#1
Posted: 7/6/08 at 12:10am
Damn.
Damn, damn, damn.
File this one under "it looked good on paper." 2 B-list television actors (one with a well-deserved Tony, one with like 12 Emmys) in a glorified summerstock production at NY City Center.
A painfully slow production that showcases no reason for DAMN YANKEES to ever see the light of day again. Ended at 10:40, I felt every single minute. Using the original book, there's a lot of superfluous scenes and songs that could have been easily excessed, and John Rando's staging lacks the one thing the Washington Senators have: heart.
Some will say the show is dated, others will say "PAJAMA GAME was set at the exact same point in time but that wasn't dated." There's a difference - when a show gets a production where you can't take your eyes off the stage, it doesn't seem dated. When a show gets a lackluster production, you start finding the flaws and holes in the writing.
Very little charisma from the leads, but the ensemble does a helluva job showcasing why Bob Fosse has a place in the history books. John Selya was a standout, as the Mambo Dancer in the Act One closer "Who's Got the Pain (when they do the mambo)?." Also standing out where Megan Lawrence (when her microphone worked), Jimmy Smagula, and the team of Veanne Cox and Kathy Fitzgerald.
Sean Hayes doesn't have IT - the star quality, charm, or charisma to carry the show. If you're a Sean Hayes groupie, you certainly won't leave disappointed - he's doing the same shtick he's done for 10 years on Will & Grace - identical line deliveries, same physicality, lot of under the rug gay innuendo ("why does somebody need a WIFE?"). He does play a damn good piano during his major number in the 2nd Act, but he doesn't have the chops or voice to sell it.
I've always had a crush on Jane Krakowski. This doesn't show off anything. Fine dancer, fine singer, same part she's played over and over: the vamp.
Cheyenne Jackson did nothing for me (though the gentlemen and ladies around me started to sweat when he took his shirt off) and Randy Graff was fine.
I'll be happy to take the "it was the 2nd preview, give them a break," flack, but with an Encores! show, there are no 2nd previews. I didn't really go for Patti LuPone when I saw her Mamma Rose at City Center, either, at an early performance, but she had power. It was fun to watch her. You knew you were watching something special. And it wasn't forgettable.
DAMN YANKEES, unfortunately, was.
Damn, damn, damn.
File this one under "it looked good on paper." 2 B-list television actors (one with a well-deserved Tony, one with like 12 Emmys) in a glorified summerstock production at NY City Center.
A painfully slow production that showcases no reason for DAMN YANKEES to ever see the light of day again. Ended at 10:40, I felt every single minute. Using the original book, there's a lot of superfluous scenes and songs that could have been easily excessed, and John Rando's staging lacks the one thing the Washington Senators have: heart.
Some will say the show is dated, others will say "PAJAMA GAME was set at the exact same point in time but that wasn't dated." There's a difference - when a show gets a production where you can't take your eyes off the stage, it doesn't seem dated. When a show gets a lackluster production, you start finding the flaws and holes in the writing.
Very little charisma from the leads, but the ensemble does a helluva job showcasing why Bob Fosse has a place in the history books. John Selya was a standout, as the Mambo Dancer in the Act One closer "Who's Got the Pain (when they do the mambo)?." Also standing out where Megan Lawrence (when her microphone worked), Jimmy Smagula, and the team of Veanne Cox and Kathy Fitzgerald.
Sean Hayes doesn't have IT - the star quality, charm, or charisma to carry the show. If you're a Sean Hayes groupie, you certainly won't leave disappointed - he's doing the same shtick he's done for 10 years on Will & Grace - identical line deliveries, same physicality, lot of under the rug gay innuendo ("why does somebody need a WIFE?"). He does play a damn good piano during his major number in the 2nd Act, but he doesn't have the chops or voice to sell it.
I've always had a crush on Jane Krakowski. This doesn't show off anything. Fine dancer, fine singer, same part she's played over and over: the vamp.
Cheyenne Jackson did nothing for me (though the gentlemen and ladies around me started to sweat when he took his shirt off) and Randy Graff was fine.
I'll be happy to take the "it was the 2nd preview, give them a break," flack, but with an Encores! show, there are no 2nd previews. I didn't really go for Patti LuPone when I saw her Mamma Rose at City Center, either, at an early performance, but she had power. It was fun to watch her. You knew you were watching something special. And it wasn't forgettable.
DAMN YANKEES, unfortunately, was.
Updated On: 7/6/08 at 12:10 AM
