Flash-in-the-pan — Page 2

Saw the show this past Wednesday on a trip from NY to London, and I must say, what a whack-a-do musical "Flashdance" is.

What was Arlene Philips thinking? All that pop-n-lock choreography? It didn't exist in 1983. Break dancing? Yes. Hip-hop? Nope. (And there's no way she actually choreographed that stuff, one of the dance captains did.) It was all so very "So You Think You Can Dance."

But for me, the piece de resistance was "Manhunt." My jaw dropped so much during the course of that number that I made dents in the carpet at the Shaftesbury. It's Alex and Nick's first date, in PITTSBURGH, and they go to a.... bullfight? (There's soooo much bullfighting in Pittsburgh.) Then they go to the movies, and there's a 1940's movie usher serving them popcorn? The three hookers (sorry, "Flashdancers") had no personality, and nothing to work with, and that number went on, and on, and got stranger, and stranger. I loved every second of it, it was that kind of bizarre, ridiculous disaster that doesn't happen often.

And why did they cast a poindexter in Michael Nouri's role? The thing about the film is that he's hot, at least. The kid who played it was okay, but completely miscast.

The Alex was fine, but that's a horrible role. She has narry a single redeeming feature. Yes, she has a chip on her shoulder. That doesn't make a character. And it gives an actress nothing to play.

In the course of two hours 45, the show got NO laughs. (The only time I laughed was when they said things like "You need a new writer" or "Your material is terrible.") Yes, and yes.

I think the opening number is decent musical theatre writing. Unfortunately, it was followed by 15 more versions of the same song, with lyrics that went from worse to worser (since when does "steel" rhyme with "mill"?) God bless her, the actress playing Alex tried to make it a "still mill" that she was working in, but in America, that means she was making moonshine in Kentucky.

Speaking of the accents... Pittsburgh is not Brooklyn. To put it into perspective, it was like a Scot was doing a bad Liverpool accent, and trying to claim they were from Bristol.

All that said, I'm glad I saw it, as it will never come to Broadway. It was a hot mess. But an over-the-top-kinda-fun hot mess.

Saw it 2 weeks ago and, though it's not the greatest show I've ever seen, I really enjoyed it - and I think it's better than quite a few shows I've seen that have had long runs in the West End. And Victoria Hamilton Barritt's performanmce is sensational.

---