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Amazing Inspiring Funny Scary Hot Crazy Important WeirdHero Plus Fringefest #3: Musicals
Galore!
Hurricane Irene threw a spanner in the works when it
came to my theater coverage: thanks to living in a low-lying area and that mandatory evacuation and floodingin my basement, I'm just catching up with some recentshows. The Korean musical Hero had a brief run at
Lincoln Center. And the final weekend of FringeFest was
cut short by storm warnings. Luckily, FringeFest
features encore performances from September 9
through September 26 so people can catch the best ofthe best. Get more info here.
HERO: THE MUSICAL * 1/2 out of ****
How do you say Les Miz in Korean? It's fascinating how
pervasive the influence has been of that iconic musical from the 1980s. It's almost impossible to mount a
period piece like Hero -- which details the Korean rebel who assassinated the head of the Japanese
occupying army and was executed soon after -- without standing in the shadow of that production. Fromthe flag-waving at the beginning to the rousing numbers that rally the troops to the love story on theside, Hero tells the beloved tale of An Chunggun's struggle to free his country with all the trappings of a
Broadway show.
This production with book and lyrics by A Reum Han and Music by Sang Joon Oh has everything but
complexity and great songs. The production design is solid, the choreography decent, the direction fluid -
- all of it lets you know this is a show that can stand toe to toe with most Broadway shows. The cast is
earnestly strong, with Chung Sungwha the focus throughout as our upright, stirring and thoroughly
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decent hero. But too few of the songs take advantage of the large cast on tap. Only one or two numbers
bring out the full cast to belt out a big number when the tale of fighting for independence and freedom is
one that almost demands shamelessly rousing choruses.
The story feels paper thin, just as most tales of George Washington are rather cardboard cutout. An
Chunggun is so noble and true that he's a tad dull, despite Chung Sungwha's passionate work. Even the
Japanese guards are won over by his sincerity. The show's one attempt at complexity was a bitsurprising: in a scene where our hero chats with the ghost of the assassinated head of the Japaneseinvading force, they both recognize a kindred spirit and see themselves as working dutifully for theircountries. I certainly didn't expect that and neither did the audience. The scene where the assassinationtook place got the biggest applause of the night. The scene where the two men duet and see the humanity
in the other? Almost dead silence. Sometimes, audiences want their villains to twirl that mustache. Hero
proves the Korean theater can compete on a world stage; now they just need a show that can display its
talents more fully.
YEAST NATION (THE TRIUMPH OF LIFE) *** out of ****
Surely the most anticipated show of FringeFest, Yeast Nation comes from Greg Kotis (book and lyrics
and direction) and Mark Hollmann (music and lyrics), the team behind this festival's biggest success
story: Urinetown . I was a little worried that they'd outgrown the fest and using it as a testing ground for
new work was cheating somehow. But this show about yeast cells fighting for survival in the primordialsoup where life began on earth is so offbeat you quickly realize it's hardly some slam-dunk commercialproject and earns its fringe-iness fairly. It was great to see it so close and at such an early stage, but forall the pleasure it provided, I'm not terribly eager to see it again.
Harriet Harris has a blast (and is a crowd favorite) as Jan The Unnamed, the narrator of the story, which
quickly takes on a familiar shape despite the odd setting. Jan The Elder (George McDaniel) has strictrules for the yeast cells in his care, but some of them will rebel and try and reach the surface to see what'swhat. Jan The Second (a dashing Erik Altemus) will of course fall in love with one of the rule-breakersand rebel against his father. Some like Jan The Sly (Joy Suprano) just want power. Others like Jan theSweet (Emily Tarpey) genuinely worry about the future and believe their yeast world will fall if it doesn'tlearn to rise to the challenges they face.
It's silly and goofy and certainly good-natured. But the songs are merely serviceable. A tune that might be
called "Love Is Pain" is the standout exception to this rule, along with one or maybe two others. Everyone
hams it up nicely, but it must be said that except for Harris and McDaniel (who both have relatively easycomic numbers) the singing is quite poor. The main young leads all struggled at times with their notes.They seem to have been cast more for their acting and comic chops -- all of them were solid in thatdepartment -- rather than for singing ability. But in New York you shouldn't have to choose. And whileHarris is incorporated into the plot, I wish she had even more to do than grumble on and off stage atvarious times, no matter how winningly she does it.
So why three out of four stars? Because it's fun and in a small space with the right expectations, it hits
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the sweet spot. However the premise doesn't seem terribly interesting or worth fleshing out more and
they'd have to come up with a lot better songs to do so. At this stage, after four years of development itfeels like Yeast Nation has risen to its full potential.
