What a score-driven show. I was there last night, and absolutely besotted with the music. The premise is strong, but, well, it's also the whole story. It's really a situation that isn't so much dramatized as presented. Gideon comes home, confronts his demons, more or less all at once, and then they re-play themselves in various combinations and permutations while a ship is built. Even with a sad death there aren't significant turns in the story, and virtually no real plot developments in act two until the final moments. Somehow, it doesn't quite matter, because the music digs into the world so fully, and the situation, though perhaps limited dramatically, is so richly explored*. It's an exquisite production, last night embraced with a warm loving celebration in the house. People are deeply moved and transported by the score. Musical theater people are going to want to sing these songs forever, and will. I agree with those who believe it might (still) do well in London. If the story is static, it's absolutely tied to the land in which it takes place. They may well adore it, if the money is there to put it on. I'm getting the CD today.
*One caveat: the Macy's Parade did the show no favors, because the wonderful song was reconfigured for Sting, who sings only a verse of it in the show. I like the number, and was startled it wasn't his act two showcase, as the number suggested.
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling
Updated On: 1/14/15 at 08:33 AM
