Saw the show this afternoon and while I do think it is a mixed bag, I overall greatly enjoyed it.
The score I think is just sublime, tuneful and haunting, performed (mostly) beautifully by a very gifted cast that runs the gamut from old pros to new entries to the Broadway stage.
The book is certainly not on the same level, it tries to tackle too much but doesn't delve deep enough into many of the topics and the scenes feel flimsy at best. But when the scenes give way to Guettel's music and those gorgeous orchestrations, I found myself completely forgiving.
This is the most I've enjoyed Jeremy Jordan since seeing him as the alternate Tony in West Side Story, and it actually ended up angering me because he has spent so many of the intervening years doing these thin-voiced pop musicals when he has such a beautiful, powerful, resonant legit voice that he uses to remarkable effect here. I was worried we would get some of the over-singing I have come to expect from him, but he was incredibly respectful of the score as written and dialed back some of his Jordanisms. You could tell he has a deep affection for the material and the role and that he put in a lot of work to turn in a really wonderful performance.
The other highlight for me was Taylor Trensch. He has got to be one of my favorite working actors of his generation, he has such an endearing oddness and sincerity that shines through whenever I see him onstage, and this was no different. His Skeets is off-beat, charming, and lovable and I found his chemistry with Jordan and the rest of the company to be a strong through line for the whole show. If Jordan is the leading man, Trensch feels like the glue keeping all the good parts of the production together.
The rest of the supporting cast ranged from decent to good. I thought Lizzy McAlpine seemed a little lost at sea during book scenes, not giving a whole lot of feeling or emotion, but when she opened her mouth to sing, she more than anyone else onstage felt tailor-made for this material. Would be interested in seeing more of her onstage if she were to work on the acting a bit more. Kudisch and Molaskey were good in roles that I think suffer the most from the weak book. Molaskey's voice is rather...nonexistent, but I found it didn't bother me as much as I was expecting it to. Sean Allan Krill is always reliable, and the rest of the cave divers made a great trio.
Jaston Gotay, I'm sorry to say, was the biggest disappointment for me. I found his contemporary pop-voice completely out of step with the rest of the company, and he was singing from the back of his throat right out through his nose and he was getting swallowed up by everyone around him. His scenes made little to no impact, even his confrontations with Krill and Kudisch in act 2. I just found myself wondering what someone else could've done with the role (would love to see Charlie Franklin go on at some point if he's given the chance!).
Production-wise, the high point is certainly "The Call." Jordan is climbing up and up and up, if only it was more lit so you could actually see! I do appreciate the different parts of the stage that lifted to become different areas of the cave, but overall did find that Landau failed to justify this show being done in such a large space. The scenes in the cave were the highlights, but everything aboveground felt incredibly flat. That screen upstage is just an eyesore, and while its mostly used as just a background of sky, when it's got huge cloud projections or fireworks flashing or -- bizarrely -- a starburst effect flashing so wildly I have to assume they're trying to trigger people with epilepsy, it's just hideous.
As I said, I overall did enjoy the afternoon, and I owe the bulk of that to Guettel's score and the glorious voices singing it. While I hoped for a bit more from the direction and design, it's a worthy production and I am glad I got to see this beautiful show performed live.
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