THE BARDY BUNCH * 1/2 OUT OF ****
The Bardy Bunch is surely the most shamelessly commercial of the shows at FringeFest. It's subtitled
"The War Of The Families Patridge and Brady" and posits a bitter rivalry between the two households.
Throw in a love story between Greg Brady and Laurie Partridge and you've got Romeo & Juliet combined
with lots of goofy pop songs.
I wish I could say it's also the most shamelessly entertaining. But, despite a game cast, that's far from the
truth. In short it's the world of those 70s sitcoms crossed with the bloody passion of William
Shakespeare. Unfortunately, the show never commits to a single style. A 70s sitcom plot delivered in faux
Shakespearean dialogue is funny. A bloody Shakespearean tragedy delivered in goofy, cheerful 70s sitcom
style is funny. But writer Stephen Garvey just mashes them all together haphazardly. Some scenes have
fake Shakespearean dialogue while others have bland TV patter and there's not guessing from moment tomoment who might say what.
The story is similarly random. You know the bodies will pile up and you know someone is going to sing "I
Think I Love You" at some point or another. Other than that it's a free for all. You've got bits of Hamletand Macbeth and R&J and the romances. You've also got passing references to every highlight of the two
shows you can imagine. If the mere line "Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!" fills you with delight, this is the showfor you. You can also expect all the obvious bits: a broken nose, a theme park development, a cardboardtube, Cousin Oliver, the dunking booth, magic tricks, Hawaii and so on. If you took five minutes to list allthe big plot points from The Brady Bunch, you can be sure most if not all of them are dutifully
mentioned here.
it's a pity because the cast -- clearly brought on board more for their acting and physical resemblance
than singing -- is up to the task. The adult figures all do well and the lead teens -- A.J. Shively as Greg,Erik Keiser as Keith especially -- are all spot-on. And the anonymous middle kids get their revenge. BothPeter (Jonathan Grunert) and Jan (Annie Watkins) are given the chance to shine and do. Notably, itoccurs at the points in the show where the story is taken the most seriously (and thus is the mostamusing). Peter sings that song about his voice changing but it works quite well in the new context ofhim wanting to take control for a change. And Jan contemplates suicide via dunking booth. Less
randomness and a frantic desire to work in every possible totemic moment from the shows replaced by
more focus and seriousness would make The Bardy Bunch a lot funnier. And pick a verbal style and stick
with it -- or at least be consistent within characters. Maybe the villains speak in Shakespearean dialogueand the others can't quite understand what they say? Or something, anything to give this mash-up someconsistency and a point of view.
PARKER & DIZZY'S FABULOUS JOURNEY TO THE END OF THE RAINBOW ** 1/2 out of
****This is the most promising musical I saw at FringeFest. Peter Zachari wrote the book, created the music
and lyrics with Damon Maida, directed and stars as Parker. I assume he also catered but there's no
mention of it anywhere. It's a sweet, goofy show about two gay friends: one smart and gay savvy andbearish (Zachari) and the other a goofy, silly sexy and none-too-bright number (Joey Mirabile, who alsodid the fine choreography) who falls in love with whomever is standing in front of him. Together, they arepulled into a mysterious adventure involving clones of famous gay icons, a secret society and a desire totake over the world! (Or at least Greenwich Village.)
Happily, the musical numbers are already quite strong. The show begins with one of the best, "Forever Is
A Memory," belted out with tremendous panache by Steven Polito aka Hedda Lettuce. Our heros go ontheir quest and meet up with characters like Cowboy (Jacob R. Thompson, who makes the awkward
GPeniS" seem sweet) and Old Man Jasper (John Weigand, who has fun with "The Troll Song").
The first act was so strong I was really eager for the rest. As so often happens with musicals, the second
act can be trouble (hey, it happens to Sondheim, Mr. Zachari, so don't despair). Personally, I don't likeintermissions unless the show is so long it demands it or the story needs it. This one doesn't and ashorter tighter show would be more fun. But if you're going to have a first act, clearly it should end withthe charming duet between Parker and Dizzy called "What Makes A Friend." The second act needs to berefocused and much tighter. The stunt casting of Rodiney Santiago of TV's The A List: New York is
unfortunate. His English simply isn't up to the task of delivering lines comprehensibly onstage, no matter
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how much his sculpted body fits the bill of the role he performs.
