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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2018
THEATER: Ruben and Clay's Holiday TV Special
(Minus The Cameras)
RUBEN AND CLAY'S FIRST ANNUAL CHRISTMAS CAROL
FAMILY FUN PAGEANT SPECTACULAR REUNION SHOW **
out of ****
IMPERIAL THEATER
Okay, if you have any interest in Ruben and Clay's First Annual
Christmas Carol Family Fun Pageant Spectacular Reunion Show, by
all means go ahead! If you're on the fence, one has to wonder why? Are
you worried they won't sing enough Christmas songs or make enoughAmerican Idol references or deliver enough groan-worthy jokes? Fear
not! If you're asking yourself, who are Ruben and Clay, well then thisprobably isn't for you. Unless that is, you're a tourist and you'd like togo to a Broadway show but don't want to spend $200 and you'vealready seen the Rockettes and you're in town and apparently
Hamilton tickets are really hard to get (who knew?) and you just want
a break from walking in which case, I think you're in luck!
This is the second year in a row someone has plopped a TV-centric
holiday show onto Broadway, but this time it's actually more of a
present for tourists instead of a trap. That earlier show included
winners of The Voice, America's Got Talent and the like, which is to
say shows that aren't American Idol. And we all know American Idol
is the talent show that has actually discovered talent in recent years:Oscar-winning, Grammy-winning and (eventually) Tony-winning
talent. (Constantine Maroulis was nominated for a Tony Award in
2009 for Rock Of Ages and Fantasia deserved a nomination when she
stepped into The Color Purple. ) Heck, Clay Aiken already appeared on
Broadway during the run of Spamalot . So this isn't even his Broadway
debut!
Have you guessed that I'm a fan of American Idol? Toss in the factMICHAEL GILTZ AT WORK
Michael Giltz is a freelance writer
based in NYC and can be reached atmgiltz@pipeline.com
FAVORITE LINKS
Americablog
Five O'Clock Lightning baseball blogDeep Pop -- Lori Lakin's Blog
The Back Page -- Jason Page on ESPN
Radio
Cine-Blog -- George Robinson's Blog
Documents On Art & Cinema - Daryl
Chin's Blog
Brucie G's Wondrous Blog Of
Adventure and Mystery -- Bruce
Greenspan's Blog
BLOG ARCHIVE
► 2019 (7)
▼ 2018 (34)
▼ December (7)
that I own a ridiculous amount of Christmas music AND I enjoy
good/bad holiday specials of yore and you can imagine I am the
perfect audience member for Ruben and Clay's First Annual
Christmas Carol Family Fun Pageant Spectacular Reunion Show.
Clay Aiken promises right at the top of the show that it will bemodeled after those Bing Crosby/Perry Como/Partridge Familyholiday specials and Ruben Studdard insists that means a very cheesyvibe. Mission accomplished! The medleys are so non-stop, the gags so
dad-worthy, the skits and sentimentality so on-cue that I looked in
vain for the TV cameras. It's not especially good. And it's not so-bad-
it's good. It's just what it is -- a holiday special with two guys who roseto fame together via one of the most-watched TV showdowns of alltime, enjoyed some success on their own and genuinely don't mind
being joined at the hip even 15 years later. They don the same duds
they wore for their Idol audition, Clay keeps trying to get his name
listed first in the show's title, Ruben kids him about being the runner-up and if any of this makes you roll your eyes, well that's the point.
It all slips by painlessly, though not as fast as it should. Act One wasThe Movies, Books, Theater,
Concerts, CDs I Saw In...
TV and Film Must Watch List
THEATER: "Network" Has A
Star, But No Show
THEATER: "The Prisoner" Can't
Get Free
THEATER: Ruben and Clay's
Holiday TV Special (Minu...
MOVIES: "Amazing" ArethaTHEATER: Time For Stoppard
To Stop?; A "Prom" To F...
► November (4)
► October (6)
► September (1)
► May (5)
► April (6)
► March (4)
► February (1)
► 2017 (6)
► 2016 (2)
► 2015 (14)
► 2014 (2)
► 2013 (5)
► 2012 (18)
► 2011 (15)
► 2010 (10)
► 2009 (43)
► 2008 (86)
► 2007 (781)
► 2006 (2412)
► 2005 (5)
heavier on the jokes -- including an admirably timely rewrite of "Baby
It's Cold Outside." I especially enjoyed the goofy, Laugh-In style series
of one liners. Actors stuck their heads through the curtain a la that
variety show to deliver zingers. The winning gag for my group: "What
does Santa Claus use to clean his sleigh? Comet!" Act Two was moreserious, with the two leads each sharing videotaped memories ofChristmas amidst a showcased ballad, then bringing tears to their eyes
when they chatted about their friendship.
