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12/16/2015Theater: 'It Shoulda Been You' Ties the Knot, Clumsily | Evernote Web
https://www.evernote.com/Home.action#n=d9a33890-8275-4368-8657-63bf5f17980f&ses=4&sh=2&sds=5&1/4Theater: 'It Shoulda Been You' Ties the Knot,ClumsilyTheater: 'It Shoulda Been You' Ties the Knot, ClumsilyIT SHOULDA BEEN YOU ** out of **** BROOKS ATKINSON THEATRESome people like to go to weddings so they can sit in the back and make catty remarks about the bride's dress,the tacky reception, the hung-over best man and place bets on how long it'll last. Not me. Some people imaginecritics love to see shows that don't work so they can sit up front and make catty remarks about the self-defeatingset design, the flat lyrics, the handsome best man and place bets on how long it'll last. Not me. Actually, it's a lotmore fun to see a wedding of two people in love where no one really cares about the details of the reception andyou believe they're gonna last. And it's a lot more fun to see a new show you love, share all the good thingsabout it and place bets on how long it'll run and run.You know where I'm going with this, right? It Shoulda Been You is a work of love by director David Hyde Pierce,who has marshaled an excellent cast making the most of pretty thin, obvious material by his husband, BrianHargrove. That's a worthy and exciting bit of trivia: the first husband to direct his partner's new musical onBroadway. It's a musical comedy taking place during the day of a wedding with all the usual complications andsome unusual ones. But despite some modern twists to the formula, it's as familiar and unimaginative as youmight fear. Innocuous, to be sure. But what a sad compliment to give a new musical; one would rather sendregrets and a fancy blender.Hargrove's book is filled with stereotypes and old gags (the music and concept is by Barbara Anselmi). A niceJewish girl is marrying a goyish (but awfully good-looking) boy. Can you imagine? The mothers-in-law don't getalong. Really! The wedding planner is terribly efficient, almost psychic in the way he predicts and prepares for(almost) every contingency and is gayer than a three dollar bill. OMG! The full-figured older sister deals with fatjokes, pretends she is perfectly happy but despairs of her own happy ending. Will she find it? Do you have toask?If a father asks which way the bride's stern, dominating mother has gone, you can be sure he'll say thanks andhead in the opposite direction. It's that type of show. The lyrics aren't much better: "Oh boy, am I verklempt/ It'sbetter than I ever dreamt" is about the best on offer. It's sheet cake from a grocery store rather than a hand-crafted, three tier treat.So here's the good news: the wedding party is filled with talent. The roles may be tired and obvious, but whenyou've got real pros delivering them, time can pass painlessly if not memorably. Tyne Daly is the mother of thebride, holding the stage with casual ease and keeping all the other wedding guests jumping. Going toe to toewith her is Harriet Harris as the mother of the groom. Yes, she's asked to play yet another drunk but of courseshe does it with aplomb. Edward Hibbert as the wedding planner? He'll put a little spin on your lame gag so theanticipation of the obvious joke distracts you from how obvious the joke actually proves to be.And on and on. Sierra Boggess and David Burtka do what they can with anonymous bride and groom parts. LisaHoward brings great dignity and a great voice to a cliched character. And Josh Grisetti has a lot of fun with theshow's best number, the elaborate title song he kicks off from a seat in the audience. You've seen it all before
12/16/2015Theater: 'It Shoulda Been You' Ties the Knot, Clumsily | Evernote Web
https://www.evernote.com/Home.action#n=d9a33890-8275-4368-8657-63bf5f17980f&ses=4&sh=2&sds=5&2/4but moment to moment the cast doesn't make you mind so much. They can't paper over the anonymous natureof most of the songs, though Howard gives sparkle to her big moments on the opener and then "Jenny's Blues."The problems don't end with the book and songs. The scenic design by Anna Louizos is one of the most oddlyproblematic I've seen in a long time. It's a classic set for what yearns to be a farce: we begin with a view of twofloors at the hotel where the wedding will take place. On one level we see a hotel hallway, complete with fourdoors leading to hotel rooms. On the second level, also in another anonymous hallway, we see four more doorsto four more rooms, with a stairway visible in the background. One can easily