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Theater: NYMF #2: Stardom, Spirits andSuicide in Three New Musicals
The New York Musical Theatre Festival (or NYMF ) is one of the highlights of the
summer in New York City, an oasis of scrappy little shows that have come from other
parts of the country or are making their world premiere here. All of them dream ofBroadway or at least an open-ended production and the worst case scenario is thatyou can usually spot some talented actor you'll want to keep an eye out for in years tocome. Here's a rundown of three more musicals, with another six on my calendar thisweek.
LIFE COULD BE A DREAM ** out of ****
MOTHER DIVINE ** out of ****
JULIAN PO ** 1/2 out of ****
LIFE COULD BE A DREAM ** out of ****
NYMF AT SIGNATURE
If you wanted to bet on which show at NYMF would get a commercial run, you
probably wouldn't get very good odds for betting on Life Could Be A Dream . This
jukebox from the creator of the Off Broadway hit The Marvelous Wonderettes is so
determined to make the leap, no bookie would be foolish enough to bet against it by
taking your wager.
It's easy to forget that once not so long ago, tunes like "Runaround Sue" and "Lonely
Teardrops" were daring and controversial, that parents covered their ears over"nonsense" like "Rama Lama Ding Dong" instead of smiling from ear to ear. Butgentle nostalgia is the one and only goal of Life Could Be A Dream, which was writtenand created by Roger Bean. Set mainly in the basement rumpus room of a teenagerdreaming of pop stardom, it centers around the flimsiest of plots. Denny (Daniel Tatar)is convinced he's the next pop star and has his sights set on winning a local talentcontest that promises the winner a recording contract.
He dragoons nerdy Eugene (Jim Holdridge) and preacher's son Wally (Ryan
Castellino) isn't far behind. The jock, the nerd, and the closeted Wally need a sponsorfor snazzy shirts and that means reaching out to a car dealership. Before you know it,their group has expanded to include Skip (Doug Carpenter), a grease monkey from
the wrong side of the tracks and Lois (Victoria Matlock of The Marvelous
Wonderettes ), the daughter of the car dealership owner and the gal they all fall for.
Pop songs like "Sh-Boom (LIfe Could Be A Dream)" and "Earth Angel" aren't far
behind.May 12, 2014
This is the print preview:
Back to normal view ยป
Posted: 07/21/2013 8:11 pm
Even spending that much time describing the plot is almost more than the show
bothers with. If Denny's mother tells him to stop wasting his time on pop dreams andget a job, that's more than enough of an excuse to sing "Get A Job," and frankly that'smore justification than most of the songs get. The stock characters and banal jokes
are harmless enough and the audience certainly gave the show warm applause. But
anyone hoping for a little extra effort will hope in vain.
Certainly the cast was game, with the three young wanna-bes coming off the best.
Unfortunately, they almost seem like afterthoughts once the show gets to Skip andLois. (The guys are cast to seem much younger -- and smaller -- than the two
lovebirds who are nominally the same age as them.) But whatever charms the three
actors have (Tatar is amiable, Holdridge is game with the lame jokes and Castellino is
appealing and handsome), those are lacking with Carpenter, who barely registers asthe stolid Skip. He lacks any chemistry so Matlock (who was appealing in TheMarvelous Wonderettes ) is rather stranded as the girl who risks all for him.
It's not until the encore that any attempt is made to present any of these familiarsongs in a fresh or unexpected arrangement. But then comfort food of the musicalsort is exactly what L ife Could Be A Dream intends; . On that level, Bean directs
capably, the choreography by Lee Martino is serviceable and the set (Michael
Carnahan) and costumes (Bobby Pearce) get the job done on minimal resources.
MOTHER DIVINE ** out of ****
NYMF AT PEARL THEATRE COMPANY
During hard times, preachers with a gospel of wish fulfillment can draw big crowds.
That must explain the success of Father Divine (Randy Donaldson), a Depression-eraman of God. Or more precisely, a man who preaches he IS God. Yes, Father Divinesays he is God and if you truly, truly believe in him, you'll never get sick and never die.He also says sex is a disgrace to the temple of the body so you know people must bereally desperate if they reject sex and turn to a little man who insists he's God himself.
People do flock but it becomes rather inconvenient when Mother Divine (Danielle Lee
Greaves) takes ill and dies. Father Divine soon solves that problem by insisting thatMother Divine has moved her soul from one body to another. And wouldn't you knowthat her soul migrated from the body of a full-figured black woman into a skinny whiteblonde girl who didn't seem to get the memo about sex being bad?
