More catch-up thoughts: NEXT FALL, PROMISES, PROMISES

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 6:48pm

There are probably spoilers.

I really loved the first half of NEXT FALL, Geoffrey Nauffts' sweet little play about two men who fall in love in New York City, with the only hitch being that one is a conservative Christian. I was able to look past the stale one-liners (though brilliantly delivered) to see the beauty in this simply written, generally well-acted piece. Then act two happened and the play became predictable and somber, with the acting falling down a few notches, as well.

Patrick Breen as Adam, the sophisticated, older gay New Yorker, delivers the yuks with machine gun precision, and boy do they stink. As his far younger, Christian lover, Patrick Heusinger is fine in a role that doesn't require being anything more than that. Cotter Smith is easily hateable and very good as Luke's father. Connie Smith as Luke's mother does what she can with a wholly unrealistic role. Maddie Corman and Sean Dugan are quite nuanced in their roles, Adam & Luke's friend/employer and Luke's former best friend, respectively.

You know the play will take a turn for the sad in the second half, though the fact that the two men never said goodbye before Luke's accident has been done so many times. As for the theme of sex vs. religion, I didn't feel that Nauffts had said anything by the end of the piece.

Rob Ashford's production of PROMISES, PROMISES, Neil Simon, Burt Bacharach and Hal David's musical adaptation of the film THE APARTMENT, only perks up when Katie Finneran hoots her way onto the stage. For ten minutes, she elevates a dour, lethargic production of a very dour, very '60's musical to heights the musical previously and subsequently doesn't achieve.

There's a lot of promise (no pun intended), and a great deal comes from Sean Hayes' valiant effort to be a leading man, which he just isn't. He tries so hard, god bless him, but his voice isn't there, and he doesn't have the charisma to carry the show. He does do well in the physical bits, however, and he's quite good opposite Kristin Chenoweth, who is just miscast, too self-assured, and not nearly vulnerable enough.

Only Finneran hits the right notes and well-deservedly brings the house down for her 10 minutes on stage.

This tiny show gets swallowed up whole in the cavernous Broadway Theatre, no thanks to Rob Ashford's too-big staging, with choreography that in now way tops, or even comes close, to Michael Bennett's original, which can be seen on YouTube.
Updated On: 6/2/10 at 06:48 PM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 7:57pm

I completely disagree with you about Sean Hayes. I went in expecting very little, and I thought he was excellent. I've seen the show twice now, and a large part of the reason I enjoy it so much (in a guilty pleasure sort of way) is because of his performance.

I'm one of the few who is torn on Katie Finneran. She has great moments, but I don't like her as much as the general populace seems to. She almost feels out of place in the production, to me. And that may speak more negatively about the production as a whole than it does about her performance, but nevertheless, I felt it didn't really fit. She is fun, though.

Also, if the staging is "too big for its britches," thus being exaggerated and self-important, as the idiom goes, wouldn't that not contribute to the show feeling swallowed up in a huge theater? The show might feel swallowed and you may find the staging self-indulgent, but the chart doesn't flow.

I don't feel like talking about Next Fall, so I won't go there, other than to say that it's way deeper than simply "sex" versus religion. SEX is just the surface of it.

What I thought can be found in several of the posts here: https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.php?page=2&thread=1011638&boardname=bway&boardid=1

Updated On: 6/2/10 at 07:57 PM

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 8:00pm

Alright, just too big then :)

[taylorPHENOMENON2]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 8:07pm

He tries so hard, god bless him, but his voice isn't there, and he doesn't have the charisma to carry the show.

Disagree completely. Charismatic is one of the first words I'd use to describe his performance. And it seems his vocals have been rough lately; when I saw it in previews his voice sounded great.

But I'm completely with you on Next Fall.

[Almira]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 8:24pm

"Charismatic" is part of the problem with his performance.

Baxter is a schmuck, a dime-a-dozen kind of guy. Hayes gets by on his very appealing innate charm, but Charisma substituting for character is ultimately unsatisfying.

The production was just mis-cast. Two talented performers, but just not right for the roles.

[Marquise]

Posted: 6/2/10 at 8:52pm

The production was just mis-cast. Two talented performers, but just not right for the roles.

That's basically what it boils down to for me. Saw it again hoping it had somehow miraculously improved. It didn't.