At the very least, Parker & Dizzy should end with our two heros and friends reunited and heading off into
the sunset instead of having Dizzy disappear for two numbers before the finale. Instead it ends very
weakly with the two least effective numbers of the night. "Retouch Your Heart" is a would-be bit ofsincerity that should go back in the trunk and stay there, I'm sorry to say. And the ending is a realpuzzler. Instead of our gay Bill & Ted team back together, Parker literally wanders off to sit on a bench.Then a nice old lady starts chatting with him and sings the bland "Rainbow Lullaby" -- the second"inspirational" number in a row, which is two too many in my book -- and then takes off. What the heck
was that all about? But so much of the show is so good and the spirit of it so delightful, I hope Zachari is
inspired to do the hard work to make this promising work even better for the next time it's staged in New
York.
The Theater Season 2011-2012 (on a four star scale)
All's Well That Ends Well/Shakespeare in the Park **
Broadway By The Year: 1997 ** 1/2
Hair ***
Hero: The Musical * 1/2
Master Class w Tyne Daly ** 1/2
Measure For Measure/Shakespeare in the Park ***
Olive and The Bitter Herbs ** 1/2
One Arm ***
Silence! The Musical * 1/2
Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark * 1/2
Unnatural Acts ***
Zarkana **
FRINGEFEST NYC 2011The Bardy Bunch **
Books On Tape ** 1/2
Civilian **
Hard Travelin' With Woody ***
Leonard Cohen Koans *** 1/2
Paper Cuts ***
Parker & Dizzy's Fabulous Journey To The End Of The Rainbow ** 1/2
Rachel Calof ** 1/2
Romeo & Juliet: Choose Your Own Ending **
2 Burn * 1/2
Walls and Bridges **
What The Sparrow Said ** 1/2
Yeast Nation ***
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox, a weekly pop culture podcast that
reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion
makers as guests. It's available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and alsoavailable for free on iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews.
Note : Michael Giltz was provided with free tickets to these show with the understanding that he would
be writing a review.
Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz
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Michael Giltz
Freelance writer
GET UPDATES FROM MICHAEL GILTZ
Read more
Arts News
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Amazing Inspiring Funny Scary Hot Crazy Important WeirdHero Plus Fringefest #3: Musicals
Galore!
Hurricane Irene threw a spanner in the works when it
came to my theater coverage: thanks to living in a low-lying area and that mandatory evacuation and floodingin my basement, I'm just catching up with some recentshows. The Korean musical Hero had a brief run at
Lincoln Center. And the final weekend of FringeFest was
cut short by storm warnings. Luckily, FringeFest
features encore performances from September 9
through September 26 so people can catch the best ofthe best. Get more info here.
HERO: THE MUSICAL * 1/2 out of ****
How do you say Les Miz in Korean? It's fascinating how
pervasive the influence has been of that iconic musical from the 1980s. It's almost impossible to mount a
period piece like Hero -- which details the Korean rebel who assassinated the head of the Japanese
occupying army and was executed soon after -- without standing in the shadow of that production. Fromthe flag-waving at the beginning to the rousing numbers that rally the troops to the love story on theside, Hero tells the beloved tale of An Chunggun's struggle to free his country with all the trappings of a
Broadway show.
This production with book and lyrics by A Reum Han and Music by Sang Joon Oh has everything but
complexity and great songs. The production design is solid, the choreography decent, the direction fluid -
- all of it lets you know this is a show that can stand toe to toe with most Broadway shows. The cast is
earnestly strong, with Chung Sungwha the focus throughout as our upright, stirring and thoroughly
FOLLOW US
September 15, 2011
Subculture Of
KnockoffFDNY Street Art
On the Waterfront Ballets Russes
Updated: Aspen
Santa Fe Ballet...
EDITION: U.S.
Like 43
Posted: 9/7/11 03:43 PM ET
SHARE THIS STORY
Submit this story
Get Arts Alerts
Sign UpPHOTO GALLERIES
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FRONT PAGE POLITICS BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT TECH MEDIA LIFE & STYLE CULTURE COMEDY HEALTHY LIVING WOMEN LOCAL MORE
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decent hero. But too few of the songs take advantage of the large cast on tap. Only one or two numbers
bring out the full cast to belt out a big number when the tale of fighting for independence and freedom is
one that almost demands shamelessly rousing choruses.
The story feels paper thin, just as most tales of George Washington are rather cardboard cutout. An
Chunggun is so noble and true that he's a tad dull, despite Chung Sungwha's passionate work. Even the
Japanese guards are won over by his sincerity. The show's one attempt at complexity was a bitsurprising: in a scene where our hero chats with the ghost of the assassinated head of the Japaneseinvading force, they both recognize a kindred spirit and see themselves as working dutifully for theircountries. I certainly didn't expect that and neither did the audience. The scene where the assassinationtook place got the biggest applause of the night. The scene where the two men duet and see the humanity
in the other? Almost dead silence. Sometimes, audiences want their villains to twirl that mustache. Hero
proves the Korean theater can compete on a world stage; now they just need a show that can display its
talents more fully.
