I was at the performance last night. My first observation is that the audience was attentive and enthusiastic, although every comment I heard from audience members afterwards suggested that people felt good about being part of "an event" rather than being overwhelmed by what they actually saw.
SPOILERS in the following paragraphs:
If I had closed my eyes, and just listened, I probably would have been more satisfied. Everyone on the stage had beautiful singing voices, and acted the somewhat awkward Blitzstein book with fervor. Vocally, my favorites had to be Esparza (who delivered on every level in a somewhat thankless part - he doesn't even show up until about 2/3 of the way through, although his entrance is priceless), Randolph (who has the best song, "Joe Worker," a song that was written to stand alone and was brought into the production by Blitzstein), and Petkoff (whose warm voice and pleasing presence always appeal to me). Everyone else in the cast did themselves proud.
It is difficult for me to comment on this production in one sense: I spent a significant amount of time listening to the 1985 recording and reading up on the political situation at the time of the premiere. I have no idea how this production would strike someone walking into it cold. I can only conclude that total confusion would reign. The doubling of parts did not particularly bother me, but I already knew which character was associated with the music I was hearing.
I just thought the director's choices were sometimes overtly clever but did not serve the impact of the production. For example, a young boy was cast as the arresting officer in the first scene, the son of the druggist, and another minor role. I don't have my playbill at hand so I don't recall the young man's name. He was extraordinarily talented and did a very good job with everything he was given. My problem is such casting made no sense. It is funny to have a police officer played by a child, but there is nothing childlike about that character. Having a small child as the person who dies in the explosion increases the poignancy factor, ignoring the fact that his father is older and has apparently been widowed for some time.
Another example would be the portrayal of Sister Mister and Junior Mister in the scene lead leading up to the song "Honolulu." The cross-dressing and a lot of the activities during the song bordered on the embarrassing. These characters are supposed to be ridiculous enough without the addition of pink high heels. They are lazy and worthless, not ridiculous.
Without going into any details, the staging of the last two minutes of this production totally undercut the effect of the finale, even though I understand what was intended by it.
Having finally seen a production of this, I am more convinced than ever that it really is Weill light. The performances were strong but the material is weak. It is virtually impossible to become emotionally attached to any of the characters or their troubles. Some of the melodies are quite lovely, but hardly worth 90 minutes of viewing.
I understand why this piece has never had more than a month or so on and off Broadway. Even in a full production, there is so little to carry away from the theater.
Updated On: 7/11/13 at 09:57 AM
