sales weren't brisk enough to justify that extension.

If you haven't already seen Adding Machine, I can't recommend it highly enough. As I said in my review, it's a continually surprising show, confounding your expectations at every turn. Since the cast album came out, I've been listening to practically nothing else. The score just gets richer and more interesting the more I hear it. I'm seeing the show again this Thursday as part of my July 4th theater weekend. (New York City in July? Oh, the humanity.)

See the show. Buy the CD. This is easily the best musical of the past season, on or off Broadway.

Spelling Bee at the Barrington Stage

I spent this past weekend helping a dear friend try to forget that she was "celebrating" a depressingly advanced birthday. Toward that end, we spent a lazy Saturday lolling around her house in the Berkshires, then went to Pittsfield, Mass to treat ourselves to Indian food, pedicures (my first), and a night of musical theater.

I want to make this clear: I did NOT force that last item upon her. It was her idea. Honest. She noticed that the Barrington Stage was hosting a return engagement of William Finn's The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and suggested it to me as a great way to spend her [text omitted] birthday.

The Barrington Stage is actually the first regional theater to receive the rights to produce Spelling Bee after its successful New York run and national tour. It's rather fitting that the Barrington would receive this honor as it hosted the show's world premiere in 2004. Bill Finn must have figured it was the least he could do. 

This was my third time seeing Spelling Bee (I caught it at the Second Stage Theater as well as during its Boston run), and I remain completely enamored. It's certainly Finn's most accessible work, and it reveals him at his heartfelt and empathic best. Of course, much of the success of the show comes from Rachel Sheinkin's smart, funny, and Tony-Award-winning book, as well as director James Lapine's sure-handed editing job. The Barrington Stage program also goes out if its way to credit the show's developmental director Rebecca Feldman and The Farm, an improvisational theater group (which includes original cast members Jay Reiss, Dan Fogler, and Sarah Saltzberg) that developed the original script.

Despite some minor diction and sound issues, the Barrington production does the show full justice. The cast comprises a number of talented veterans of the New York stage, including Sally Wilfert (Make Me a Song) as Miss Peretti, and Molly Ephraim (Into the Woods) as Olive Ostrovsky. One quibble I had with the Boston cast was that too many of them seemed to be imitating the performances of the original New York cast. No such problem exists with the Barrington cast, as the members of the company seem to have found original interpretations for their respective roles. There were a few cast members who seemed to be pushing a bit too hard for laughs (particularly Miguel Cervantes as Chip Tolentino), but overall this cast could very easily have stood in for the Broadway company.

Spelling Bee runs at the Barrington Stage until July 5th. The same production will then play the North Shore Music Theater in Beverly, Mass from August 12th to the 31st. The NSMT house is in the round, and I have a hard time imagining Spelling Bee 360, but then the show played the Circle in the Square on Broadway, which is in three-quarter promenade. Still, I think it's going take some pretty clever re-staging to move the Barrington production into the NSMT space.