The supporting cast of three women and two men did a lot of heavy
lifting on this nonsense. Saddled with bland material, they did theirjob and stayed out of the way of Clay and Ruben. Julian Diaz-
Granados made the most of his chance, delivering the best vocals, the
right goofy (but not dismissive) attitude to the nonsense and CW-ready looks (he should soon book a comedy or at least a guest spot onRiverdale ).
The whole thing looks like it cost about $5, which actually helps -- the
flimsier the material, the more a hometown, just-doing-it-for-fun vibe
let's you feel supportive, the way one might at a school production. Thenight I attended they were gifted with a very eager audience member
chosen to come on stage for a game of word association. Her hijinksalone raised the spirits (and I hate audience participation). Still, attwo hours and ten minutes, it's easily 20 minutes too long. For
starters, a PSA for the worthy charity Inclusion Project unnecessarily
began act two. (They work to integrate kids with disabilities anywhere
and everywhere and a portion of proceeds benefit them.) The videoshould have been displayed during the intermission. Then, cut one
medley from each act, cut the jarring joke about Ruben using a
bathroom installed in the set's chimney and maybe one or two of theirheart-tugging videos and voila, you've just improved things mightily.(The only other joke that doesn't work is having Ruben flatly reject one
of the cast members as a date right at the start. Her interest in a
boyfriend is a very minor thread, but why shoot her down at thebeginning or do it so coldly?)
If you'll notice, I haven't mentioned the music. What's to say? By and
large, the medleys and arrangements are unmemorable and
uninspired, if competent. The exception, unfortunately, is when Rubentackles one of my favorite holiday songs: Stevie Wonder's "One LittleChristmas Tree." Here music director Ben Cohn gets in the way of thesong (and Ruben's singing) with a clunky arrangement. In terms of
voice, I'd say Ruben's smooth vocals have risen a bit over the years
(rather than lowered) and hold up better than Clay's. Of course, Claystill hits the Olympian heights, which sent the crowd I saw the showwith into ecstasy. And Clay is far more comfortable onstage, banteringwith the audience, delivering the goofy lines and setting the right tone.
Ruben is so laid back he almost disappears at times, though he notably
wakes up during a brief bit imitating a preacher to introduce one ofClay's showcases. (His dry wit comes across better on video.)
You can't complain all this is corny because Ruben beats you to it. Yet
their chemistry come across nicely here, from the opening gags to their
final duet on a Christmas standard that ends the night on a touch offaith...and another big, big note from Clay. Hey, they know their
audience. Whether that audience is big enough to bring them back
for
Ruben and Clay's Second Annual Christmas Carol Family Fun
Pageant Spectacular Reunion Show, only time (and the box office)
will show. It's doubtful. But if American Idol wants to extend its brand
to a holiday special (and why not?) they've got the perfect hosts.
THEATER OF 2018
Homelife/The Zoo Story (at Signature) *** out of ****
Escape To Margaritaville **
Broadway By The Year: 1947 and 1966 ***
Lobby Hero ***
Frozen **
Rocktopia *
Angels in America ** 1/2
Mean Girls ** 1/2
The Sting **
Mlima's Tale ** 1/2
Children Of A Lesser God ** 1/2
Sancho: An Act Of Remembrance ** 1/2
The Metromaniacs ***
Summer: The Donna Summer Musical *
The Seafarer **
Henry V (Public Mobile Unit w Zenzi Williams) * 1/2
Saint Joan **
Travesties *** 1/2
Summer and Smoke ** 1/2
My Fair Lady ** 1/2
Broadway By The Year: 1956 and 1975 ** 1/2
Bernhard/Hamlet * 1/2
On Beckett ***
What The Constitution Means To Me **
The Winning Side *
Oklahoma **
Mother Of The Maid *
Love's Labour's Lost ** 1/2
The Lifespan of a Fact **
India Pale Ale *
Thunderbodies ***
The Ferryman *** 1/2
Eve's Song *
King Kong *
American Son * 1/2
The Resistible Rise Of Arturo Ui ***Mike Birbiglia's The New One ***
The Hard Problem **
The Prom **
Ruben and Clay's First Annual Christmas Show **
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the creator of BookFilter, a book
lover’s best friend. It’s a website that lets you browse for books online the
way you do in a physical bookstore, provides comprehensive info on new releases every week in every category and offers passionate personal recommendations every step of the way. He’s also the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on
entertainment news of the day with top journalists and opinion makers as guests. It’s available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website.
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and also available for free on iTunes.
