I saw what was either the 3rd or 4th preview Sunday night at the Pasadena Playhouse. I never saw the original play but its success record speaks for itself. The question is does the music add anything significant to it. Apparently playwrite Jack Heifner thinks so because he makes quite a point of it in the program notes. He also tells us --
(SPOILER ALERT)
-- that the fourth scene of the show - the final scene - is original to the musical. It has the three ladies getting together at the funeral of the mother of one of them in 1990 - 27 years after the story begins. It's a reconciliation scene and the show closes on a high, unlike, I gather, the play.
Before this, I would have to say it's an uneven affair. The 2nd act is much stronger than the 1st - and the 2nd act has only five songs in it. This is the heart of the matter. The dramatic scenes between the three ladies work just as well or better than the musical scenes.
David Kirschenbaum's songs are just not that strong and despite the great voices in the cast - Annaliese Van Der Pol, in particular - they don't do a whole lot to enrich the story. It struck me as odd that, although the story takes its characters from 1963 to 1990, the music never acknowledges that - never changes its style. It stays with the generic soft rock sound it lays down right at the beginning.
The best song by far is a 2nd act number for Joanne, "The Same Old Music" which Susan Stiles performs for all it's worth and then some and really stops the show - the only time that happens. But Joanne is the showy part. Mary (Lauren Kennedy) and Kathy (Van Der Pol) are much subtler characters and both actresses do very well with them. Kennedy especially has some wonderful moments.
The aging process works well - the women are equally convincing as teenagers and as the 44 years olds they become. All three women look great which is a plus since many of the costume changes are on stage and they spend a lot of time in their slips. They have genuine chemistry and the audience clearly empathized. The lady I was with loved it and the lady on my other side was weeping openly at the end - so clearly the show resonated.
Still, Vanities is not where it will have to be to succeed on Broadway. The two scenes of the 1st act seem to lurch from moment to moment with little dramatic momentum - the songs actually slowing things down. The 1st act curtain is so awkward that it caught the audience by surprise when the lights came up.
The play, Vanities, was a hit off-Broadway. It feels at the moment like that's where the musical belongs too.
Faced with these Loreleis, what man can moralize!