imagine lots of doors opening andclosing, as farces tend to make happen.That ground floor looks like a hallway and yet there's a desk in the middle of it towards the start of the show. Isthere a desk in the hallway, maybe in a nook? No, we're actually in a room, not the hallway, even though everyother visual element screams out "hallway." And so it continues for the rest of the show: every scene that'ssupposed to take place in a hotel room (or the salon or wherever) feels like it's taking place in a hallway. Andevery scene that's supposed to take place in a hallway somehow feels like it's inside a room.We're always discombobulated, especially when in an imaginative low point two of the doors jut out and aresupposed to represent bathroom stalls in a public restroom at the hotel, even though they look nothing like thesort. Occasionally, hotel employees wheel in and out some bland-looking little couch/seats to give the sense of alobby or something and it feels terribly chintzy.The plot complications don't help, confusing what little we think we know about the characters and not clearingup the things that don't make any sense. The big final scene features a lot of actors standing around, lookingthoughtful or confused or loving while someone or other explains what's really been going on until we can get tothe inevitable happy ending. One doubts there will be a happy ending for this show on Broadway, which is nomore fun than going to a real wedding of a couple that's doomed to fail.P.S. A panini station at a wedding is always tacky. Chocolate fountain? Bring it on. But a panini station isgauche.SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERTSeriously, this is a real spoiler alert, though I don't want to build it up. It's no fun knowing in advance a show hassome major twist. But one can't really talk about It Shoulda Been You without talking about the twist. So if you'regoing, don't get your hopes up for a "wow" moment; just go and try to enjoy. Only read this if you have alreadyseen it or never will.In fact, the twist -- while well-intentioned -- is an utter mess. Three-fifths of the way through the show, wesuddenly find out why the ex-boyfriend of the bride keeps saying she shouldn't get married. Turns out the brideAND the groom are both gay. They're only getting married so the groom can inherit money from his homophobicgrandfather. Fine. Good! I can easily imagine crafting an amusing little show out of that material. (And for ascrewball comedy built around a gay man and his straight female friend getting married so they can collect allthe gifts, read Joe Keenan's hilarious comic novel Blue Heaven.)But It Shoulda Been You bungles almost every possibility this concept offers. First, the secret is held back untilmuch of the show is over, when it would be more fun to be in on the action from the start. Then this silly showbecomes all serious as the bride suddenly wrestles with her desire to come out. Hey, we're here for fun, not self-flagellation! It takes the wind out of the sails of whatever modest comic momentum they've created.Even worse, this makes no sense. The mother of the groom has already had a song where she says she tried toraise her son to be gay. (She always wanted to be the most important woman in his life.) So you know she'll bethrilled at the news. (Harris gets a big laugh with her "Yes!") But why didn't the groom come out? Clearly, hismom at least wouldn't care, he's got a super cute boyfriend (Nick Spangler is the appealing best man/FWB) and
12/16/2015Theater: 'It Shoulda Been You' Ties the Knot, Clumsily | Evernote Web
https://www.evernote.com/Home.action#n=d9a33890-8275-4368-8657-63bf5f17980f&ses=4&sh=2&sds=5&3/4seems well-adjusted about the whole gay thing. He needs to fulfill his grandfather's will but he doesn't need tobe closeted to do so.We immediately watch as pretty much every parent in sight is immediately gay-positive and supportive,undercutting even further the intense scene where the bride plunges into honesty against the advice of thegroom, the best man and her love, the maid of honor.Plus, the show fumbles its chance to fix the biggest problem in this whole mess. From the first minute we seethem together, we understand Marty (the ex-boyfriend of the bride and the one her parents wish was the groom)is meant to be with the older, curvier sister Jenny. They shared a first kiss, she's crazy about him, he seemscrazy about her and we keep thinking, so why was he dating the other sister? Why hasn't he declared his love?Why hasn't she declared her love for him since he broke up with