#1
Posted: 10/10/09 at 12:16am
Not good.
Mary Testa is usually GOLDEN, but she bored me to tears tonight.
"All Fall Down" wants to be "Next to Normal," but it's not. It's about a kid who throws himself out of a window during his first year in college. It's a good concept. But it's a horribly executed musical. Selda Sahin's music and lyrics are smart and entertaining, but WAY too few and far between. The book scenes are interminable. And go nowhere.
Jenn Colella plays the mother, but also plays her son's girlfriend. It's totally creepy, and everyone outside at intermission commented about it. (The McKenzie Phillips jokes were flying.) It's really, really wrong. I suspect that the authors were trying to make a point, and I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, but it didn't work at all. It just made the audience feel uncomfortable.
And then there's the structure. It's ENDLESS book scene, followed by a quick musical number, followed by ENDLESS book scene, etc. These characters need to be singing, not chatting. The songs LANDED. The script did not.
I can't fault the cast of four, they were all terrific. BUT...
Again, structure. "All Fall Down" is basically plot-less. Plot-less can work for a musical (i.e., "Company"), but in this case, it didn't, because the book writer felt the need to blather on and on about crap that had nothing to do with the story, or the characters. The songs, strong as they were, didn't match up with the book. And if Testa can't land a laugh during a book scene, it needs to be completely re-thought.
If I were the authors, I would re-tool it into nearly an opera. Get rid of the multiple character conceit, cut every comic element, and go for the drama that is inherent in the idea. It's not a bad idea. But it needs lots more Sahin, and much less Turner.
Just my opinion.
Mary Testa is usually GOLDEN, but she bored me to tears tonight.
"All Fall Down" wants to be "Next to Normal," but it's not. It's about a kid who throws himself out of a window during his first year in college. It's a good concept. But it's a horribly executed musical. Selda Sahin's music and lyrics are smart and entertaining, but WAY too few and far between. The book scenes are interminable. And go nowhere.
Jenn Colella plays the mother, but also plays her son's girlfriend. It's totally creepy, and everyone outside at intermission commented about it. (The McKenzie Phillips jokes were flying.) It's really, really wrong. I suspect that the authors were trying to make a point, and I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, but it didn't work at all. It just made the audience feel uncomfortable.
And then there's the structure. It's ENDLESS book scene, followed by a quick musical number, followed by ENDLESS book scene, etc. These characters need to be singing, not chatting. The songs LANDED. The script did not.
I can't fault the cast of four, they were all terrific. BUT...
Again, structure. "All Fall Down" is basically plot-less. Plot-less can work for a musical (i.e., "Company"), but in this case, it didn't, because the book writer felt the need to blather on and on about crap that had nothing to do with the story, or the characters. The songs, strong as they were, didn't match up with the book. And if Testa can't land a laugh during a book scene, it needs to be completely re-thought.
If I were the authors, I would re-tool it into nearly an opera. Get rid of the multiple character conceit, cut every comic element, and go for the drama that is inherent in the idea. It's not a bad idea. But it needs lots more Sahin, and much less Turner.
Just my opinion.
