Chaplin
Barrymore Theatre
Friday, Sep 28 @ 8pm
I’ve been putting off writing about Chaplin because, well, I
wasn’t sure what to say. And therein
lies the problem with this show. Is it
good? Not particularly. Is it bad?
Not particularly. It’s, well,
mediocre (excepting the incredible performance of Rob McClure in the title
role).
I do appreciate the authors’ attempt to write an original
book musical with an original score. God
knows, we don’t need another jukebox musical based on the tunes of (insert name
of forgotten pop group/icon here).
The score’s pleasant, if not particularly memorable with the
exception of Jenn Colella’s second act solo and Chaplin’s love duet with Oona. I do give composer Christopher Curtis props
for writing an honest-to-goodness legit soprano role. How refreshing to hear a pretty head voice instead
of some whiny high belt.
I love’s me some Christiane Noll, but the score does her no
favors, showcasing neither her belt nor her legit soprano. Noll’s role is also underwritten as are most
of the many characters in the show. But
I guess that is the pitfall of writing a biographical musical. In trying to dramatize too many moments in
the subject’s life, you end up not quite fully developing any of them.
There are some genuinely wonderful directorial moments,
though - the sequence where Chaplin “creates” the look of his signature “little
tramp” character, the chorus line of “little tramp”s creating a kick line with
miniature handheld feet, the boxing match representing Chaplin’s many marriages
and (spoiler alert!!!) the finale where the mostly black-and-white stage slowly
becomes immersed in color.
Unfortunately, the interesting parts don’t add up to a
satisfying whole.
Forbidden Broadway
47th
Street Theatre
Saturday, Sep 8 @ 8pm
It’s been three years since Forbidden Broadway
closed. Trish and I caught the closing
addition in a half-empty theatre with a painfully Broadway illiterate crowd of
mainly foreign tourists. But Saturday’s
sold out performance proves that absence does indeed make the heart grow
fonder.
With several years’ worth of Broadway’s hits and misses to
sift through, creator/writer Gerard Alessandrini has picked the biggest Broadway
stories and stars to lovingly lampoon.
For the most part, the new skits hit their marks as the laughter and
groaning of the über-responsive, theatre-savvy crowd proved.
The most successful parodies were of more recent main stem
productions - Once, Newsies and Evita (“Living Evita Loca”)
- as well as TV’s recent attempt to completely distort the reality of Broadway
via Smash
(“Let Me Be Sub-par”). Some old
favorites are thrown in the mix as well with Disney getting the brunt of the pounding
(with The Lion King and the “Circle of Mice” and the particularly
clever Mary Poppins parody, “Feed the ‘Burbs.”).
Because of the sharply written parody in the above, weaker
skits come off as particularly mediocre (Porgy and Bess, a lame Annie
sketch and a plodding Into The Woods skit that pales in
comparison to the prior edition’s ”Into the Words” parody). But the hits far outshine the misses and Forbidden
Broadway is a welcome relief from recent, bland main stem
offerings.
It’s probably a good thing that Broadway has Forbidden
Broadway around to give it an elbow in the ribs as well as a much-needed
reality check.
Closer Than Ever
York Theatre
Sunday, Oct 7 @ 2:30pm
Maltby and Shire’s score is intelligent, witty and lyrically
astute - adjectives not easily applied to most shows written in the last five
years or so. Unfortunately, it’s also
firmly ensconced in the feel-good 80s vibe in which it was written. In the shadow 9/11, the gay marriage
debate and the recent recession, much of what may have been deemed risqué in
1989 (the date of the original off-Broadway production) seems downright quaint
today.
The four-person cast is mostly solid, though the direction is perfunctory and not particularly imaginative. Anika Larson and James Moye are most successful at overcoming the directorial weaknesses.
The show is at its best in its comedic observations of life
and love, with Larson’s “Miss Byrd” a standout.
When the musical strays into darker emotional territory, I think the
material sometimes tries too hard to say too much.
On a side note, I can’t believe Anika Larson is old enough
to believably play middle-aged. It seems
just yesterday I was cheering on her mechanical bull-riding high school lesbian character in Zanna
Don’t. I’m so old!
I know I should keep on topic and stick to reviewing the
show, but I have to rant about the cast photos hanging outside the theatre. With all the advances in digital technology and
every out of work actor now a “professional” headshot photographer, there’s no
excuse for a bad headshot. I won’t name
any names, but one actor’s blurry photo, obviously taken at least 10 years ago,
in no way resembles how the actor currently looks. I could’ve taken a better photo with my
iPhone. There’s just no excuse. Rant over.
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