her sister years ago? (He's been avoiding herfamily ever since.) We're not even sure why THEY weren't the ones dating in the first place.And yet the solution to this plot hole is staring us in the face. Obviously, the younger sister should have askedMarty to be her beard in high school. That would explain why such a mensch dated one sister even though hewas in love with the other one. It would explain why he couldn't share his true feelings. (He has to protect thecloseted sister, one element which is sort of used here.) It would explain the stumbling block that kept true lovefrustrated in the first place. And it would make him even nicer by sacrificing his heart's desire. So why not thatmotivation?In an even clunkier move, the bride and the groom "accidentally" had a night of passion and she's pregnant,another excuse for the wedding. That would be a lot more convincing and fun if it had been the plan all along forthe four people, rather than a case of infidelity.So why not let us discover the plot twist early on, piece by piece? First we might realize the groom and the bestman are lovers, thinking that's the big secret and the bride is clueless. Then we discover the bride and maid ofhonor are lovers and think the groom is clueless. Then various folks discover various facets and try to hide orreveal it to one another. Then the best man sleeps with the maid of honor, infuriating the bride and the groom!Then everyone discovers everything and we have a happy ending. Silly. Light. And we get to share in the funand have things build and build rather than having it all shared at once, followed immediately by aconsciousness raising session for P-FLAG. No, it wouldn't raise the quality of the songs or turn bad jokes intoBorscht Belt comedy. But at least it would have been consistent in tone and solved a lot of problems. Even aboring wedding can be handled with grace by the guests when there's at least a good piece of cake at the end.THEATER OF 2015Honeymoon In Vegas ** The Woodsman *** Constellations ** 1/2 Taylor Mac's A 24 Decade History Of Popular Music 1930s-1950s ** 1/2 Let The Right One In ** Da no rating A Month In The Country ** 1/2 Parade in Concert at Lincoln Center ** 1/2 Hamilton at the Public *** The World Of Extreme Happiness ** 1/2 Broadway By The Year 1915-1940 ** Verite * 1/2 Fabulous! * The Mystery Of Love & Sex **
https://www.evernote.com/Home.action#n=d9a33890-8275-4368-8657-63bf5f17980f&ses=4&sh=2&sds=5&1/4Theater: 'It Shoulda Been You' Ties the Knot,ClumsilyTheater: 'It Shoulda Been You' Ties the Knot, ClumsilyIT SHOULDA BEEN YOU ** out of **** BROOKS ATKINSON THEATRESome people like to go to weddings so they can sit in the back and make catty remarks about the bride's dress,the tacky reception, the hung-over best man and place bets on how long it'll last. Not me. Some people imaginecritics love to see shows that don't work so they can sit up front and make catty remarks about the self-defeatingset design, the flat lyrics, the handsome best man and place bets on how long it'll last. Not me. Actually, it's a lotmore fun to see a wedding of two people in love where no one really cares about the details of the reception andyou believe they're gonna last. And it's a lot more fun to see a new show you love, share all the good thingsabout it and place bets on how long it'll run and run.You know where I'm going with this, right? It Shoulda Been You is a work of love by director David Hyde Pierce,who has marshaled an excellent cast making the most of pretty thin, obvious material by his husband, BrianHargrove. That's a worthy and exciting bit of trivia: the first husband to direct his partner's new musical onBroadway. It's a musical comedy taking place during the day of a wedding with all the usual complications andsome unusual ones. But despite some modern twists to the formula, it's as familiar and unimaginative as youmight fear. Innocuous, to be sure. But what a sad compliment to give a new musical; one would rather sendregrets and a fancy blender.Hargrove's book is filled with stereotypes and old gags (the music and concept is by Barbara Anselmi). A niceJewish girl is marrying a goyish (but awfully good-looking) boy. Can you imagine? The mothers-in-law don't getalong. Really! The wedding planner is terribly efficient, almost psychic in the way he predicts and prepares for(almost) every contingency and is gayer than a three dollar bill. OMG! The full-figured older sister deals with fatjokes, pretends she is perfectly happy but despairs of her own happy ending. Will she find it? Do you have toask?If a father