I saw it this past Tuesday night. I knew nothing of the film going in, so I don't really have anything to compare it to besides other musicals, just FYI.
I was really excited to get to see Melissa Errico & Will Swenson live. Naming names would be mean, but suffice to say one of them seemed bored throughout the first act, and woke up a little in the second. But by then I already didn't care about that character any more, so the little boost didn't help much. Some of my friends who saw the show earlier said this wasn't the case when they saw the show, so *maybe* it was just a side effect of coming back from a day off. Maybe.
The show itself: uneven. I enjoyed 3 numbers, but even right after the show I couldn't have hummed a single tune. None of the music stuck with me, though the curtain call tried to make the song "Winning" into an encore, complete with bat-ography which some of the cast seemed nervous about (I guess it was a new-ish element?).
The first act drags, and I found myself getting fidgety halfway through. The really, really awful "A Heaven For You" didn't help. In fact, Jimmy & Millie's entire subplot was so glossed over, it probably could have been cut. The script needs a LOT of work. Every scene serves as a setup for another song. The only problem is there's rarely any reason for the characters to start singing. Some of the transitions are what you'd expect a parody of musical theatre to be: slow, meaningful question - chord - song.
And then it just...ends. Stops, really. All the plot lines are neatly (well, almost) tied up, and blackout. I don't mind a quiet ending, but the finale to a musical should at least have some kind of crescendo. If not musically, at least emotionally.
In an article about the show for the program, the writers cite Gypsy as "sort of a model for us because it's a great piece of architecture...It's tuneful, immediate, easy to follow - and at the same time so impactful."
If Gypsy was their goal, they've struck out. If they can shave the fat off Act I, create some real tension between the romantic leads, create some real characters for Jimmy & Millie, bring in someone who knows how to weite a musical to craft better transitions into the songs...maybe then it will be a decent show. As it is now, I would hate to see it come to NYC only because of what the critics & web forums would do to it.
Things I liked (because there's always something): ensemble has amazing energy, and not one of them ever seemed to be delivering less than 100%. "Don't Think, Just Throw" as one song that actually helped the plot keep moving. John Behlmann, especially when he was stripped down to his briefs & bound to Melissa Errico's bed. And...the opening to Act II, a hilariously staged slow-motion fight titled "The Cocksucker Ballet."
If anyone has questions about the show, I'll do my best to answer them. I can't remember any of the music, but visually it's still pretty solid in my head.
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S.D.G.
(formerly "SweeneyPhanatic")
