Based on the New York Times review last season and some of the ecstatic opinions voiced on this board, I was really looking forward to seeing this show. I have not been so disappointed in a show in a long time, based on what were unrealistic expectations.
I was with three other people. After Act 1, one of us liked it, 2 were very disappointed in it (my wife and I), and the fourth person thought it was terrible.
I personally through the first act was boring and I was very disappointed that the songs did nothing for me, since Barry Manilow had written them. The best song -- I think it was in the first act -- was the duet by the two ladies; however, I felt that it was very derivative. I kept on getting into 'Bring Him Home' and occasionally into one of Chopin's etudes, ironically, but I can't remember which one. The staging was solid and the scenery effective, but I kept on thinking that I was seeing a mediocre musical from 1965, it was just so old fashioned.
On reflection, I think one issue was built into its structure, and may have been helped by better songs. Seeing 6 men vocalize multiple times is just not something you see nowadays, and there was too much of it. The comic number was silly, the song not good enough to compensate. The last scene in the first act, where the Nazi thugs wreaked havoc was very effective and clearly engaged us in a way the show had not until that time. At intermission, I heard people around me expressing disappointment, particularly in the music.
The second act was much more effective, with the highlight being the 'self-flagellating' number led by Chip Zien, which should have stopped the show cold, did not, but received solid applause. There was no sobbing anywhere in the vicinity of my seat. The closing number was highly effective in one sense, but not in another. It was very well staged, each character said something and turned away from the spotlight, all followed by a song. We learned that they all survived, but we did not learn how, which I think we should have. I did not want to know that the three Jewish members of the group survived, but how. While I thought the book was better than the score, that part of the book could have been clearer.
There was not a weak performance on the stage. Given the nature of the show, there was not time to learn much about each of the men as individuals, but the actors made up for that by giving solid, confident performances. I have never been much of a fan of Sierra Boggess -- I think she has an excellent voice, but for me she lacks charisma -- but she was fine in the role. I have never seen Julie Benko before; I could see that she was talented, but her role was pretty limited; I did not miss the actress when her character disappeared mid-act.
I have seen Chip Zien in a number of shows over the past 40 years (first times in The Suicide and Falsettos, so a long time ago). There is no question in my mind that this was his best performance that I have seen. He was the heart and soul of the show. I don't think the audience appreciated his performance as much as I did, because the applause really didn't go up when he took his bow. A great performance. Since he is so much better than the show, and he will be competing with Groff, Redgrave, the leads in Notebook and Water for Elephants (if the shows are good), he is going to have to be satisfied with a Tony nomination, which I will be shocked if he does not get.
I hope I am wrong, but I will be surprised if this is a hit.
That said, the subject matter is so incredible that I wish one of the streaming services would consider taking the story of the Harmonists, engage the right creatives, and turn it into a limited series. They should not turn it into a musical, but do what Fosse did in Cabaret: only have music interludes when the people are actually performing in the context of the story. Or maybe Steven Spielberg could add this to his WW2 collection. With a script by his frequent collaborator. Tony Kushner, OMG!!
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