A Tale of Two Cities

Well, it was really, really loud (sound man, please turn down Barbour’s mic. I thought my ears were going to start bleeding). And James Barbour is really, really tall. And the lighting was really, really pretty. And there was plenty of smoke. If you loved Les Mis, you won’t hate A Tale of Two Cities. The problem with Tale is that its overabundance of enthusiasm, commitment and investment money far outweighs its musical merits. As much as people diss Les Mis, there’s no arguing that Claude-Michel Schönberg has moments of quite beautiful melodic writing, even if he repeats those same snippets ad infinitum. Honestly, I kept waiting for the “big song.” You know, the one that everyone will be using at auditions next spring. And it did come eventually (midway through the extremely long first act), but it just wasn’t as good as even the mediocre songs in Les Mis. And a side note to the composer, you don’t have to end every song either on a loud, high, long note or a soft (read falsetto), high, long note. She might as well of had the actors just yell out, “I’m done now, please clap for me.”

I don’t mean to completely bash the composer, though. I have to give Ms. Santoriello props for effort. The writing and musical development showed obvious craft, but the whole affair lacked musical inspiration. Example: I know the first act closer was meant to make me leap to my feet in excitement, but it just sort of laid there. I kept wishing they’d just start singing “One Day More” instead. Sure, it ended loud and high - emphasis on loud - and the requisite rhythmic drone on the snare drum was meant to get my blood pumping, but good orchestration and vocal writing can’t make up for uninspiring melodies. It is a musical, after all.

The production itself is gorgeous to look at and it’s probably the strongest vocal cast I’ve heard on a Broadway stage in a long time (those bitches can sing!). But again, it’s all just a beautiful wedding gown thrown on a homely, but rich, bride.

The cast is outstanding and Barbour is especially good as Sydney. I thank Ms. Santoriello for acknowledging that there are other vocal ranges other than tenor and belt. It was refreshing to actually hear legit voices on Broadway. A soprano ingénue - imagine that! I sort of expected more from Natalie Toro, but her high belt was a bit weak. Perhaps she was having an off night?

For full disclosure, I did start to well up a couple of times in the second act, but I don’t think it was a direct result of the score. I mean, unless you’re made out of stone, the story itself is moving: a man trades his life to save the husband of the woman he secretly loves. You’d have to f*ck up pretty bad to drain the emotion from that storyline. So although I can appreciate the composer's and the cast's obvious commitment and dedication to the project, and the beauty of the physical production, they just can't make up for the score's shortcomings.