His faithful are doubting and a federal agent is going undercover to bust Father Divine
on tax dodging or whatever else he can find. But the real trouble comes from theghost of Mother Divine. She may be dead but she's not done with Father Divine yet.
An interesting set-up and a solid cast are wasted on a musical that raises a lot morequestions than it answers and drops the ball on all sorts of possibilities. The book andlyrics by Laurel K. Vartabedian and music and arrangements by Bill G. Evans takequite a while to establish some facts. We slowly realize that Father Divine is NOT ashyster; he's not even a hypocrite about the sex thing, though it takes a while to figurethis out and we do it more by the lack of hanky panky than anything anyone says. Andhis church is not being used to distribute drugs like the feds imagine.
So where exactly is the conflict? There isn't one. That problem is ignored since most
of the show seems to forget about the very modest issue of Father Divine and
focuses on his followers, who are soon falling in love with each other and wondering if
the whole no-sex thing is such a good idea after all. One member is chased after by
her boyfriend, two others run off to Las Vegas, and Rose Pedone spends so much
time stealing scenes with her nutty Carol Kane-like delivery that her character MissGlo Ray barely gets a subplot at all.
Mike Longo makes a very good-looking Prodigal Son, a standout in the strong
supporting cast. Randy Donaldson handles the acting of Father Divine with aplombbut has a not-so-convincing singing voice. Chris Sams as the Federal agent has tocarry the weight of the non-existent plot and it shows, though he gives it the collegetry. Greaves has presence to spare as Mother Divine, looks great in her afterlifecostume of all white (courtesy of Amy Price) and can sing the roof off the house.Unfortunately, few of the songs register strongly.
By the time we realize there's virtually no story to speak of in the show, it comes to a
close. Adam Hester directs capably and the scenic design by Ryan McGettigan is
nicely suggestive of the era (helped immeasurably by those costumes by Price,
perhaps the show's strongest tech element). But with no obstacles to overcome andfew good songs to paper over the meagre plot, the result is needless to say less than
divine. Still, it's a good example of a show that might not work but attracted enough
talent to make you feel your time was well spent. Surely some of the people involved
will pop up in more shows down the road.
JULIAN PO ** 1/2 out of ****
NYMF AT SIGNATURE
This new musical with book and lyrics by Andrew Barrett and excellent music by Ira
Antelis needs a lot of work. But it's unquestionably the creation of people with genuinetalent. Set in a small town with Americana elements to match in the score, it beginswinningly with the five member band singing that something big is about to happen.Austin Moorehead shows off his versatility on mandolin and guitar but they're allcharming, albeit strong musically than as singers.
The show proper begins when Julian Po wanders into town. It's a town so small that
any stranger is immediately an object of fascination. Who is he? What's he doing
here? When's he going to go? The locals are beside themselves with questions untilthe town big wig Henry (Sean Cullen) corners the man after a day or two of feveredspeculation and asks what exactly he's doing there. And who is he anyway? He'sJulian Po (Chad Kimball of Memphis ) and he's going to kill himself.
Rather than being horrified, they're all kind of excited. Pastor Bean (Malcolm Gets) isa rather befuddled man and is sure he should try and talk Julian Po out of it. Instead,Julian Po talks him into reading up on Charles Darwin. (Bean must be the lastpreacher in America who has never even heard of Charles Darwin. Surely he shouldsay he's heard of him but admit he's never actually read Darwin. The talented Getsdoes what he can with this would-be free spirit.
Henry's wife Lilah (a terrific Luba Mason) wouldn't mind a tumble with Po but he's
more drawn to Sarah (a delightful Corbin Reid) the frustrated wife of handsomeBobby. Since he's going to kill himself anyway, she figures, why not use this chanceto get the baby she so desperately wants but Bobby can't seem to provide? The localtailor Tom Potter (an appealing Jason Gotay) would be honored to make Po a suit for
the big event, little Izzy (Issadora Tulalian) just wants him to give fishing a try before
he offs himself and the unhappy Bobby (who drinks and hears voices in his head)
starts a pool about when Po will do the dead. To top it off, Henry gives the man a gun
so he won't waste any time about it. In other words, this is not your typical small town.