POSTED BY MICHAEL GILTZ AT 9:02 PM
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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2018
THEATER: Ruben and Clay's Holiday TV Special
(Minus The Cameras)
RUBEN AND CLAY'S FIRST ANNUAL CHRISTMAS CAROL
FAMILY FUN PAGEANT SPECTACULAR REUNION SHOW **
out of ****
IMPERIAL THEATER
Okay, if you have any interest in Ruben and Clay's First Annual
Christmas Carol Family Fun Pageant Spectacular Reunion Show, by
all means go ahead! If you're on the fence, one has to wonder why? Are
you worried they won't sing enough Christmas songs or make enoughAmerican Idol references or deliver enough groan-worthy jokes? Fear
not! If you're asking yourself, who are Ruben and Clay, well then thisprobably isn't for you. Unless that is, you're a tourist and you'd like togo to a Broadway show but don't want to spend $200 and you'vealready seen the Rockettes and you're in town and apparently
Hamilton tickets are really hard to get (who knew?) and you just want
a break from walking in which case, I think you're in luck!
This is the second year in a row someone has plopped a TV-centric
holiday show onto Broadway, but this time it's actually more of a
present for tourists instead of a trap. That earlier show included
winners of The Voice, America's Got Talent and the like, which is to
say shows that aren't American Idol. And we all know American Idol
is the talent show that has actually discovered talent in recent years:Oscar-winning, Grammy-winning and (eventually) Tony-winning
talent. (Constantine Maroulis was nominated for a Tony Award in
2009 for Rock Of Ages and Fantasia deserved a nomination when she
stepped into The Color Purple. ) Heck, Clay Aiken already appeared on
Broadway during the run of Spamalot . So this isn't even his Broadway
debut!
Have you guessed that I'm a fan of American Idol? Toss in the factMICHAEL GILTZ AT WORK
Michael Giltz is a freelance writer
based in NYC and can be reached atmgiltz@pipeline.com
FAVORITE LINKS
Americablog
Five O'Clock Lightning baseball blogDeep Pop -- Lori Lakin's Blog
The Back Page -- Jason Page on ESPN
Radio
Cine-Blog -- George Robinson's Blog
Documents On Art & Cinema - Daryl
Chin's Blog
Brucie G's Wondrous Blog Of
Adventure and Mystery -- Bruce
Greenspan's Blog
BLOG ARCHIVE
► 2019 (7)
▼ 2018 (34)
▼ December (7)
that I own a ridiculous amount of Christmas music AND I enjoy
good/bad holiday specials of yore and you can imagine I am the
perfect audience member for Ruben and Clay's First Annual
Christmas Carol Family Fun Pageant Spectacular Reunion Show.
Clay Aiken promises right at the top of the show that it will bemodeled after those Bing Crosby/Perry Como/Partridge Familyholiday specials and Ruben Studdard insists that means a very cheesyvibe. Mission accomplished! The medleys are so non-stop, the gags so
dad-worthy, the skits and sentimentality so on-cue that I looked in
vain for the TV cameras. It's not especially good. And it's not so-bad-
it's good. It's just what it is -- a holiday special with two guys who roseto fame together via one of the most-watched TV showdowns of alltime, enjoyed some success on their own and genuinely don't mind
being joined at the hip even 15 years later. They don the same duds
they wore for their Idol audition, Clay keeps trying to get his name
listed first in the show's title, Ruben kids him about being the runner-up and if any of this makes you roll your eyes, well that's the point.
It all slips by painlessly, though not as fast as it should. Act One wasThe Movies, Books, Theater,
Concerts, CDs I Saw In...
TV and Film Must Watch List
THEATER: "Network" Has A
Star, But No Show
THEATER: "The Prisoner" Can't
Get Free
THEATER: Ruben and Clay's
Holiday TV Special (Minu...
MOVIES: "Amazing" ArethaTHEATER: Time For Stoppard
To Stop?; A "Prom" To F...
► November (4)
► October (6)
► September (1)
► May (5)
► April (6)
► March (4)
► February (1)
► 2017 (6)
► 2016 (2)
► 2015 (14)
► 2014 (2)
► 2013 (5)
► 2012 (18)
► 2011 (15)
► 2010 (10)
► 2009 (43)
► 2008 (86)
► 2007 (781)
► 2006 (2412)
► 2005 (5)
heavier on the jokes -- including an admirably timely rewrite of "Baby
It's Cold Outside." I especially enjoyed the goofy, Laugh-In style series
of one liners. Actors stuck their heads through the curtain a la that
variety show to deliver zingers. The winning gag for my group: "What
does Santa Claus use to clean his sleigh? Comet!" Act Two was moreserious, with the two leads each sharing videotaped memories ofChristmas amidst a showcased ballad, then bringing tears to their eyes
when they chatted about their friendship.
