Went tonight and my take is that this is entertaining, but messy.
There are times when the flow is fluid, and it clicks, and it moves and it's exciting to watch. But then there are times when it's choppy and disjointed. The worst example of this is when George Abud performs "Perfection" and we're in a music video with the ensemble in futuristic backup dancer mode, and then we smash cut to Tadeusz singing a straightforward song ("Wake Up") about how he's no longer rich and is bummed about it. It's tonal whiplash and feels jarring when you contast it with the moments where the show does move smoothly.
Tonally, the show is pulling in several different directions and doesn't pick a lane. This becomes evident pretty early in the show, and it's hard to recover from the scattered tone. The production also didn't seem sure of how it wanted to use the historical context. They weave it into the beginning and show how it impacts Tamara as a person, but then it fades, until it comes back strong during act two. But during act two, it's not entirely coherent what the show is saying about the political backdrop.
I'm not sure whether this thought makes sense, but I felt like the creatives almost didn't trust Tamara, as a character, to carry this. As in, I could imagine them thinking, Abud has a magnetic presence, let's beef up his role and give him a massive number about machines and the future in the middle of this art show. Natalie Joy Johnson is really standing out, let's give her more laugh lines and a big number. Oh, and we'll get a name for the Baroness when we go to Broadway, might as well give her the eleven o'clock number even though she's basically been a non-presence in this narrative. It's like they got distracted by the talent of their performers (who, to their credit, deliver), thought about how to work them in the show more, and pulled focus from Tamara while figuring out what to do with everyone else. It would have been a better show if they honed in on their title character and fleshed her out more. Tamara is complex as written, but she isn't fascinating.
While I thought Eden was very good, she didn't give the star turn I was hoping to see. Unfortunately, her voice sounded tired tonight. She seemed to be holding back vocally and struggled a bit through Woman Is. The music video that the show put out of Woman Is was mesmerizing and honestly sold me on seeing this show—at minimum, I knew Lempicka would have one thrilling moment—but it didn't totally deliver tonight because you could hear the effort she had to put into it. Interestingly, her voice seemed stronger in act two. I expected it to be the other way around, with her vocals being stronger than her acting, but I preferred her acting here.
Wish we saw more of her artwork through act one. It picks up during act two, but there is a key piece missing that I'd have liked to see (the portrait she paints toward the end of the show). I wasn't that into the costumes either. The ensemble outfits were an odd choice, and I didn't find much interest in the principals' costumes outside of some of Tamara's act two outfits.
I didn't love the framing device. I'm glad they don't jump directly into Our Time like it sounds like they were doing in earlier previews, but the added intro felt overly blunt, "here's a quick intro to the character where she directly says who she is." There were themes we heard of in the later California scenes that they probably could have drawn on to inform an opening here and lend it more character. Also, Tamara starting the show by saying something like "plane, lines, form..." immediately invites comparison to George's opening lines in SITPWG, and I'm not sure the show should want that.
The challenge: bring order to the whole. There were moments where I saw how this could have been a stunning musical had it come together and fired on all cylinders, a version that took big swings and landed them. I found myself wishing that they had taken more time to get this one to the finish line... but then again, perhaps time was the problem. I haven't seen any of the previous incarnations, but looking at reports on here, perhaps this is a case of the creative team tinkering too much and losing something along the way.
All that being said, there were a number of bright spots. I did find it entertaining and highly watchable, and it kept me engaged throughout. I enjoyed the score a great deal and found it pretty cohesive. Loved the orchestrations, which suited the score very well. They've assembled a solid cast, and Abud, Johnson, and Leavel do great work with their material. Amber Iman is as wonderful as others have noted, and dang, what a voice. I was also a fan of the sets and lighting. The visual language of the show (aside from the costumes) felt coherent and like it meshed, even when what was on the page didn't mesh. The set was stylish and appropriately modern. I could've done without some of the more literal projections though.
Lempicka didn't stick the landing for me, but at least they went for something original. I'd take this over a show that's more cohesive, yet bland and uninspired, any day. Or at least, many days.