(Photo by Steve Rosen)
The songs here are generally quite
strong with a folksy charm that'svery winning. Mason in particularkills with two terrific numbers, onean amusing seduction song andthe other more dramatic and sad.But throughout the acting andwriting and singing are generally ofa very high standard.
The notable exception is
unfortunately Julian Po. I neversaw Memphis but Kimball's voice
was simply not up to par the performance I saw. His big early number is also vague
and amorphous; it didn't really explain to me why Po wanted to kill himself and was
self-consciously NOT in the Americana vein of the rest of the show. The fault is surelynot all KImball's because Po is the least interesting character in the musical.
That might not matter since he's really there as a catalyst to upend the lives of those
around him. But when the first hint of romance has Po changing his mind about the
whole suicide thing, the entire premise of the show is undermined. The stakes arepretty low if Po only needed a date to give up his dark thoughts. Other problemsarise. Mason and Cullen have terrific chemistry as Lilah and Henry. He's constantlyrunning her down but it seemed throughout to be the bluster of a man who was trulyin love. So when we're suddenly told their marriage is over and she's leaving him (oneof the many dramatic events Po's presence causes) it's surprising and unwelcome.Certainly it wasn't earned by any of their banter earlier in the show.
Tom is a closeted gay man and finally tells someone by unburdening himself with Po.
Good! But stuck in that small town it's hard to imagine a truly happy future unless
Tom leaves. It seems a likely solution is right in front of everyone. Bobby (the good-
looking Jon Fletcher) is handsome and has a gorgeous wife but they're very unhappy
(though they like each other). He gets drunk every night, can't get her pregnant andhides in his barber shop. Surely I'm not the only one who thought Bobby and his
friend Tom might realize they had more in common. But weirdly, Bobby really is
hearing voices in his head and might be having a breakdown. His dream is to be amovie star so he dumps everyone and heads off for Hollywood, mental issues
unresolved. If anyone should be leaving town, it's Tom. And if those voices are meant
to be a metaphor, they should clear that up. Bobby seems miserable with his life --
not a movie star in training -- and his departure feels like a lost opportunity to makeboth him and Tom happy.
Happily, these problems with the book and Po's determination or lack thereof are
offset by some strong numbers. Then the show takes a very bold turn towards thefinale. It's worth seeing for the talent involved even if you don't want to read about thefinal twist below.
SPOILER: Po decides he doesn't want to kill himself but the town intervenes and
insists he has to do it or all the upheaval in their lives might slip away. It's anunexpected, potentially fascinating turn. It also makes no sense and is vaguely done.For a moment we get the sense perhaps Po already is dead and this town is limbo(they keep insisting he couldn't be stranded there).
But that's not what the creators intend. No, they just want to take a surprising tack.
Suddenly Po doesn't want to die at all and they push him to it. This could be great, butas it is, it's not remotely convincing. We never believe Po wants to kill himself so theirinsistence he do it would undermine how much we've come to like the townspeople.Why are they suddenly murderous and selfish.
Then there's the final truly enigmatic line the show ends on, where Po has drowned
and little Izzy seems to have caught him with a fishing hook and he tells her to joinhim. I don't know how else to interpret that except Po saying she should kill herselftoo and "join him," but WTF? She's finally got a mom and is quite happy, thanks verymuch.
I loved the dark turn but a lot of work is needed to make it come off. Kirsten
Sanderson directed well though she can't resolve the mess at the end. And franklythey need to rethink their lead character: his desire to kill himself is so flimsy it throwsthe entire show off. Figuring that out will surely inform the finale. Clear up Bobby aswell (does he need meds, a man or a manager?) and give Po a song worthy of theshow he appears in and Julian Po could become as good as the many talented
people involved.