The supporting cast of three women and two men did a lot of heavy
lifting on this nonsense. Saddled with bland material, they did theirjob and stayed out of the way of Clay and Ruben. Julian Diaz-
Granados made the most of his chance, delivering the best vocals, the
right goofy (but not dismissive) attitude to the nonsense and CW-ready looks (he should soon book a comedy or at least a guest spot onRiverdale ).
The whole thing looks like it cost about $5, which actually helps -- the
flimsier the material, the more a hometown, just-doing-it-for-fun vibe
let's you feel supportive, the way one might at a school production. Thenight I attended they were gifted with a very eager audience member
chosen to come on stage for a game of word association. Her hijinksalone raised the spirits (and I hate audience participation). Still, attwo hours and ten minutes, it's easily 20 minutes too long. For
starters, a PSA for the worthy charity Inclusion Project unnecessarily
began act two. (They work to integrate kids with disabilities anywhere
and everywhere and a portion of proceeds benefit them.) The videoshould have been displayed during the intermission. Then, cut one
medley from each act, cut the jarring joke about Ruben using a
bathroom installed in the set's chimney and maybe one or two of theirheart-tugging videos and voila, you've just improved things mightily.(The only other joke that doesn't work is having Ruben flatly reject one
of the cast members as a date right at the start. Her interest in a
boyfriend is a very minor thread, but why shoot her down at thebeginning or do it so coldly?)
If you'll notice, I haven't mentioned the music. What's to say? By and
large, the medleys and arrangements are unmemorable and
uninspired, if competent. The exception, unfortunately, is when Rubentackles one of my favorite holiday songs: Stevie Wonder's "One LittleChristmas Tree." Here music director Ben Cohn gets in the way of thesong (and Ruben's singing) with a clunky arrangement. In terms of
voice, I'd say Ruben's smooth vocals have risen a bit over the years
(rather than lowered) and hold up better than Clay's. Of course, Claystill hits the Olympian heights, which sent the crowd I saw the showwith into ecstasy. And Clay is far more comfortable onstage, banteringwith the audience, delivering the goofy lines and setting the right tone.
Ruben is so laid back he almost disappears at times, though he notably
wakes up during a brief bit imitating a preacher to introduce one ofClay's showcases. (His dry wit comes across better on video.)
You can't complain all this is corny because Ruben beats you to it. Yet
their chemistry come across nicely here, from the opening gags to their
final duet on a Christmas standard that ends the night on a touch offaith...and another big, big note from Clay. Hey, they know their
audience. Whether that audience is big enough to bring them back
for
Ruben and Clay's Second Annual Christmas Carol Family Fun
Pageant Spectacular Reunion Show, only time (and the box office)
will show. It's doubtful. But if American Idol wants to extend its brand
to a holiday special (and why not?) they've got the perfect hosts.
THEATER OF 2018
Homelife/The Zoo Story (at Signature) *** out of ****
Escape To Margaritaville **
Broadway By The Year: 1947 and 1966 ***
Lobby Hero ***
Frozen **
Rocktopia *
Angels in America ** 1/2
Mean Girls ** 1/2
The Sting **
Mlima's Tale ** 1/2
Children Of A Lesser God ** 1/2
Sancho: An Act Of Remembrance ** 1/2
The Metromaniacs ***
Summer: The Donna Summer Musical *
The Seafarer **
Henry V (Public Mobile Unit w Zenzi Williams) * 1/2
Saint Joan **
Travesties *** 1/2
Summer and Smoke ** 1/2
My Fair Lady ** 1/2
Broadway By The Year: 1956 and 1975 ** 1/2
Bernhard/Hamlet * 1/2
On Beckett ***
What The Constitution Means To Me **
The Winning Side *
Oklahoma **
Mother Of The Maid *
Love's Labour's Lost ** 1/2
The Lifespan of a Fact **
India Pale Ale *
Thunderbodies ***
The Ferryman *** 1/2
Eve's Song *
King Kong *
American Son * 1/2
The Resistible Rise Of Arturo Ui ***Mike Birbiglia's The New One ***
The Hard Problem **
The Prom **
Ruben and Clay's First Annual Christmas Show **
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the creator of BookFilter, a book
lover’s best friend. It’s a website that lets you browse for books online the
way you do in a physical bookstore, provides comprehensive info on new releases every week in every category and offers passionate personal recommendations every step of the way. He’s also the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on
entertainment news of the day with top journalists and opinion makers as guests. It’s available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website.
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and also available for free on iTunes.
POSTED BY MICHAEL GILTZ AT 9:02 PM
NO COMMENTS:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)Newer Post Older Post Home