So I was at last night's preview and the show ran about 2:50, which would be fine if the show actually had a plot and or musical numbers that warrented that run time, but sadly it does not. Let it be known I have not scene the movie since I was maybe 5, so I barely remembered anything plot-wise, which only hurt the production even further, as one should not have to watch the movie to understand the plot.
I would blame book writer Craig Lucas, but although his book scene are trite, he is not the one picking out of the Gershwin catalog or even where to add dialogue, that blame belongs to Christopher Wheeldon and Rob Fisher. First and foremost I could see the Gershwin's rolling over in their grave for what Wheeldon and Fisher have done to their songs. Gershwins' catalog are the epitome big band and jazz standards, but for some reason Wheeldon and Fisher have decided to throw out the big band feel of all of their numbers outside of "Stairway to Paradise" and turn them into some overwrought melodramatic numbers. Then the Gershwin songs that are most associated with emotion, "But Not for Me" and "You can't Take That Away" are sung by Adam, the composer which the audience cares nothing about outside of the fact he is supposedly the narrator. I still cannot believe what Fisher and Wheeldon did to "I got Rhythm", as not only is it one of Gershwin's signature tunes, but it is also the song that made Ethel Merman, Ethel Merman. Then instead of using the song as a big production tap number as it is done in the movie, it is used to basically introduce us to Max Von Essen's Henri. Then on top of that Gershwin songs are more about emotion then they are about plot, which is why the books to the original Gershwin musicals have been essentially thrown out so that Joe DiPietro and Ken Ludwig could rewrite the books with much tighter plots that would allow the songs to bloom. There in lies my only real complaint for Mr Lucas, is that his book is so thin, the songs seem to be part of a musical revue rather than part of an actual fully fleshed out musical.
Back to Mr. Wheeldon, who one can easily tell this is his first musical. Yes his choreography is gorgeous, but it is nothing new and if anything it hurts the show more than it helps it. The problem is outside of Fidgety Feet the choreography never really builds into a fully fledged musical number, the choreography just happens. The purpose of adapting an existing piece into a musical or even writing an original musical is that the characters emotions are so strong, they must burst into song and dance to truly express themselves. Yes there are the big musical numbers that begin big, but for the most part they start as a single voice and over the course of the song more voices are added. The same should hold true for dance. Part of the problem may be the choice of doing the all of the choreography outside of Fidgety Feet and Stairway to Paradise in the style of ballet, where it is much harder to "build" a number rather than letting the ballet happen, but it is possible just look at On The Town. Wheeldon also decides to do away dance numbers that are not ballet outside of Fidgety Feet and Stairwell to Paradise. Then in regards to Stairwell to Paradise, which is done in soft shoe for some reason, despite the number begging to be an actual tap number, which is essential to any Gershwin show. Wheeldon clearly doesn't understand the purpose of dance in the musical theater setting, which is likely due to his ballet background. Wheeldon has deliberately decided to use ballet instead of words to tell the plot, which would be okay if this were a ballet in the style of musical theater, but this is a musical in the style of ballet. Everyone around me who had not seen the movie, was completely confused at the Act I closer, as there were clearly several plot points made, but we did not know what they were. Yes, the movie may have used ballet along with tap, jazz and other styles to tell the story but that does not necessarily work on stage. Don't get me started on the recreation of the 16 minute "An American in Paris Ballet" from the film, which probably worked because of the amazing set pieces used in the film, but is done with essentially a bare stage. Yes it was beautiful, but it did nothing for the plot and should have been shorted to maybe 5 minutes, or at least added several colorful sets to help tell the story to an audience who may not be familiar with ballet.
I could see a dancer or dance aficionado falling in love with this piece, as a great first step into the world of musical theater, but I don't see the show working in the opposite direction. Yes there are several great dansicals including On the Town, Pippin, Chicago, West Side Story, aka essentially anything done by Fosse or Robbins, or even the modern Newsies, but Robbins and Fosse, clearly understood that dance is there to help aid in telling the story or give emphasis to certain aspects of the plot, and not be sole plot device, otherwise the show would considered a ballet or dance piece rather than a musical/dancical. (I purposefully am not including Tharp as I consider Movin' Out, The Times They are a Changin' and Come Fly Away ballets with a musical sensibility).
Part of the problem may be that instead of having an out town tryout in a city that is accustomed to, or actually likes the style of the American musical, the producers for some strange reason decided to do a publicity grab by trying out An American in Paris in Paris, a city that is known to not enjoy musicals. Not only do you have to deal with book problems because there is a clear language barrier, but also the audience is known to appreciate a completely difference style of performing arts. Germany for example is known to love the American musical, so it did make some sense to use it as a launching pad for Rocky, but even Claude-Michel Schönberg Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel, admit Paris is not the place to launch a musical.
Updated On: 3/18/15 at 01:47 PM
