Just saw this tonight.
Adrienne Warren is truly a star. If any single one of her songs were in a larger musical, it would be a huge highlight of that production- and here we get them, again and again. Her voice is warm and glorious, her acting heartfelt and emotional. I cannot imagine anyone not falling in love with her Cathy, and the audience certainly seemed to- "I Can Do Better Than That" is a powerhouse performance that easily got the biggest response from the crowd.
Nick Jonas is... really never better than fine? He seemed to struggle vocally at the beginning of the show, which meant "Shiksa Goddess" and "Moving Too Fast" somehow barely made an impression despite being two of the best-known songs in all of JRB's work. He got better as the night went on, both vocally and in performance, and really seemed to come alive as we entered the second half of the show. By then, though, it's kind of too late- the star has long since been eclipsed by Warren.
I was sitting, wondering why people took issue with interaction between Cathy and Jamie, because for the first half there really wasn't any, save "Schmuel Song" which, I thought, really does need Jamie to be playing off of somebody onstage with him for such a long, storytelling number. But then, Whitney White has Cathy remain onstage after "Climbing Uphill," apparently working on her audition material, while Jamie directs "If I Didn't Believe in You" at her. The issue here is that in this moment, it is extremely unclear where in the timeline Cathy is. She sometimes reacts to the hurtful things Jamie is saying, sometimes she doesn't. Jamie's impetus for the song seems to be Cathy singing her audition song, which he treats as if she has started an argument with him. It is just... muddy and unclear.
Unclear, also, is the staging of "Nobody Needs to Know," which totally obfuscates Jamie's infidelity. If I hadn't known that's what the song is about, I would've assumed Jamie was just waking up alone because Cathy was in Ohio. It's a shame because this is Jonas's strongest moment- he sounds great and is giving a good performance on this. Meanwhile, at some point in previews, the choice was made to have the various years announced during the appropriate transitions - "Year One," "Year Two," etc. I found this to be demonstrating remarkably little faith in the audience to follow this show, and at odds with some of the confusing staging decisions in the second half that muddied things.
So yeah, this is an uneven production. The upshot is that Warren is a powerhouse and the band sounds fantastic- which for such a minimal show is certainly a lot.
(also baffling- the pre-show playlist of contemporary pop songs? I mean, I'm never going to really object to hearing "Good Luck, Babe!" but ... why for this?)
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
Updated On: 3/25/25 at 10:31 PM