asks which way the bride's stern, dominating mother has gone, you can be sure he'll say thanks andhead in the opposite direction. It's that type of show. The lyrics aren't much better: "Oh boy, am I verklempt/ It'sbetter than I ever dreamt" is about the best on offer. It's sheet cake from a grocery store rather than a hand-crafted, three tier treat.So here's the good news: the wedding party is filled with talent. The roles may be tired and obvious, but whenyou've got real pros delivering them, time can pass painlessly if not memorably. Tyne Daly is the mother of thebride, holding the stage with casual ease and keeping all the other wedding guests jumping. Going toe to toewith her is Harriet Harris as the mother of the groom. Yes, she's asked to play yet another drunk but of courseshe does it with aplomb. Edward Hibbert as the wedding planner? He'll put a little spin on your lame gag so theanticipation of the obvious joke distracts you from how obvious the joke actually proves to be.And on and on. Sierra Boggess and David Burtka do what they can with anonymous bride and groom parts. LisaHoward brings great dignity and a great voice to a cliched character. And Josh Grisetti has a lot of fun with theshow's best number, the elaborate title song he kicks off from a seat in the audience. You've seen it all before
12/16/2015Theater: 'It Shoulda Been You' Ties the Knot, Clumsily | Evernote Web
https://www.evernote.com/Home.action#n=d9a33890-8275-4368-8657-63bf5f17980f&ses=4&sh=2&sds=5&2/4but moment to moment the cast doesn't make you mind so much. They can't paper over the anonymous natureof most of the songs, though Howard gives sparkle to her big moments on the opener and then "Jenny's Blues."The problems don't end with the book and songs. The scenic design by Anna Louizos is one of the most oddlyproblematic I've seen in a long time. It's a classic set for what yearns to be a farce: we begin with a view of twofloors at the hotel where the wedding will take place. On one level we see a hotel hallway, complete with fourdoors leading to hotel rooms. On the second level, also in another anonymous hallway, we see four more doorsto four more rooms, with a stairway visible in the background. One can easily imagine lots of doors opening andclosing, as farces tend to make happen.That ground floor looks like a hallway and yet there's a desk in the middle of it towards the start of the show. Isthere a desk in the hallway, maybe in a nook? No, we're actually in a room, not the hallway, even though everyother visual element screams out "hallway." And so it continues for the rest of the show: every scene that'ssupposed to take place in a hotel room (or the salon or wherever) feels like it's taking place in a hallway. Andevery scene that's supposed to take place in a hallway somehow feels like it's inside a room.We're always discombobulated, especially when in an imaginative low point two of the doors jut out and aresupposed to represent bathroom stalls in a public restroom at the hotel, even though they look nothing like thesort. Occasionally, hotel employees wheel in and out some bland-looking little couch/seats to give the sense of alobby or something and it feels terribly chintzy.The plot complications don't help, confusing what little we think we know about the characters and not clearingup the things that don't make any sense. The big final scene features a lot of actors standing around, lookingthoughtful or confused or loving while someone or other explains what's really been going on until we can get tothe inevitable happy ending. One doubts there will be a happy ending for this show on Broadway, which is nomore fun than going to a real wedding of a couple that's doomed to fail.P.S. A panini station at a wedding is always tacky. Chocolate fountain? Bring it on. But a panini station isgauche.SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERTSeriously, this is a real spoiler alert, though I don't want to build it up. It's no fun knowing in advance a show hassome major twist. But one can't really talk about It Shoulda Been You without talking about the twist. So if you'regoing, don't get your hopes up for a "wow" moment; just go and try to enjoy. Only read this if you have alreadyseen it or never will.In fact, the twist -- while well-intentioned -- is an utter mess. Three-fifths of the way through the show, wesuddenly find out why the ex-boyfriend of the bride keeps saying she shouldn't get married. Turns out the brideAND the groom are both gay. They're only getting married so the groom can inherit money from his