LaCageFans: MARTIN SHORT: FAME BECOMES ME Review

MARTIN SHORT: FAME BECOMES ME Review

What do you get when a Broadway staple teams up with one of the gayest, award winning composing teams around, the choreographer of the boy band phenomenon “Altar Boyz,” and additional material by “Saturday Night Live” alum? The answer is a special theatrical event that seems to have been conceived during a cocaine induced high and is now being performed at some point in a bizarre acid trip. "Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me," now playing nightly at the Jacobs Theatre, is at times impolite, at times the height of theatrical mediocrity, and at times uproariously hysterical.

The Great White Way welcomes back Short as we watch the story of his life unfold before our eyes. Short is certainly up to task! After all, it is his own fictionalized life experiences the audience is optioned to partake in. Scott Wittman (Hairspray) and Christopher Gatelli (Altar Boyz) understand their jobs as Director/Choreographer respectably. The evening is thankfully executed with precise aplomb as Short and his astounding supporting cast are certainly in the know as far as talent in concerned. The unbelievably hilarious Golden Globe segment when supporting players Mary Birdsong and Nicole Parker get to play everyone from Joan Rivers to Renee Zellweger to Celine Dion and more, while Brooks Ashmanskas gets to tap his Broadway baby heart out – are some of the most entertaining moments of the night. If only the rest of the evening could be told with such ease and finesse! Daniel Goldfarb, Alan Zweibel, and even Short himself as the book writing team not only sell themselves Short – but never quite reach the epitome of the presence that is Martin Short. Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman who won a Tony Award for their score of "Hairspray” obviously regurgitate the same ol’ shtick here. How many more times are we going to use the “For Me” joke at the end of a song and find it funny?

The fact is, Short is such pro at what he knows! At times he is on fire! During the well known Jiminy Glick character, Short is undoubtedly in his element. Each night the famous fictional entertainment interviewer, played by Short, invites someone new onstage and the laughs roll frequently from the audience here. Tonight’s suspect was New York Post Theatre Columnist Michael Riedel. The much loathed Broadway Reporter was in top form as he admitted his connection to Satan, proclaimed himself an Atheist, and announced Martin Short his worst theatrical interview. Unfortunately, the evening is only filled few of these brilliant moments and so many undergraduate stylings are not fully realized by the creative and capable powers that be. What is ultimately lacking is the build up and power punch one would hope from such a talent such as Martin Short. Instead he goes for the cheap joke. But really, I guess that shouldn’t be such a surprise after all coming from Short. The problem is his supporting cast outshine him every time his real life story becomes mind numbingly dull. Capathia Jenkins as the big black woman (their joke, not mine) who stops the show proves herself as the ultimate talent – and while that’s great for her career, what exactly does that say about a show entitled “Martin Short: Fame Becomes ME”???

The extremely unfortunate problem is this show does not know exactly what it is. Are we supposed to take it seriously? Is this a tale of Short’s life? A comedy sketch of his famous characters? Or a chance for rising Broadway talent to show up their star? It is obvious that when the material is strong, Short and team deliver in spades. “The Farmers Daughter,” “Heaven, Heaven,” “Stop the Show,” and “Glass Half Full” are beautifully nuanced and strongly executed moments. But without the tightly woven exposition, these strong moments become a passing glance into the life of Martin Short. The devotion and motivation behind “Fame Becomes Me” shines through even if the result is a muddled and mixed bag of tricks.

Doesn't he explain in the show that his life was so boring that he had to make all this up? He did so when I saw it in San Francisco so I knew the show wasn't meant to be taken seriously. It sounds like I enjoyed it more than you did. I thought it had some hysterical sketches, especially Jiminy Glick and Tommy Tune, Joan Rivers, etc. The night I saw it, the person picked from the audience for the Glick portion was a regular nobody but he turned out to be very funny.