THE THEATER OF 2013 (on a four star scale)
The Other Place ** 1/2
Picnic * 1/2
Opus No. 7 ** 1/2
Deceit * 1/2
Life And Times Episodes 1-4 **
Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (w Scarlett Johansson) * 1/2
The Jamme r ***
Blood Play ** 1/2
Manilow On Broadway ** 1/2
Women Of Will ** 1/2
All In The Timing ***
Isaac's Eye ***
Bunnicula: A Rabbit Tale Of Musical Mystery ** 1/2
The Mnemonist Of Dutchess County * 1/2
Much Ado About Nothing ***
Really Really *
Parsifal at the Met *** 1/2
The Madrid * 1/2
The Wild Bride at St. Ann's ** 1/2
Passion at CSC *** 1/2
Carousel at Lincoln Center ***
The Revisionist **
Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella ***
Rock Of Ages * 1/2
Ann ** 1/2
Old Hats ***
The Flick ***
Detroit '67 ** 1/2
Howling Hilda reading * (Mary Testa ***)
Hit The Wall *
Breakfast At Tiffany's * 1/2
The Mound Builders at Signature *
Vanya And Sonia And Masha And Spike *** 1/2
Cirque Du Soleil's Totem ***
The Lying Lesson * 1/2
Hands On A Hardbody *
Kinky Boots **
Matilda The Musical *** 1/2
The Rascals: Once Upon A Dream ***
Motown: The Musical **
La Ruta ** 1/2
The Big Knife *
The Nance ***
The Assembled Parties ** 1/2
Jekyll & Hyde * 1/2
Thoroughly Modern Millie ** 1/2
Macbeth w Alan Cumming *
Orphans ** 1/2
The Testament Of Mary ** 1/2
The Drawer Boy **
The Trip To Bountiful ***
I'll Eat You Last ** 1/2
Pippin *
This Side Of Neverland ***
A Public Reading Of An Unproduced Screenplay About The Death Of Walt Disney ***
Natasha, Pierre And The Great Comet Of 1812 ***
Colin Quinn Unconstitutional ** 1/2
A Family For All Occasions *
The Weir *** 1/2
Disney's The Little Mermaid **
Far From Heaven **
The Caucasian Chalk Circle **
Somewhere Fun **
Venice no stars
Reasons To Be Happy **
STePz *** 1/2
The Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare In The Park) ***
Roadkill ** 1/2
Forever Tango ***
Monkey: Journey To The West ** 1/2
The Civilians: Be The Death Of Me ***
NYMF: Swiss Family Robinson **
NYMF: Dizzy Miss Lizzie's Roadside Revue Presents The Brontes * 1/2
NYMF: Mata Hari in 8 Bullets ***
NYMF: Life Could Be A Dream **
NYMF: Mother Divine **
NYMF: Julian Po ** 1/2
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the founder and CEO of BookFilter, a book lover's
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physical bookstore, provides comprehensive info on new releases every week inevery category and offers passionate personal recommendations every step of theway. It's like a fall book preview or holiday gift guide -- but every week in everycategory. He's also the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast
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The New York Musical Theatre Festival (or NYMF ) is one of the highlights of the
summer in New York City, an oasis of scrappy little shows that have come from other
parts of the country or are making their world premiere here. All of them dream ofBroadway or at least an open-ended production and the worst case scenario is thatyou can usually spot some talented actor you'll want to keep an eye out for in years tocome. Here's a rundown of three more musicals, with another six on my calendar thisweek.
LIFE COULD BE A DREAM ** out of ****
MOTHER DIVINE ** out of ****
JULIAN PO ** 1/2 out of ****
LIFE COULD BE A DREAM ** out of ****
NYMF AT SIGNATURE
If you wanted to bet on which show at NYMF would get a commercial run, you
probably wouldn't get very good odds for betting on Life Could Be A Dream . This
jukebox from the creator of the Off Broadway hit The Marvelous Wonderettes is so
determined to make the leap, no bookie would be foolish enough to bet against it by
taking your wager.
It's easy to forget that once not so long ago, tunes like "Runaround Sue" and "Lonely
Teardrops" were daring and controversial, that parents covered their ears over"nonsense" like "Rama Lama Ding Dong" instead of smiling from ear to ear. Butgentle nostalgia is the one and only goal of Life Could Be A Dream, which was writtenand created by Roger Bean. Set mainly in the basement rumpus room of a teenagerdreaming of pop stardom, it centers around the flimsiest of plots. Denny (Daniel Tatar)is convinced he's the next pop star and has his sights set on winning a local talentcontest that promises the winner a recording contract.
He dragoons nerdy Eugene (Jim Holdridge) and preacher's son Wally (Ryan
Castellino) isn't far behind. The jock, the nerd, and the closeted Wally need a sponsorfor snazzy shirts and that means reaching out to a car dealership. Before you know it,their group has expanded to include Skip (Doug Carpenter), a grease monkey from
the wrong side of the tracks and Lois (Victoria Matlock of The Marvelous
Wonderettes ), the daughter of the car dealership owner and the gal they all fall for.