homophobicgrandfather. Fine. Good! I can easily imagine crafting an amusing little show out of that material. (And for ascrewball comedy built around a gay man and his straight female friend getting married so they can collect allthe gifts, read Joe Keenan's hilarious comic novel Blue Heaven.)But It Shoulda Been You bungles almost every possibility this concept offers. First, the secret is held back untilmuch of the show is over, when it would be more fun to be in on the action from the start. Then this silly showbecomes all serious as the bride suddenly wrestles with her desire to come out. Hey, we're here for fun, not self-flagellation! It takes the wind out of the sails of whatever modest comic momentum they've created.Even worse, this makes no sense. The mother of the groom has already had a song where she says she tried toraise her son to be gay. (She always wanted to be the most important woman in his life.) So you know she'll bethrilled at the news. (Harris gets a big laugh with her "Yes!") But why didn't the groom come out? Clearly, hismom at least wouldn't care, he's got a super cute boyfriend (Nick Spangler is the appealing best man/FWB) and
12/16/2015Theater: 'It Shoulda Been You' Ties the Knot, Clumsily | Evernote Web
https://www.evernote.com/Home.action#n=d9a33890-8275-4368-8657-63bf5f17980f&ses=4&sh=2&sds=5&3/4seems well-adjusted about the whole gay thing. He needs to fulfill his grandfather's will but he doesn't need tobe closeted to do so.We immediately watch as pretty much every parent in sight is immediately gay-positive and supportive,undercutting even further the intense scene where the bride plunges into honesty against the advice of thegroom, the best man and her love, the maid of honor.Plus, the show fumbles its chance to fix the biggest problem in this whole mess. From the first minute we seethem together, we understand Marty (the ex-boyfriend of the bride and the one her parents wish was the groom)is meant to be with the older, curvier sister Jenny. They shared a first kiss, she's crazy about him, he seemscrazy about her and we keep thinking, so why was he dating the other sister? Why hasn't he declared his love?Why hasn't she declared her love for him since he broke up with her sister years ago? (He's been avoiding herfamily ever since.) We're not even sure why THEY weren't the ones dating in the first place.And yet the solution to this plot hole is staring us in the face. Obviously, the younger sister should have askedMarty to be her beard in high school. That would explain why such a mensch dated one sister even though hewas in love with the other one. It would explain why he couldn't share his true feelings. (He has to protect thecloseted sister, one element which is sort of used here.) It would explain the stumbling block that kept true lovefrustrated in the first place. And it would make him even nicer by sacrificing his heart's desire. So why not thatmotivation?In an even clunkier move, the bride and the groom "accidentally" had a night of passion and she's pregnant,another excuse for the wedding. That would be a lot more convincing and fun if it had been the plan all along forthe four people, rather than a case of infidelity.So why not let us discover the plot twist early on, piece by piece? First we might realize the groom and the bestman are lovers, thinking that's the big secret and the bride is clueless. Then we discover the bride and maid ofhonor are lovers and think the groom is clueless. Then various folks discover various facets and try to hide orreveal it to one another. Then the best man sleeps with the maid of honor, infuriating the bride and the groom!Then everyone discovers everything and we have a happy ending. Silly. Light. And we get to share in the funand have things build and build rather than having it all shared at once, followed immediately by aconsciousness raising session for P-FLAG. No, it wouldn't raise the quality of the songs or turn bad jokes intoBorscht Belt comedy. But at least it would have been consistent in tone and solved a lot of problems. Even aboring wedding can be handled with grace by the guests when there's at least a good piece of cake at the end.THEATER OF 2015Honeymoon In Vegas ** The Woodsman *** Constellations ** 1/2 Taylor Mac's A 24 Decade History Of Popular Music 1930s-1950s ** 1/2 Let The Right One In ** Da no rating A Month In The Country ** 1/2 Parade in Concert at Lincoln Center ** 1/2 Hamilton at the Public *** The World Of Extreme Happiness ** 1/2 Broadway By The Year 1915-1940 ** Verite * 1/2 Fabulous! * The Mystery Of Love & Sex **