#1
Posted: 10/20/04 at 12:27am
I was there tonight.
I'm nearly speechless and my mouth is dry from the number of times my jaw dropped this evening.
First the good news: Talented cast. Creative Design. Decent direction.
As for the rest:
Some of the worst lyrics I've ever heard on a Broadway stage. The music is utterly generic, derivative and lackluster, like something out of a Intro to Pop Music Composition course (and the song "Streetsinger" rips off large chunks of Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come"). Most of the songs have only a tangential relationship to the plot. None of them serve to advance the narrative in any way and at best function to inform character only superficially -- which is, I suppose unavoidable since all of the characters are completely superficial.
The book reminded me alternately of Mariah Carey's "Glitter," a bad UPN sitcom and a Hallmark card come to life -- truly a case of what happens when bad material happens to good performers. Just howlingly bad in spots. The plot is filled with gaps and holes and the characters lack depth and dimension. Poor Kevin Anderson -- he's a truly brilliant actor (he gave phenomenal performances opposite Brian Denehey in Death of a Salesman and Vanessa Redgrave in Orpheus Descending) who has been saddled with an unplayable character (the Viet Nam sequence was so awful, I and the two women next to me had to fight to choke back the laughter -- one of several times that happened throughout the evening).
Why on earth is this show on Broadway? It reminds me a lot of touring shows that come to the Beacon every so often. They usually feature a few B-list r&b or gospel stars (Shirley Murdock, Patti Austin, Millie Jackson, Stephanie Mills, Kelly Price, Christopher Williams to name a few have been featured in them over the years), broad comedy (with occasional serious overtones) in a fairly threadbare plot that's basically just filler between the musical numbers (which are usually sensational). They usually have titles like "My Grandmother Prayed For Me" or "What Every Woman Should Know" or "Don't Get God Started" (I'm not kidding, those are actual titles). These shows are popular light entertainment that has no pretense that it's anything more than that. They are extremely popular, touring all the major cities and have been known to gross in the millions (Shelly Garrett's "Beauty Shop" I and II grossed over $20 million during the 80s). And they don't seek out critics and reviewers; they don't play Broadway; they don't need to -- they don't need the Times. They're not that kind of musical. They're not trying to redefine the artform. They are simply fun entertainments designed to entertain their core audiences -- nothing more -- and they do that in spades. I've seen several of these shows over the years and they're a lot of fun for what they are -- they don't aspire to Broadway and Brooklyn shouldn't have either.
If you listen very closely, you can hear the critics sharpening their knives for this one (John Simon is somewhere salivating). While the critics have been a bit unpredictable in the last year or two, I can't imagine they're going to be too kind here. Just what was the reason there was such a rush to get this tiny, unremarkable show from Denver into a big Broadway house? Why not play it off-Broadway or in Chicago or Seattle or DC -- places that have real theatre critics so they would get an idea of the reception they would get from the New York press before committing so many millions? With its tiny cast, simple sets and costumes, it could have toured profitably for years, made a tidy sum, had time to tinker and then maybe try New York somewhere down the road. As it is...... well, we'll see what happens Friday morning.
I'm nearly speechless and my mouth is dry from the number of times my jaw dropped this evening.
First the good news: Talented cast. Creative Design. Decent direction.
As for the rest:
Some of the worst lyrics I've ever heard on a Broadway stage. The music is utterly generic, derivative and lackluster, like something out of a Intro to Pop Music Composition course (and the song "Streetsinger" rips off large chunks of Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come"). Most of the songs have only a tangential relationship to the plot. None of them serve to advance the narrative in any way and at best function to inform character only superficially -- which is, I suppose unavoidable since all of the characters are completely superficial.
The book reminded me alternately of Mariah Carey's "Glitter," a bad UPN sitcom and a Hallmark card come to life -- truly a case of what happens when bad material happens to good performers. Just howlingly bad in spots. The plot is filled with gaps and holes and the characters lack depth and dimension. Poor Kevin Anderson -- he's a truly brilliant actor (he gave phenomenal performances opposite Brian Denehey in Death of a Salesman and Vanessa Redgrave in Orpheus Descending) who has been saddled with an unplayable character (the Viet Nam sequence was so awful, I and the two women next to me had to fight to choke back the laughter -- one of several times that happened throughout the evening).
Why on earth is this show on Broadway? It reminds me a lot of touring shows that come to the Beacon every so often. They usually feature a few B-list r&b or gospel stars (Shirley Murdock, Patti Austin, Millie Jackson, Stephanie Mills, Kelly Price, Christopher Williams to name a few have been featured in them over the years), broad comedy (with occasional serious overtones) in a fairly threadbare plot that's basically just filler between the musical numbers (which are usually sensational). They usually have titles like "My Grandmother Prayed For Me" or "What Every Woman Should Know" or "Don't Get God Started" (I'm not kidding, those are actual titles). These shows are popular light entertainment that has no pretense that it's anything more than that. They are extremely popular, touring all the major cities and have been known to gross in the millions (Shelly Garrett's "Beauty Shop" I and II grossed over $20 million during the 80s). And they don't seek out critics and reviewers; they don't play Broadway; they don't need to -- they don't need the Times. They're not that kind of musical. They're not trying to redefine the artform. They are simply fun entertainments designed to entertain their core audiences -- nothing more -- and they do that in spades. I've seen several of these shows over the years and they're a lot of fun for what they are -- they don't aspire to Broadway and Brooklyn shouldn't have either.
If you listen very closely, you can hear the critics sharpening their knives for this one (John Simon is somewhere salivating). While the critics have been a bit unpredictable in the last year or two, I can't imagine they're going to be too kind here. Just what was the reason there was such a rush to get this tiny, unremarkable show from Denver into a big Broadway house? Why not play it off-Broadway or in Chicago or Seattle or DC -- places that have real theatre critics so they would get an idea of the reception they would get from the New York press before committing so many millions? With its tiny cast, simple sets and costumes, it could have toured profitably for years, made a tidy sum, had time to tinker and then maybe try New York somewhere down the road. As it is...... well, we'll see what happens Friday morning.
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
Updated On: 10/20/04 at 12:27 AM