Pop songs like "Sh-Boom (LIfe Could Be A Dream)" and "Earth Angel" aren't far
behind.May 12, 2014
This is the print preview:
Back to normal view ยป
Posted: 07/21/2013 8:11 pm
Even spending that much time describing the plot is almost more than the show
bothers with. If Denny's mother tells him to stop wasting his time on pop dreams andget a job, that's more than enough of an excuse to sing "Get A Job," and frankly that'smore justification than most of the songs get. The stock characters and banal jokes
are harmless enough and the audience certainly gave the show warm applause. But
anyone hoping for a little extra effort will hope in vain.
Certainly the cast was game, with the three young wanna-bes coming off the best.
Unfortunately, they almost seem like afterthoughts once the show gets to Skip andLois. (The guys are cast to seem much younger -- and smaller -- than the two
lovebirds who are nominally the same age as them.) But whatever charms the three
actors have (Tatar is amiable, Holdridge is game with the lame jokes and Castellino is
appealing and handsome), those are lacking with Carpenter, who barely registers asthe stolid Skip. He lacks any chemistry so Matlock (who was appealing in TheMarvelous Wonderettes ) is rather stranded as the girl who risks all for him.
It's not until the encore that any attempt is made to present any of these familiarsongs in a fresh or unexpected arrangement. But then comfort food of the musicalsort is exactly what L ife Could Be A Dream intends; . On that level, Bean directs
capably, the choreography by Lee Martino is serviceable and the set (Michael
Carnahan) and costumes (Bobby Pearce) get the job done on minimal resources.
MOTHER DIVINE ** out of ****
NYMF AT PEARL THEATRE COMPANY
During hard times, preachers with a gospel of wish fulfillment can draw big crowds.
That must explain the success of Father Divine (Randy Donaldson), a Depression-eraman of God. Or more precisely, a man who preaches he IS God. Yes, Father Divinesays he is God and if you truly, truly believe in him, you'll never get sick and never die.He also says sex is a disgrace to the temple of the body so you know people must bereally desperate if they reject sex and turn to a little man who insists he's God himself.
People do flock but it becomes rather inconvenient when Mother Divine (Danielle Lee
Greaves) takes ill and dies. Father Divine soon solves that problem by insisting thatMother Divine has moved her soul from one body to another. And wouldn't you knowthat her soul migrated from the body of a full-figured black woman into a skinny whiteblonde girl who didn't seem to get the memo about sex being bad?
His faithful are doubting and a federal agent is going undercover to bust Father Divine
on tax dodging or whatever else he can find. But the real trouble comes from theghost of Mother Divine. She may be dead but she's not done with Father Divine yet.
An interesting set-up and a solid cast are wasted on a musical that raises a lot morequestions than it answers and drops the ball on all sorts of possibilities. The book andlyrics by Laurel K. Vartabedian and music and arrangements by Bill G. Evans takequite a while to establish some facts. We slowly realize that Father Divine is NOT ashyster; he's not even a hypocrite about the sex thing, though it takes a while to figurethis out and we do it more by the lack of hanky panky than anything anyone says. Andhis church is not being used to distribute drugs like the feds imagine.
So where exactly is the conflict? There isn't one. That problem is ignored since most
of the show seems to forget about the very modest issue of Father Divine and
focuses on his followers, who are soon falling in love with each other and wondering if
the whole no-sex thing is such a good idea after all. One member is chased after by
her boyfriend, two others run off to Las Vegas, and Rose Pedone spends so much
time stealing scenes with her nutty Carol Kane-like delivery that her character MissGlo Ray barely gets a subplot at all.
Mike Longo makes a very good-looking Prodigal Son, a standout in the strong
supporting cast. Randy Donaldson handles the acting of Father Divine with aplombbut has a not-so-convincing singing voice. Chris Sams as the Federal agent has tocarry the weight of the non-existent plot and it shows, though he gives it the collegetry. Greaves has presence to spare as Mother Divine, looks great in her afterlifecostume of all white (courtesy of Amy Price) and can sing the roof off the house.Unfortunately, few of the songs register strongly.
By the time we realize there's virtually no story to speak of in the show, it comes to a
close. Adam Hester directs capably and the scenic design by Ryan McGettigan is
nicely suggestive of the era (helped immeasurably by those costumes by Price,
perhaps the show's strongest tech element). But with no obstacles to overcome andfew good songs to paper over the meagre plot, the result is needless to say less than
divine. Still, it's a good example of a show that might not work but attracted enough
talent to make you feel your time was well spent. Surely some of the people involved
will pop up in more shows down the road.