YEAST NATION (THE TRIUMPH OF LIFE) *** out of ****
Surely the most anticipated show of FringeFest, Yeast Nation comes from Greg Kotis (book and lyrics
and direction) and Mark Hollmann (music and lyrics), the team behind this festival's biggest success
story: Urinetown . I was a little worried that they'd outgrown the fest and using it as a testing ground for
new work was cheating somehow. But this show about yeast cells fighting for survival in the primordialsoup where life began on earth is so offbeat you quickly realize it's hardly some slam-dunk commercialproject and earns its fringe-iness fairly. It was great to see it so close and at such an early stage, but forall the pleasure it provided, I'm not terribly eager to see it again.
Harriet Harris has a blast (and is a crowd favorite) as Jan The Unnamed, the narrator of the story, which
quickly takes on a familiar shape despite the odd setting. Jan The Elder (George McDaniel) has strictrules for the yeast cells in his care, but some of them will rebel and try and reach the surface to see what'swhat. Jan The Second (a dashing Erik Altemus) will of course fall in love with one of the rule-breakersand rebel against his father. Some like Jan The Sly (Joy Suprano) just want power. Others like Jan theSweet (Emily Tarpey) genuinely worry about the future and believe their yeast world will fall if it doesn'tlearn to rise to the challenges they face.
It's silly and goofy and certainly good-natured. But the songs are merely serviceable. A tune that might be
called "Love Is Pain" is the standout exception to this rule, along with one or maybe two others. Everyone
hams it up nicely, but it must be said that except for Harris and McDaniel (who both have relatively easycomic numbers) the singing is quite poor. The main young leads all struggled at times with their notes.They seem to have been cast more for their acting and comic chops -- all of them were solid in thatdepartment -- rather than for singing ability. But in New York you shouldn't have to choose. And whileHarris is incorporated into the plot, I wish she had even more to do than grumble on and off stage atvarious times, no matter how winningly she does it.
So why three out of four stars? Because it's fun and in a small space with the right expectations, it hits
MOST POPULAR ON HUFFPOST 1 of 2
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the sweet spot. However the premise doesn't seem terribly interesting or worth fleshing out more and
they'd have to come up with a lot better songs to do so. At this stage, after four years of development itfeels like Yeast Nation has risen to its full potential.
THE BARDY BUNCH * 1/2 OUT OF ****
The Bardy Bunch is surely the most shamelessly commercial of the shows at FringeFest. It's subtitled
"The War Of The Families Patridge and Brady" and posits a bitter rivalry between the two households.
Throw in a love story between Greg Brady and Laurie Partridge and you've got Romeo & Juliet combined
with lots of goofy pop songs.
I wish I could say it's also the most shamelessly entertaining. But, despite a game cast, that's far from the
truth. In short it's the world of those 70s sitcoms crossed with the bloody passion of William
Shakespeare. Unfortunately, the show never commits to a single style. A 70s sitcom plot delivered in faux
Shakespearean dialogue is funny. A bloody Shakespearean tragedy delivered in goofy, cheerful 70s sitcom
style is funny. But writer Stephen Garvey just mashes them all together haphazardly. Some scenes have
fake Shakespearean dialogue while others have bland TV patter and there's not guessing from moment tomoment who might say what.
The story is similarly random. You know the bodies will pile up and you know someone is going to sing "I
Think I Love You" at some point or another. Other than that it's a free for all. You've got bits of Hamletand Macbeth and R&J and the romances. You've also got passing references to every highlight of the two
shows you can imagine. If the mere line "Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!" fills you with delight, this is the showfor you. You can also expect all the obvious bits: a broken nose, a theme park development, a cardboardtube, Cousin Oliver, the dunking booth, magic tricks, Hawaii and so on. If you took five minutes to list allthe big plot points from The Brady Bunch, you can be sure most if not all of them are dutifully
mentioned here.
it's a pity because the cast -- clearly brought on board more for their acting and physical resemblance
than singing -- is up to the task. The adult figures all do well and the lead teens -- A.J. Shively as Greg,Erik Keiser as Keith especially -- are all spot-on. And the anonymous middle kids get their revenge. BothPeter (Jonathan Grunert) and Jan (Annie Watkins) are given the chance to shine and do. Notably, itoccurs at the points in the show where the story is taken the most seriously (and thus is the mostamusing). Peter sings that song about his voice changing but it works quite well in the new context ofhim wanting to take control for a change. And Jan contemplates suicide via dunking booth. Less
randomness and a frantic desire to work in every possible totemic moment from the shows replaced by
more focus and seriousness would make The Bardy Bunch a lot funnier. And pick a verbal style and stick
with it -- or at least be consistent within characters. Maybe the villains speak in Shakespearean dialogueand the others can't quite understand what they say? Or something, anything to give this mash-up someconsistency and a point of view.
