re: High Fidelity Reviews

The AP is Positive (if a little lackluster):

"There used to be room on Broadway for genial. Shows maybe not of blockbuster quality, but, taken on less demanding terms, enjoyable nonetheless.

"High Fidelity," which opened Thursday at the Imperial Theatre, belongs to that class of musical. The production, based on Nick Hornby's delightful novel and the John Cusack movie, is bright, breezy entertainment — not a life-changing experience but notable in several respects.

It has brought playwright David Lindsay-Abaire, author of "Rabbit Hole,""Fuddy Meers" and other fine plays, into the ranks of musical-theater librettists, not exactly a growth profession. Lindsay-Abaire has done a credible job condensing and dramatizing Hornby's tale for the stage. And director Walter Bobbie has kept the story percolating nicely.

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"High Fidelity" introduces the songwriting team of Tom Kitt and Amanda Green to the big time. Kitt's music is efficient and sometimes better than that, particularly in the rock-fueled comedy numbers. Maybe that's because Green's lyrics are fresh and often funny, a reminder that she is the daughter of legendary Broadway lyricist Adolph Green. Taken together, Green's words and Kitt's melodies do something that every good musical should try to accomplish — define character.

"High Fidelity" showcases an ingratiating cast of largely unknown performers. The show stars Will Chase and Jenn Colella as the pulled-apart lovers. Chase is a personable leading man, unaffected yet appealing as he acts out Rob's increasing frustration. Colella, who doesn't have nearly enough to do, possesses one of those clear, crisp Olivia Newton-John voices — and that's a compliment.

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"High Fidelity" is the latest in a trend of stage adaptations of movie hits — reworkings that have included "Footloose,""Saturday Night Fever,""The Wedding Singer,""Dirty Dancing" (now in London and next year in Toronto) and "Legally Blonde," opening on Broadway in the spring.

Most have been negligible in their impact on musical theater. "High Fidelity" won't trailblaze either. But its charms are considerable and don't be surprised if you fall under its spell.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/12/07/entertainment/e135917S02.DTL

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It's certainly a nice review, but the phrase "damning with faint praise" does come to mind. It's sort of saying "if you go in not expecting too much, you should enjoy it." Is that a high enough endorsement to convince legions of tourists to plunk down $110 a piece to see it? I guess we'll see.........

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sorry, margo! I started my own thread. I'm sure yours is the one to post on, so I'll comment that those Broadway.com 'real' people liked it, too. I know, not very valid, but still!

http://www.broadway.com/gen/general.aspx?ci=541597

Talkin Broadway is Mixed:

".... this new one at the Imperial that, for better or worse, unites musical and romantic obsession into the best new musical comedy Broadway has seen this year.

Granted, the competition hasn't been stellar. As much as one might appreciate Man in Chair's inclinations, the fantasy world conjured by his favorite cast recording oozes post-modern commentary from every groove. As for The Wedding Singer, it believes laughs derive almost exclusively from ridiculing the trends of its 1980s setting and that feelings need by no less synthetic than the fashions. The more down-to-earth, straightforward High Fidelity was perhaps destined to win by default, but this show at its best never feels like settling.

The score, by Tom Kitt (music) and Amanda Green (lyrics), is an infectious approximation of a range of rock genres infinitely smarter and smoother than The Wedding Singer's parodic soundtrack. David Lindsay-Abaire's book cleverly plumbs the troubles of rock enthusiast Rob Gordon (Will Chase), still smarting from being dumped by his girlfriend Laura (Jenn Colella) and willing to do anything and everything necessary to win her back, in ways that skirt the sociopathic self-pity that make the hermetic Man in Chair little more than a victim of his own insecurities.

When the book and score really cohere, they electrify.

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Were High Fidelity on only the first stop of a three-city out-of-town tryout, you might well be positive its producers had a huge hit on their hands. Unfortunately, as a finished product, it's a titanically promising disappointment.

While it touches on most of the basic points of its source material, the Nick Hornby novel and the Touchstone Pictures film adapted from it, the musical succeeds in identifying and amplifying only Rob and his cronies' overgrown childishness. You understand, both from the writing and especially Chase's dynamic performance, how Rob has let himself stagnate as a lover and an adult working in a record store that does its best to scare away customers.

But the core of the story, Rob and Laura's relationship, is tossed into the discount bin, and with it go High Fidelity's aspirations for first-rate rock-musical comedy fusion. Both rock songs and musicals strive to communicate feelings, but that's hard here: Laura is relegated to a bland, reactive supporting role that involves her taking up with a spiritualist named Ian (Jeb Brown), but doesn't define her role as the lynchpin of Rob's existence.