JULIAN PO ** 1/2 out of ****
NYMF AT SIGNATURE
This new musical with book and lyrics by Andrew Barrett and excellent music by Ira
Antelis needs a lot of work. But it's unquestionably the creation of people with genuinetalent. Set in a small town with Americana elements to match in the score, it beginswinningly with the five member band singing that something big is about to happen.Austin Moorehead shows off his versatility on mandolin and guitar but they're allcharming, albeit strong musically than as singers.
The show proper begins when Julian Po wanders into town. It's a town so small that
any stranger is immediately an object of fascination. Who is he? What's he doing
here? When's he going to go? The locals are beside themselves with questions untilthe town big wig Henry (Sean Cullen) corners the man after a day or two of feveredspeculation and asks what exactly he's doing there. And who is he anyway? He'sJulian Po (Chad Kimball of Memphis ) and he's going to kill himself.
Rather than being horrified, they're all kind of excited. Pastor Bean (Malcolm Gets) isa rather befuddled man and is sure he should try and talk Julian Po out of it. Instead,Julian Po talks him into reading up on Charles Darwin. (Bean must be the lastpreacher in America who has never even heard of Charles Darwin. Surely he shouldsay he's heard of him but admit he's never actually read Darwin. The talented Getsdoes what he can with this would-be free spirit.
Henry's wife Lilah (a terrific Luba Mason) wouldn't mind a tumble with Po but he's
more drawn to Sarah (a delightful Corbin Reid) the frustrated wife of handsomeBobby. Since he's going to kill himself anyway, she figures, why not use this chanceto get the baby she so desperately wants but Bobby can't seem to provide? The localtailor Tom Potter (an appealing Jason Gotay) would be honored to make Po a suit for
the big event, little Izzy (Issadora Tulalian) just wants him to give fishing a try before
he offs himself and the unhappy Bobby (who drinks and hears voices in his head)
starts a pool about when Po will do the dead. To top it off, Henry gives the man a gun
so he won't waste any time about it. In other words, this is not your typical small town.
(Photo by Steve Rosen)
The songs here are generally quite
strong with a folksy charm that'svery winning. Mason in particularkills with two terrific numbers, onean amusing seduction song andthe other more dramatic and sad.But throughout the acting andwriting and singing are generally ofa very high standard.
The notable exception is
unfortunately Julian Po. I neversaw Memphis but Kimball's voice
was simply not up to par the performance I saw. His big early number is also vague
and amorphous; it didn't really explain to me why Po wanted to kill himself and was
self-consciously NOT in the Americana vein of the rest of the show. The fault is surelynot all KImball's because Po is the least interesting character in the musical.
That might not matter since he's really there as a catalyst to upend the lives of those
around him. But when the first hint of romance has Po changing his mind about the
whole suicide thing, the entire premise of the show is undermined. The stakes arepretty low if Po only needed a date to give up his dark thoughts. Other problemsarise. Mason and Cullen have terrific chemistry as Lilah and Henry. He's constantlyrunning her down but it seemed throughout to be the bluster of a man who was trulyin love. So when we're suddenly told their marriage is over and she's leaving him (oneof the many dramatic events Po's presence causes) it's surprising and unwelcome.Certainly it wasn't earned by any of their banter earlier in the show.
Tom is a closeted gay man and finally tells someone by unburdening himself with Po.
Good! But stuck in that small town it's hard to imagine a truly happy future unless
Tom leaves. It seems a likely solution is right in front of everyone. Bobby (the good-
looking Jon Fletcher) is handsome and has a gorgeous wife but they're very unhappy
(though they like each other). He gets drunk every night, can't get her pregnant andhides in his barber shop. Surely I'm not the only one who thought Bobby and his
friend Tom might realize they had more in common. But weirdly, Bobby really is
hearing voices in his head and might be having a breakdown. His dream is to be amovie star so he dumps everyone and heads off for Hollywood, mental issues
unresolved. If anyone should be leaving town, it's Tom. And if those voices are meant
to be a metaphor, they should clear that up. Bobby seems miserable with his life --
not a movie star in training -- and his departure feels like a lost opportunity to makeboth him and Tom happy.
Happily, these problems with the book and Po's determination or lack thereof are
offset by some strong numbers. Then the show takes a very bold turn towards thefinale. It's worth seeing for the talent involved even if you don't want to read about thefinal twist below.