PARKER & DIZZY'S FABULOUS JOURNEY TO THE END OF THE RAINBOW ** 1/2 out of
****This is the most promising musical I saw at FringeFest. Peter Zachari wrote the book, created the music
and lyrics with Damon Maida, directed and stars as Parker. I assume he also catered but there's no
mention of it anywhere. It's a sweet, goofy show about two gay friends: one smart and gay savvy andbearish (Zachari) and the other a goofy, silly sexy and none-too-bright number (Joey Mirabile, who alsodid the fine choreography) who falls in love with whomever is standing in front of him. Together, they arepulled into a mysterious adventure involving clones of famous gay icons, a secret society and a desire totake over the world! (Or at least Greenwich Village.)
Happily, the musical numbers are already quite strong. The show begins with one of the best, "Forever Is
A Memory," belted out with tremendous panache by Steven Polito aka Hedda Lettuce. Our heros go ontheir quest and meet up with characters like Cowboy (Jacob R. Thompson, who makes the awkward
GPeniS" seem sweet) and Old Man Jasper (John Weigand, who has fun with "The Troll Song").
The first act was so strong I was really eager for the rest. As so often happens with musicals, the second
act can be trouble (hey, it happens to Sondheim, Mr. Zachari, so don't despair). Personally, I don't likeintermissions unless the show is so long it demands it or the story needs it. This one doesn't and ashorter tighter show would be more fun. But if you're going to have a first act, clearly it should end withthe charming duet between Parker and Dizzy called "What Makes A Friend." The second act needs to berefocused and much tighter. The stunt casting of Rodiney Santiago of TV's The A List: New York is
unfortunate. His English simply isn't up to the task of delivering lines comprehensibly onstage, no matter
HUFFPOST'S BIG NEWS PAGES
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Music
Film
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Daily-Lifestyles.com/BREAKTHROUGH
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sarah_ross
RetweetDear Twitter Friends pls check this
out: Have We Overlooked the Most
Effective Way to Prevent Terrorism& War? http://t.co/YyoQ1EIR
soundcloud
Retweet'Listening for the Sounds ofinnovation.", a great guest post by
our own @Bougie over on
@HuffPostTech http://t.co/aIT65Ox
how much his sculpted body fits the bill of the role he performs.
At the very least, Parker & Dizzy should end with our two heros and friends reunited and heading off into
the sunset instead of having Dizzy disappear for two numbers before the finale. Instead it ends very
weakly with the two least effective numbers of the night. "Retouch Your Heart" is a would-be bit ofsincerity that should go back in the trunk and stay there, I'm sorry to say. And the ending is a realpuzzler. Instead of our gay Bill & Ted team back together, Parker literally wanders off to sit on a bench.Then a nice old lady starts chatting with him and sings the bland "Rainbow Lullaby" -- the second"inspirational" number in a row, which is two too many in my book -- and then takes off. What the heck
was that all about? But so much of the show is so good and the spirit of it so delightful, I hope Zachari is
inspired to do the hard work to make this promising work even better for the next time it's staged in New
York.
The Theater Season 2011-2012 (on a four star scale)
All's Well That Ends Well/Shakespeare in the Park **
Broadway By The Year: 1997 ** 1/2
Hair ***
Hero: The Musical * 1/2
Master Class w Tyne Daly ** 1/2
Measure For Measure/Shakespeare in the Park ***
Olive and The Bitter Herbs ** 1/2
One Arm ***
Silence! The Musical * 1/2
Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark * 1/2
Unnatural Acts ***
Zarkana **
FRINGEFEST NYC 2011The Bardy Bunch **
Books On Tape ** 1/2
Civilian **
Hard Travelin' With Woody ***
Leonard Cohen Koans *** 1/2
Paper Cuts ***
Parker & Dizzy's Fabulous Journey To The End Of The Rainbow ** 1/2
Rachel Calof ** 1/2
Romeo & Juliet: Choose Your Own Ending **
2 Burn * 1/2
Walls and Bridges **
What The Sparrow Said ** 1/2
Yeast Nation ***
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox, a weekly pop culture podcast that
reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion
makers as guests. It's available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and alsoavailable for free on iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews.
Note : Michael Giltz was provided with free tickets to these show with the understanding that he would
be writing a review.
Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz
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