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If this highlight's Rob's problem of looking beyond himself to see the person lying next to him, it does so too well: It gives Chase a wonderful starmaking opportunity, and you won't find a musical actor doing more energetic work this season, but without a focus for his pursuits, Rob is an incompletely realized musical lead.

Lindsay-Abaire, Kitt, and Green need to learn just what Rob must: There's more to life than him. Walter Bobbie directs with wit and flair, choreographer Christopher Gattelli contributes greatly to the show's kinetic appeal with some impressive dances, and Anna Louizos's set and Ken Billington's lighting properly capture the proper underground-concert atmosphere, but it's not enough to compensate for writing still two or three drafts away from satisfying in a Broadway house. Yet in isolated moments, you sense glimmers of brilliance that make it impossible to dismiss the show outright.



http://www.talkinbroadway.com/world/HighFidelity.html

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Updated On: 12/7/06 at 06:47 PM

Broadway.com is officially the lamest website ever.

No I totally get it. Personally I hated the show, but not as much as a lot of other stuff out there. I understand people who like the show. But to say that it's the best show you've seen in years? Come on!
-BJH

Wow. Brantley was quite harsh.

That review could really send this show on its way out...

Brantley's review is spot on, though I do agree with kidmanboy that the Wedding Singer reference is totally unnecessary and uncalled for. Other than that...right on Brantley!
-BJH

Kind of expected it, but still not happy about it.

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Ban Walter Bobbie from Broadway!

Variety is Mostly Negative:

"Some cover versions are just bad ideas. For every incisive reinterpretation like Sid Vicious' "My Way," there's an ill-considered embarrassment like Madonna's "American Pie" or Britney's "I Love Rock 'n' Roll." "High Fidelity" doesn't rival those affronts to popular music history, but it suffers from a similar kind of fundamental mismatch. The introspective story of a vinyl junkie whose pattern of being rejected by women reflects a failure to channel his passion for music into other areas of his life, Nick Hornby's funny and insightful 1995 novel was just never meant to be a Broadway musical.
There are some talented people involved here and a likable cast that makes the show by no means laborious to sit through. But it lacks charm, sincerity and heart. That absence can partly be traced to the music. As much as fashion, shopping or dating became the defining obsession of protagonists in a whole wave of disposable chick lit, in Hornby's far smarter male equivalent, floundering thirtysomething Rob is his eclectic music collection.

This is a guy who bows his head in respect to trailblazers like the Beatles and the Kinks; soul gods like Marvin, Otis and Aretha; punk iconoclasts such as the Sex Pistols and Stiff Little Fingers; rockers like the Clash and the Pretenders; and cult outfits like Belle & Sebastian and Stereolab. Take all that away and substitute generic, imitative pop-rock songs and you have a show that doesn't compute. Not only is Rob asked to listen to music that probably leaves him cold, he's forced to sing it.
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The savvy balance between adolescent narcissism and wry self-effacement in co-screenwriter John Cusack's performance as Rob certainly helped make the 2000 screen adaptation an understated charmer. But in addition, music as a vital popular language was embedded deep in the film's DNA. In David Lindsay-Abaire's book for the musical, by contrast, it's what the main character and his similarly stunted music-geek buddies are into, but it's not the soul of the show. In fact, the show has no soul.

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Borrowing riffs from all over the popular music map, Tom Kitt's tunes are energetic but unmemorable. With lyrics like "I slept with someone who handled Kurt Cobain's intervention/He taught me all these tantric moves/And he's really good at frenchin'," Amanda Green has a long way to go before living up to her artistic pedigree (she's Adolph Green's daughter). She does score occasional comic points, even if the strain of striving for coolness shows in both lyrics and profanity-strewn dialogue.

Should a traditional Broadway musical even try to be hip? That's one of the questions "High Fidelity" raises as it reaches for credibility by mocking easy targets like Celine Dion and John Tesh. This bland show is crippled by its failure to convincingly tap the pulse of pop culture or to mine the romantic heartache of its source material."


http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117932269.html?categoryid=1265&cs=1

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Jeeze, Brantley barely even reviewed the cast...and the show, itself.

I did, Munk and I'll be honest. I didn't hate it. I enjoyed the music (it's catchy), the cast was pretty decent, the set was great (though when the set is the best part, you know something's wrong). I recently heard Norbert's version of Top 5 Break Ups and it's a totally different (and better song).

I know what you mean by forgettable - it's THERE and nothing stands out.

I was hoping for good reviews, but, of course, expected them to be horrible.

If Brantley were the only game in town, HiFi would be shut down tomorrow.

Updated On: 12/7/06 at 10:45 PM