SPOILER: Po decides he doesn't want to kill himself but the town intervenes and
insists he has to do it or all the upheaval in their lives might slip away. It's anunexpected, potentially fascinating turn. It also makes no sense and is vaguely done.For a moment we get the sense perhaps Po already is dead and this town is limbo(they keep insisting he couldn't be stranded there).
But that's not what the creators intend. No, they just want to take a surprising tack.
Suddenly Po doesn't want to die at all and they push him to it. This could be great, butas it is, it's not remotely convincing. We never believe Po wants to kill himself so theirinsistence he do it would undermine how much we've come to like the townspeople.Why are they suddenly murderous and selfish.
Then there's the final truly enigmatic line the show ends on, where Po has drowned
and little Izzy seems to have caught him with a fishing hook and he tells her to joinhim. I don't know how else to interpret that except Po saying she should kill herselftoo and "join him," but WTF? She's finally got a mom and is quite happy, thanks verymuch.
I loved the dark turn but a lot of work is needed to make it come off. Kirsten
Sanderson directed well though she can't resolve the mess at the end. And franklythey need to rethink their lead character: his desire to kill himself is so flimsy it throwsthe entire show off. Figuring that out will surely inform the finale. Clear up Bobby aswell (does he need meds, a man or a manager?) and give Po a song worthy of theshow he appears in and Julian Po could become as good as the many talented
people involved.
THE THEATER OF 2013 (on a four star scale)
The Other Place ** 1/2
Picnic * 1/2
Opus No. 7 ** 1/2
Deceit * 1/2
Life And Times Episodes 1-4 **
Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (w Scarlett Johansson) * 1/2
The Jamme r ***
Blood Play ** 1/2
Manilow On Broadway ** 1/2
Women Of Will ** 1/2
All In The Timing ***
Isaac's Eye ***
Bunnicula: A Rabbit Tale Of Musical Mystery ** 1/2
The Mnemonist Of Dutchess County * 1/2
Much Ado About Nothing ***
Really Really *
Parsifal at the Met *** 1/2
The Madrid * 1/2
The Wild Bride at St. Ann's ** 1/2
Passion at CSC *** 1/2
Carousel at Lincoln Center ***
The Revisionist **
Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella ***
Rock Of Ages * 1/2
Ann ** 1/2
Old Hats ***
The Flick ***
Detroit '67 ** 1/2
Howling Hilda reading * (Mary Testa ***)
Hit The Wall *
Breakfast At Tiffany's * 1/2
The Mound Builders at Signature *
Vanya And Sonia And Masha And Spike *** 1/2
Cirque Du Soleil's Totem ***
The Lying Lesson * 1/2
Hands On A Hardbody *
Kinky Boots **
Matilda The Musical *** 1/2
The Rascals: Once Upon A Dream ***
Motown: The Musical **
La Ruta ** 1/2
The Big Knife *
The Nance ***
The Assembled Parties ** 1/2
Jekyll & Hyde * 1/2
Thoroughly Modern Millie ** 1/2
Macbeth w Alan Cumming *
Orphans ** 1/2
The Testament Of Mary ** 1/2
The Drawer Boy **
The Trip To Bountiful ***
I'll Eat You Last ** 1/2
Pippin *
This Side Of Neverland ***
A Public Reading Of An Unproduced Screenplay About The Death Of Walt Disney ***
Natasha, Pierre And The Great Comet Of 1812 ***
Colin Quinn Unconstitutional ** 1/2
A Family For All Occasions *
The Weir *** 1/2
Disney's The Little Mermaid **
Far From Heaven **
The Caucasian Chalk Circle **
Somewhere Fun **
Venice no stars
Reasons To Be Happy **
STePz *** 1/2
The Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare In The Park) ***
Roadkill ** 1/2
Forever Tango ***
Monkey: Journey To The West ** 1/2
The Civilians: Be The Death Of Me ***
NYMF: Swiss Family Robinson **
NYMF: Dizzy Miss Lizzie's Roadside Revue Presents The Brontes * 1/2
NYMF: Mata Hari in 8 Bullets ***
NYMF: Life Could Be A Dream **
NYMF: Mother Divine **
NYMF: Julian Po ** 1/2
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the founder and CEO of BookFilter, a book lover's
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physical bookstore, provides comprehensive info on new releases every week inevery category and offers passionate personal recommendations every step of theway. It's like a fall book preview or holiday gift guide -- but every week in everycategory. He's also the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast
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