Fly By Night at Playwrights Horizons — Page 2

Loved it. Beautiful. Quirky. And in the end, deeply satisfying.

Does anyone know how the rush has been for this show?

"Is it just me or does Adam Chanler-Berat always seem to play the same roles on stage? After seeing him in both Fortress of Solitude and Fly By Night he seems almost interchangeable. Just once I'd like to see him with some good posture and confidence!"

Is he consciously playing different roles in the same manner, or getting cast to play similar roles? Those are two very different things.

Looking forward to a review from the Times.

I saw FLY BY NIGHT today, and to my surprise, it gave me a lot to think about. I know I'm a little late to the party, but given that I'll be on a train for the next three hours, I figured I'd spend the time reflecting on the show.

I really had no idea what to expect going in; I bought my ticket at the last minute on TDF yesterday. (And ended up in Row G for anyone who'd be curious.) With that said, I'm very happy I took the chance and saw something I knew little about.

While FLY BY NIGHT is certainly a flawed piece, I think there's a real gem of a show in there. While I found the book to be great, a lot of the lyrics were cringeworthy. The music was always at the very least serviceable with a few shining moment.

It needs a fair amount of material cut from the first act, which I found at times to be both a tad dull and not nearly as humorous as it was attempting to be. The second act was far better; it was incredibly poignant, and it almost didn't feel like the same show in terms of its tone. However, that was a welcome change of pace in that I felt the second act was when the show really took off. If it were up to me, I wouldn't change a thing about it.

In the first 15 or 20 minutes, I must mention I was rather dubious about the use of a narrator, but I'm pleased to report that walking out of the theater I felt as if Henry Stram had walked away with the show. While he was given great material, he truly ran with it. His characterizations for the myriad of individuals he played throughout the show were very well done - all of them easy to distinguish and many of them quite hilarious.

**POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD**

The rest of the cast was great as well but did not have material as consistently strong as Stram's with which to work. The biggest victim was Bryce Ryness (Jimmy Storms); his part was severely underwritten, and he was given this dreadful song in the first act (no song list in the playbill) which he sang to Patti Murin's character to convince her to star in a play he'd written. The lyrics were atrocious in how deliberate the rhymes were - far too forced. I sat there and winced as line after line followed the same cliche rhyming structure.

Speaking of the lyrics, many others were just as bad. Several songs in the first act should be cut entirely and many should be rewritten throughout. Most for the aforementioned offense - a boring, cliche rhyming structure. The worst line in the entire show had to have been (and I may not get it exactly right, but I remember the rhyme), "How can I feel awful, when I'm serving a waffle." Probably one of the worst lyrics I have ever heard in the context of a musical.

I understand the show's writers may have set out to make it deliberately messy, but the lyrics were inexcusable. They were TOO messy and ended up taking me out of many scenes.

**DEFINITE SPOILERS**

Now on to the good - the second act, which was fantastic. It moved along at a nice pace, and it had far more to say. The takeaway was we should be sure to make everyone in our lives know that they matter, which was a theme that really resonated with me. To drive this message home in a really roundabout away, Adam Chandler-Berat's character's love interest (played by Allison Case) was killed off.

Never in my theater going career have I ever felt so enraged by a show's plot than in that moment. Initially, I felt as if the choice to have her die completely ruined the incredibly poignant moments that had preceded it. Shortly thereafter, we discovered that her death served a purpose - to allow Harold (Adam Chandler-Berat's character) to better understand his father and how he felt having lost his own love. It all made sense, and I suddenly loved the fact that the writers were able to evoke such strong feelings from me before turning around and completely disqualifying them. I've never had that happen before so intensely, and I think it's something I'll always remember.

**END OF SPOILERS**

All in all, FLY BY NIGHT was a really interesting piece of theater. I found it to be rather unique, and it had a great message. While I certainly wouldn't call it a must-see, I wouldn't discourage anyone from going to see it either. If you have the time and some money to spare, definitely check it out.

$30 per ticket, cash only, 1 hour before curtain. Ages 30 and under only. My friend and I got to the box office at 6:45 last night (rush tickets were sold at 7:00) and were the first in line. We got excellent 4th row center seats. Loved the show.

