12/7/2015Theater: Transport Does Not | Evernote Web https://www.evernote.com/Home.action#n=08dd0d3f-0e36-47ef-b474-c930658e9f43&ses=4&sh=2&sds=5&1/2Theater: Transport Does NotTheater: Transport Does NotTRANSPORT ** out of **** THE IRISH REPERTORY THEATREThis ambitious new musical is set on board a ship in 1838.</p><p> A group of female convicts are being forciblytransported from their homes in Ireland to the penal colony of Australia, where they'll serve out their time andserve as a release valve for the predominantly male population.</p><p> Like the men waiting for them, the women aremostly innocent and undeserving of their fate; it's one more bitter trial thanks to the despised British.The book is by Thomas Keneally of Schindler's List, the music and lyrics are by Larry Kirwan of beloved NewYork City band Black 47, the set and direction are by multiple Tony winner Tony Walton and the results areunsatisfying and too problematic to use even the polite term "promising."For starters the women are neatly diverse in their backgrounds and complaints, too obviously "types." PearlRhein plays Bride Riordan, the sensible one who serves as a surgeon's assistant.</p><p> Jessica Grove is Kate, thefiery redhead who fights with everyone and urges rebellion.</p><p> Terry Donnelly is the mad old Maggie, constantlyhaving visions and pronouncing doom.</p><p> And Emily Skeggs is Polly, a Protestant with a newborn babe who resistsall offers of help from these Papists.Will they bond? Will romance blossom between crew members and the women? Will the baby survive? Willsomeone go overboard? Few surprises are in store here.</p><p> It doesn't help that most of the women were cast fortheir acting, not their singing.</p><p> Grove is the one with the notable voice; the rest are shakier and act their waythrough the songs.</p><p> Thanks to a combination of weak singing and what seem to be weak melodies that haven'tbeen adjusted (quite a few tunes find the singers straining for a note), we're left with a score notably lacking.While the book is rather cliched, you're usually waiting for the songs to end and the talking to begin.It seems churlish to say, but in this fascinating setting, it's the men that are more vivid and real, perhapsbecause they aren't so baldly delineated.</p><p> The captain (Mark Coffin) and the rebellious priest resigned to his fate(Sean Gormley) are too vague to make an impression.</p><p> But Edward Watts as Surgeon Delamare and thehandsome Patrick Cummings as sailor Hennessy (sporting a set of gleaming teeth even the nobility of the erawould have envied) are far more specific and believable and have the best pipes to boot, with Cummings inparticular coming into his own in the second act.But even they can't navigate the fast-paced changes in this 105-minute story.</p><p> In Hennessy's first scene, he's soabusive and lascivious, I figured he'd be the villain of the piece.</p><p> In the next, he's sweet and romantic while tellingthe same woman he harassed that she's stolen his heart.</p><p> When Kate urges on mutiny, shouldn't Hennessy (orsomeone) point out that if they killed the captain they'd likely be stranded on the ocean with no one elsepossessing the skill to get them to America in those days before safe and simple navigation? The dotty oldpsychic Maggie is suddenly wailing over her fondness for a perished female passenger even though I don't thinkshe said more than a word in passing to the girl the entire show.</p><p> The captain firmly states his opinion about thesurgeon's proposed marriage in one scene (it's beneath the man and beneath contempt) and in the nextsuggests he be the best man at their wedding.</p><p> Huh? At the least, shouldn't the captain have watched their duetdeclaring love and be seen to soften?Even if you don't have the slightest interest in Australia, The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes will entertain and12/7/2015Theater: Transport Does Not | Evernote Web https://www.evernote.com/Home.action#n=08dd0d3f-0e36-47ef-b474-c930658e9f43&ses=4&sh=2&sds=5&2/2fascinate you with the early years of that continent when the world began to encroach via convicts and thedesperate.</p><p> Keneally and Kirwan have lit upon another intriguing aspect -- the arrival of women as the GreatHunger loomed large in Ireland.</p><p> A few spirited tunes aside ("Hotter Here Beside Me," "The Roaring Forties"),they've not managed to do more than turn this tale into soap opera.THEATER OF 2014Beautiful: The Carole King Musical ***Rodney King *** Hard Times ** 1/2 Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead ** I Could Say More * The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner ** Machinal *** Outside Mullingar *** A Man's A Man * 1/2 The Tribute Artist ** 1/2 Transport **Thanks for reading.</p><p> Michael Giltz is the founder and CEO of BookFilter, a book lover's best friend.</p><p> It's a websitethat lets you browse for books online the way you do in a physical bookstore, provides comprehensive info onnew releases every week in every category and offers passionate personal recommendations every step of theway.</p><p> It's like a fall book preview or holiday gift guide -- but every week in every category.</p><p> He's also the cohost ofShowbiz Sandbox, a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the dayand features top journalists and opinion makers as guests.</p><p> It's available for free on iTunes.</p><p> Visit Michael Giltz athis website and his daily blog.</p><p> Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also calledPopsurfing and also available for free on iTunes.</p><p> Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratingsand reviews.Note: Michael Giltz is provided with free tickets to shows with the understanding that he will be writing a review.All productions are in New York City unless otherwise indicated.
