Ok. I'm at a keyboard now.
I don't have a program. They don't give them to the free seats, and when the show was over, I forgot to pick one up. So, I don't have a song list.
I did not see the original The Unsinkable Molly Brown. I've only seen the movie. As I noted, and as BK noted, this is an entirely different show. The refrain through the show is "Call Me Molly". Which, per my visit to the Molly Brown House in Denver, would never have happened. Ah well.
As I noted, we really enjoyed Act One. It does open with the miners singing "Colorado My Home" - which is now a scene setter, rather than a heartfelt cry of Harve Presnell. Beth Malone just owns the huge Muny stage from the moment she enters. She is spunky, firey, independent, brass, bold, energetic and just alive. She is a Molly that people would follow - as the characters do in this show. "I Aint Down Yet" is lively - with lots of clambering over set pieces. (Aside, the set is one of the weakest I've seen at The Muny - it looks cheap and bare). Whitney Bashor as Julia has a sweet soprano voice - I hadn't expected to hear those notes! Julia is the one who teaches Molly reading, writing and arithmetic and some ideas about being "ladylike". Marc Kudisch in Act One is a strong JJ Brown - his scene where he proposes to Molly is wonderful. "Belly Up To The Bar" boys is kind of shoe-horned in. "Hey - remember that song we used to sing - let's sing it" but the choreography and energy is so high (and remarkable in the heat and humidity) that you forgive the placement and just enjoy the heck out of it. JJ and Molly are given a coterie of miners to play off of, who appear again in the second act. Not quite caricatured immigrant miners - and while they should feel more essential to the story - given what happens in Act Two - they did not fill that niche for me. Act One ends with Molly goading JJ into figuring out how to turn the worthless silver mine into a gold mine and the Brown's getting a share of ownership allowing them to become rich. Throughout Act One, Malone is "unsinkable" - as she sings and states, she and those around her "ain't down". And my spirits rose with her. Act One felt a little a big old fashioned musical to me - and I was loving every minute of it. As I noted, though, Act One came in at at about 80 minutes. It didn't drag - but it felt like an entire show.
I wish I could say the same for Act Two. Act Two seemed pieced together. Songs seemed like snippets rather than full throated character pieces. The Sacred 36 make a nice entrance, but then are just afterthoughts until the hilarious "Cup of Tea" number. This show does emphasize the social progressiveness and philanthropy of the real Margaret Brown. But, the show questions whether those endeavors were because of who Molly Brown is at her heart - or whether it is because she wants recognition and acceptance. JJ is uncomfortable in Denver from the start of Act One and the gradual divide that opens up between he and Molly, as a result, seems a little forced. The number where Molly goes to Europe and has three beaus chasing her did not work for me at all. We do get to the Titanic at the end. Molly takes charge of the lifeboat - although the man originally running the boat is not doom and gloom enough to warrant her actions. The big number she sings starts off great - a capella - and starts to build as she walks out of the boat - but if felt kind of "by the numbers" to me. It didn't have the big emotional heft for me that it may be intended to have. This is not for the lack of effort by Beth Malone who gives it her all. That said, the final scene in NY is wonderful - even if contrived. There is an emotional payoff at the end for Molly and JJ and the audience - which even if not true to life - is right for the show. Even though Act Two probably clocks in at 65 minutes - i didn't see when Act Two started, but it was probably around 10 p.m. - it felt longer than Act One. Other than "Cup of Tea", there really weren't any BIG numbers to take your breath away.
We are happy we made the drive to The Muny. I mostly enjoyed the show. My spouse and daughter had some of the same reactions. Act One was terrific. Act Two was less so.
And Beth Malone is a star. Whatever the weaknesses of the show - watching her was worth every minute. (I can't say, every dollar, because well, we sat in the free seats).
Updated On: 2/15/20 at 11:23 AM
Still, I wasn't ... enamored with any of it. It looks like fine stock, but not necessarily something moving east. I could be very wrong, and not for the first time.