The "Mayonnaise" song was the only one I liked.

I saw this over the weekend and LOVED IT! I'm not saying it's a perfect piece of theatre by any means but when you compare it to all the crap currently running on Broadway it's a masterpiece.

My main reason for going is my love for all three actors who make up the love triangle. Patti Murin wasn't someone I had interest in after seeing LYSSIE JONES but my mind changed last summer after LOVE'S LABOUR'S. Here she has cemented my undying love for her because she was able to play something bubbly but finally with more depth. Allison Case had the tough job of making me root for her when the competition for her love is Patti but she did. I really wanted her to be the one winning the affection of Adam Chanler-Berat (if he cannot be mine). I understand what people say about AC-B continuing to play the same character but I think he's really good at it so I don't have an issue. Every time I see him on stage I instantly like him. As soon as the Narrator began I wanted to roll my eyes because I hate narrators in musicals but not this time. I think Henry Stram took those parts and ran with them all. He embodied each character he had to portray throughout the show and I could visualize every one. The one weak link (no surprise) was Bryce Ryness. I'll never understand his appeal. I don't think he's a very good actor, just an alright singer and don't find him to be very attractive.

I agree with other posters that the show is a touch too long. While watching I was trying to figure out what could be cut. My first thought was the Dad stuff but then you understand his purpose in the end and it does a nice bit of tying things together from an emotional standpoint. Maybe there could be a little less with the sandwich shop if something needed to go.

One thing I disagree with a lot of posters on is the music. I hardly found the songs to be unmemorable. I LOVED the sea turtle song and not just because of the "ladadada" sing-along part that was used throughout the show. The Mayonnaise song was cute as well. I would really love to know if there are any plans for a cast recording. Does anyone know if a Playwrights Horizons show has ever released one?

I would actually call this is don't miss because it's new, original and better than anything I've seen currently running on Broadway.

---

Thanks so much for the info, billyelliotfan! I'll be keeping my fingers crossed.

---

^ that has no barring they are JUST releasing the cast recording for The Shaggs and that show was two seasons ago.

Awww! I didn't know The Shaggs was getting a recording?! That's one of my favorite shows I've ever seen in NYC.

I saw this last night and was disappointed. I like the actors, but the material annoyed me way too much to get involved.

SPOILERS******

My biggest complaint was that the play felt in no way set in the 60s. The dialogue/delivery was so modern that it grated on me. I felt that the only reason it was set in the 60s was to keep newer technology out of the plot. It was like a gentle swirl of anachronistic behavior was folded into the proceedings, and it was very frustrating to me.

I hate poor Bryce Ryness' plot. He did what he could with it, but his character would have felt more at home over with Michael Shannon at The Killer than with these characters in Fly By Night. The whole story line was truly so absurd. He was writing this four act musical that never seemed to end and Patti Murin was taking the experience so seriously. Sure, she seemed exhausted from the rehearsal process, but she never doubted the experience. Was there no one else in the play? It was a musical- was there an orchestra? Where was anyone else involved? This was supposed to open on Broadway (with no previews?); I just couldn't make heads or tails of the tone of this story. Ryness had zero character development to work with, but his manic performance didn't help either.

The love triangle was a complete joke. Adam and Patti didn't have much sexual chemistry, and their story didn't show them very much in love. His proposal came out of nowhere and the relationship quickly went south afterward. The bond was much stronger with Case, but the psychic promised her a great love affair. All they had were a few chance meetings, and they never gave into their passions. We were completely cheated out of seeing their supposedly grand romance. She said she was destined for this mountaintop life before her big fall; she got the fall, but never got to experience the soaring heights beforehand.

I liked some of the melodies, but the songs made very little impact on me or the piece; they seemed to fade out rather quickly. Peter Friedman had the strongest standalone number, but it felt extraneous by that point. I wanted a bigger reveal with that story they kept withholding from us. (Also, why was Adam so mean to his father? There was no explanation for his cold shoulder attitude towards him.)

I will say I really liked Allison Case.

---