I saw this tonight and liked it but really wish I liked it more.
The good: the cast. Grey Henson has really established himself as a terrific character performer. He grounds Bigfoot with a sweet-natured empathy and wisely underplays the role, which serves as a counterbalance to the up-to-11 bigness of everybody else. But everybody else is bringing a loopy, Looney Tunes energy coupled with some killer vocals- it's a small but mighty ensemble up there. It's always great to see Jason Tam and he has some funny physical comedy, as does Alex Moffatt (in a seriously underbaked role as the corrupt mayor). Crystal Lucas-Perry delivers powerhouse vocals and warm, lusty energy.
The show's book is also very, very funny, but...
My qualms: ... the humor is basically all one-liners detached from character or situation. You could swap most of the jokes between the characters in the piece and they would play the same. They're very funny one-liners, don't get me wrong. But this felt like a joke-first, everything else-second sketch. Which isn't necessarily a negative, but there is also a bit of shagginess to the direction here that does the comedy no favors. I once knew somebody who worked with Jerry Zaks and told me how exacting and precise Zaks was with comedy- the timing of everything- movement, line delivery, looks, even simple gestures- was rehearsed and drilled like choreography into comedic perfection. I couldn't help but think of that here as timing was missed, jokes were rushed, gags flailed and cues weren't picked up quickly. It needs sharpness that director Danny Mefford only sporadically achieves with the cast. A shame, too, as he gave us the wonderful Spelling Bee revival playing a few blocks away. The joke-first approach means a lot of the characters and action feel very underdeveloped- things just sort of happen without a lot of effort and quite a bit occurs offstage.
The score is serviceable- though it often feels like there's only 2 songs in the score, the catchy opening number and Moffatt's big number, both of which end of being used as underscoring for many scenes.
So, overall, this is a mixed bag for me. I appreciate it as a kind of throwback to off-kilter off-Broadway musicals with kooky plots and semi-intentional, semi-self aware jankiness. And like I said, it is very funny. But the potential there just made me want more from the production.
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
