I saw the first preview last night and it was an absolute riot for all the wrong reasons. It was an absolute and unqualified disaster. (Spoilers...not that there's much suspense in the plot anyway!!)
When I walked in with WAT and looked at the set we turned to each other and said Prince of Central Park!!! You almost expected Jo Anne Worley to come out and start writing notes on the park bench for Richard Blake to find.
As soon as the show started I couldn't help but keep comparing it to Falsettoland. The plots are kind of similar: young Jewish boy preparing for his Bar Mitzvah/will it even happen/parents are divorced. Unfortunately the comparsions end there. Whereas William Finn produced a brilliant score to couple the dramatic, funny and touching moments on stage, the creative team of 13 was unable to do the same.
The second scene in Indiana introduces the character of Patrice who is instantly and obviously head over heels for our hero Evan, even though she barely knows him. I can accept the crush at first sight, but in my experience a young outcast girl would never tell her crush she liked him two seconds after meeting him. It was reminiscent of Chris Hanke falling in love with Jessica Boevers in the first scene of In My Life.
Next we are introduced to the school jock and bully, Brett. He sings/raps a lovely little ditty called Hey Kendra. Maybe now would be a good time to mention that most of the lyrics are horrible. Some of the tunes are catchy, fun and/or beautiful, but overall the lyrics need a major overhaul.
Archie the school cripple then comes into the story. We are subjected to a dream sequence and painful "dance" break. Archie really seemed to strain and struggle with some of his high notes, and that can be said for almost everyone in the cast. I worry that if these kids aren't careful they will lose their voices.
Brown should really cut this song and figure out how to work in "Love Is My Legs" into this slot, perhaps as the dream sequence. It is a much better song and actually fits right in.
Archie really gets to shine with Evan in "Terminal Illness," a low point of the show. When Evan was holding one of Archie's crutches dancing with him WAT noted that it was just like "Secrets" from In My Life when he danced with the skeleton.
Also during the movie theater scene the song should be cut and replaced with the vastly superior "Girl Can I Kiss You With Tongue?" As it stands there is a lyric about a penis being on fire. I'm not joking.
The act ends with a ridiculous and sloppy dance number. I understand why Evan is singing the song, but why the entire cast comes on to join him when they all hate him has me baffled. Perhaps this is another dream sequence?
Act two is no better than act one expect for the fact that it's shorter. The book continued to be painful. There are so many lines I wish I could remember. An especially bad one was said to Archie. Something along the lines of: "If he (Evan) saw you having a seizure in the bathtub he would throw in his laundry."
The only genuinely funny line came from Lucy when she said "We're like scientology, except no one's in the closet!" For everyone that is claiming that the book is wonderful because it captures how actual thirteen year olds talk, I completely disagree. I can't imagine a thirteen year girl in Indiana making that wise crack about scientology.
The show ends somewhat abruptly, with very little resolution. But don't worry, the lack of closure was definitely made up for by the length of the curtain call. A song not listed in the Playbill was sung, and the cast got to dance hip hop, tap and modern! I think the Seagull actually finished before the curtain call was over. Please, cut it.
Overall, the show is such a mess I don't even know if it is fixable. It's hard to mend a book with a paper thin plot and cringe inducing one liners. Although the score is hardly the main problem, it definitely isn't an asset to the show either. The actors are fine, but they are given one dimensional characters and dreadful material to work with. Yikes!
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
Updated On: 9/17/08 at 01:06 PM
have done nothing to improve the show, as the changes during previews and performances at the Taper did. It seems like they got a little too happy with the eraser and the red pen and "fixed" it more than was necessary. It is a shame, really, because I actually thought it had potential.
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