LaCageFans: THE APPLE TREE Review

[LaCageAuxFollesFan2]

Posted: 12/10/06 at 12:52pm

THE APPLE TREE Review
https://nycriticscorner.broadwayworld.com/theappletree.htm

Songwriters and librettists Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick followed their once-in-a-lifetime success with "Fiddler On The Roof" by writing "The Apple Tree," an experimental musical that adapted three short stories, Mark Twain's The Diary Of Adam And Eve, Frank R. Stockton's The Lady Or The Tiger?, and Jules Feiffer's Passionella. The year was 1966 and the cast featured three theatre greats; Alan Alda, Barbara Harris, and Larry Blyden. Well, the year is now 2006 and the three equally talented, if not better, theatre professionals taking on the same roles in the Roundabout revival of "The Apple Tree" are the vibrant Brian d'Arcy James, the charismatic Marc Kudisch, and the absolutely brilliant Kristen Chenoweth.

Each of these performers has got to be a character actor first and for most, for they ultimately play three characters throughout the evening in each of the three tales. There is little to tie these tales together, except for the fact that each is a love story with unconventional complications; so the actors must bring their game face every single second and undoubtedly here they do! The tone of the works vary from romantic to satiric even within each story, and the characters tend to be so precious and cloying that it is hard for the audience goer to have much emotional involvement. Nevertheless, what is lacking in Harnick & Block's book is all made up for with their rousing score and this time around, delicious cast.

Kristin Chenoweth is an incredible musical diva who brings back memories of powerhouse performers from those talked about golden days of the Broadway musical -- with an hourglass figure, energetic stage presence, marvelous comic timing, and a voice that soars. Her charismatic presence could overshadow her co-stars, but never once does as she continually strives and reaches Brava status in a three star musical. Does the woman really do no wrong?

Her co-stars here do not miss a beat either; Brian d'Arcy James as all the romantic leads and Marc Kudisch as a charismatic Snake in the Adam and Eve piece and narrator of the other two pieces fully deserved their co-star billing. Both James and Kudisch give enthralling testosterone fuelled performances that match Chenoweth's fieriness tooth for tooth.

Director Gary Griffin certainly is a capable director, and has everything he could possibly want with his star power, but his vision of the tree isn't necessarily a fruitful one, nor is it tainted with worms either. He could have been helped by his normally spot on design team that must have let their understudies fulfill their requirements for this production. Scenic Design by John Lee Beatty; Costume Design by Jess Goldstein; and Lighting Design by Donald Holder all fall short of their usual splendor, leaving the actors to achieve even more.

Very typical of Roundabout to attract big names, do an obscure revival of show nobody has thought about for years, make audience-goers realize what a chestnut it is, and leave theatre-goers with an unfulfilled artistic vision that makes us long for those golden days gone by. With this cast though, onstage talent in this revival is obviously not what is missing, but instead captivating above and beyond.


Updated On: 12/10/06 at 12:52 PM

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 12/10/06 at 12:55pm

I thought d'Arcy james was good, but miscast in acts two and three

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 12/10/06 at 12:59pm

The whole show seemed like something you get out of a machine in a grocery store for 50 cents.

Glad you thought it was wonderful...I did not.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 12/10/06 at 1:00pm

i'd say 25 cents. That seems to have been the budget.

[LaCageAuxFollesFan2]

Posted: 12/10/06 at 1:02pm

I didn't think the show itself was the WONDERFUL - darling yes - not the be all and end all of musical theatre. The performances to me made up for what was lacking elsewhere thought. A funny, if not perfect, evening at the theatre.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 12/10/06 at 1:10pm

How can it be a perfect night at the theatre if the show wasn't wonderful?

[aspiringactress]

Posted: 12/10/06 at 1:11pm

"if not perfect"

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 12/10/06 at 1:13pm

Sorry, I misinterpreted.

[MotorTink]

Posted: 12/10/06 at 1:17pm

I have not gotten to see TAT and I don't think I will get a chance too. But thank you for the informative and well written review!

[NJRae]

Posted: 12/10/06 at 4:16pm

I can't wait to see this. Great review, but would be much better if poor Marc Kudisch's name had been spelled correctly more than once. Spell check please!

[LaCageAuxFollesFan2]

Posted: 12/10/06 at 9:04pm

Kudisch's name is corrected. Sorry about that.

And youre welcome for the review. If you do have a chance and are looking for something to do some evening, the other revivals this season (A Chorus Line, Company, Les Mis) are all stronger productions, but to see this cast is something.

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 12/10/06 at 9:10pm

I think they had almoust no set for Act 1 because they wanted the audience to imagine Eden. When I was thinking about how I would design the show and asked "What does Eden look like?" I realized that Eden means something else to everybody, and it looks different to everybody.

[James2]

Posted: 12/10/06 at 9:18pm

What about Walter Charles? I think it's a shame that people forget to include him in their reviews.

[LaCageAuxFollesFan2]

Posted: 12/10/06 at 9:19pm

thats because he's vastly underused.

[NJRae]

Posted: 12/10/06 at 9:19pm

Thanks for correcting the spelling. Sorry if it sounded like I was being snippy . . . I have a real thing about incorrect spelling of people's names!

I have already seen Les Mis (seeing it again this week) and am planning to see ACL at some point but I really can't wait to see The Apple Tree. And I confess that most of the reason is for the cast! I've never seen Kristin live and am dying to . . . and Marc is actually a cousin of mine (by marriage, who I have never met) so it would be nice to see and maybe meet him. Not seeing it til Feb. though so have a while to wait.