---

I cannot relate to your references to recreational drugs. I did however see the show and had an absolute blast, as did the rest of the audience (and this was at a Wednesday matinee). From what I could decipher through the misspellings and grammar blunders that make up your review, it sounds as though you just didn't "get" it. You expect your every theater-going experience to come neatly wrapped up in a cardboard box and this one is far beyond that. A show like Mamma Mia or Wicked might be more up your alley.

---

From what I could decipher through the misspellings and grammar blunders that make up your review, it sounds as though you just didn't "get" it. You expect your every theater-going experience to come neatly wrapped up in a cardboard box and this one is far beyond that. A show like Mamma Mia or Wicked might be more up your alley.

I love how when people don't like a show someone (wannabe) jumps all over them and says, "You just don't get it!" As if Martin Short is Shakespeare? What is there to "get"? It is low brow humor that doesn't appeal to every taste. If you "got it", good for you, but just because some one didn't particularly like the show doesn't mean they are ignorant, as your post seems to imply. By the way, the "Foster" children, as talented as they may be, aren't known for their subtle and complex performances in groundbreaking shows (Millie? Drowsey? Urinetown?), so you putting down shows like Mama Mia and Wicked in your defense of Short really makes you look like an ass.

---

And what's wrong with liking Mama Mia, Wicked AND Martin Short? Narrow mindedness is not a pretty thing.

---

I would definitely consider Urinetown to be "groundbreaking show".

---

I was there this afternoon. At times, the show is hilarious. Unfortunately, these moments are few and far between. Martin is Martin....he's doing what he knows best. The Jiminy Glick segement (as well as a few others, specifically where he's doing his characters) are by far the best. Marc Shaiman's music is great, as usual. The stand-out numbers, in my opinion, at least, are "Babies," "Step Brother de Jesus" and "Stop the Show." The Golden Globe sequence, led by Mary Birdsong and Nicole Parker, is hilarious. Their impressions, from Jodie Foster to Idina Menzel, are spot-on perfect. Too bad the audience didn't get the Wicked parody. Capathia Jenkins is by far the standout in the ensemble, but she's barely used. Brooks Ashmanskas is a great tap-dancer.

The problem remains in the fact that when Martin's not doing Martin, he looks mighty uncomfortable. Many of those scenes aren't nearly as funny as others. He'd be better off just doing Glick and Ed Grimley for a half hour. That knocked the audience to the floor.

The audience was nuts....they loved every moment. The critics, however, I don't think will agree with those who saw the show today.

Updated On: 8/6/06 at 06:59 PM

Did anyone else who saw the show notice how people walked out before it was over? Spoiler: There's a false ending before the last number that makes people belive it's over. It's not. I noticed about 20 people sprint out before Short sung the "Half Full" number.

I've seen so much heavy stuff lately that this sounds like just what the doctor ordered. I LOVE Jimminy Glick, I can't wait to see that live.

Regarding stagedooring, did you go to the alleyway or did they use the door where the cast came out after Three Days of Rain?

frogfan, we all waited at the stage door in the alleyway.

I was pre-disposed to love this show, because I have so much affection for Martin Short and Marc Shaiman as well. And sure, I found some of it to be quite entertaining though uneven and the cast to be talented and work their butts off. But in the end, I was disappointed because unlike a lot of other one-person shows, like Crystal's and Cantones, I left feeling like I didn't know anything more about Martin Short than I did before (except for the fact that he pretended to do talk shows in his attic as a kid) and I think the strength of some of those other shows was in the gentle humor the comedians found in their childhoods and family life...It may be that Short is too private of a person (at the stage door he joked about not revealing anything personal) or maybe he just wanted to showcase his characters and do sketch comedy here, but I'd hoped for a bit more of the other...though, don't get me wrong, I still love both Short and Shaiman!

It seems like the show was so comedy based. I could not really tell if Martin Short's life story was being told because some of it seemed so fake unlike Billy Crystal's 700 Sundays. I think the show will gradually improve as time goes by. By the way, is Martin Short really dislexic? (sorry for wrong spelling.)

---