Marriott Marquis Theatre
Sunday, May 5, 2pm
Wow, just wow. This Broadway revival is the (hopefully) last stop after a 25-week national tour. I mean, I’m all for second chances, but the current revival is really just a train wreck. I can’t believe any producer thought this was Broadway ready/caliber. And besides, 12 years seems a bit soon for a show that is generally not considered a “classic” by most (all?) musical theatre experts.
The show has been re-worked, notably given new rock arrangements that I assume were implemented to give the score an “edgier” sound. I’ll admit this score has always been a secret guilty pleasure, especially with Colm Wilkinson and Linda Eder’s vibrant vocals on the original concept album. But the new synth-heavy orchestrations reduce the already power ballad-heavy score into a cheesy tribute to 80s hair bands.
Unfortunately, no amount of electric guitar riffs or excessive American Idoli-esque vocalizing can hide the scores shortcomings – notably the lack of lyrical specificity and the generally unimaginative melodic/harmonic structures – though there’s no denying Wildhorn has a gift for writing memorable musical hooks.
Constantine Maroulis employs his signature curly mane to excess and his pouty trademark “blue steel” is intact for all the fans. But vocally? Hmmm. Yes, it’s a strong voice with an impressive range, but either the musical director has no balls or Maroulis just doesn’t give a rats ass about vocal finesse or about serving the lyric. His back-phrasing is so extreme that at times it sounds like a recording where the technician pressed the “start” button on the vocal and orchestral tracks a measure (or more) apart. It’s self-indulgent and screams - literally - “look at ME” at the expense of the score.
And his “accent” – oy vey! Does Maroulis have something against ending sentences with a long “e” vowel? i.e. “listen to meh,” “…to beh or not to beh” – OK, that last quote is not from Jekyll & Hyde, but you get the idea.
Deborah Cox fairs much better. She’s not a natural actress and at times seems to be giving a somewhat mechanical, though committed, performance. But she’s gorgeous (those calf muscles are dazzling) and has star presence and charisma to spare. She at least gets an “A” for effort.
At yesterday’s matinee Cox was suffering from some obvious vocal fatigue, but I give her props for somehow managing to squeeze out a thrilling last note and verse on “A New Life.” And in a British accent cage match, her cockney would beat the living crap out of Maroulis’ high Brit.
Trish hated the physical production, though it didn’t bother me. Compared to the scaffolding of the originally production, this seemed positively lush. At times the projections did seem like overkill. Come on, producers, give the audience a little credit for having some kind of imagination. And I actually liked the steampunk-inspired costume designs.
If you didn’t get a chance to catch this production, too bad. It’s closing seven weeks early due to low ticket sales.
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