2017 Tony Award Predictions: Best Actor

The 2017 Tony Awards are less than a week away, so now it's time for my annual Tony predictions to start tackling the biggest races of the night. Although a Tony win in any category is of course a monumental achievement, it is the Lead Actor/Actress and production awards that carry the most weight with ticket buyers. As always, I will be using a combination of personal opinion, critical consensus, and industry buzz to determine the person most *likely* to win, even if they aren't necessarily the most deserving.

So without further ado, let's dive into the Best Actor races!

Best Actor in a Play

Kevin Kline and Cobie Smulders in Present Laughter.

Nominees: Denis Arndt, Heisenberg; Chris Cooper, A Doll's House, Part 2; Corey Hawkins, Six Degrees of Separation; Kevin Kline, Present Laughter; Jefferson Mays, Oslo

Of the four Lead Performer races, this is probably the least interesting. While all the men in this category are undeniably talented, none of the performances have really captured the imagination of the Broadway community. Even Kevin Kline, one of the most respected stage and film stars of his generation, hasn't set tongues wagging the way he was expected too. His leading man turn in Present Laughter was universally liked by the critics, but no one is calling it a must see like they are several other high profile star turns this season. This may be partially due to audience fatigue with his chosen vehicle, as the Noel Coward comedy is currently enjoying it's sixth Broadway mounting, hot on the heels of the 2010 production starring Victor Garber.

Still, I can't reasonably envision anyone else winning this award. Denis Arndt's performance in Heisenberg was so long ago that it feels like it belongs in a different season. Chris Cooper seems to have been elevated by the love of his female costars in A Doll's House, Part 2, as his inclusion in this category raised more than a few eyebrows on Tony Tuesday. Six Degrees of Separation hasn't connected with critics or audiences the way I would have expected, which makes Corey Hawkins' path to victory that much more of an uphill battle. There's an outside chance Oslo's Jefferson Mays scores an upset, although I'm not betting on it.

Will Win: Kevin Kline, Present Laughter
Should Win: Abstain

Best Actor in a Musical

Ben Platt as the title character in Dear Evan Hansen.

Nominees: Christian Borle, Falsettos; Josh Groban, Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet of 1812; Andy Karl, Groundhog Day; David Hyde Pierce, Hello, Dolly!; Ben Platt, Dear Evan Hansen

No need to mince words here; this award is Ben Platt's, and has been since Dear Evan Hansen's Off-Broadway bow last spring. Platt's revelatory performance as the titular troubled teen is the stuff of theatrical legend, a searing star turn that is stunning in both it's emotional breadth and raw vulnerability. Platt has also figured out the nifty trick of singing like a dream while full-on ugly crying; his performance of "Words Fail" is Tony worthy on its own, and that is merely the culmination of a two hour acting marathon he somehow has the stamina to perform eight times a week. And on top of all that, he is also genuinely hilarious, creating a convincingly quirky character that deftly avoids the cheap laughs and occasional hamminess of his previous Broadway outing in The Book of Mormon. In short, Platt does it all over the course of Evan Hansen's runtime, and such breadth and depth will surely be rewarded by Tony voters.

It's cute that some prognosticators are pretending that Andy Karl has a chance at upsetting Platt, but I honestly think they are just trying to create drama in what is a pretty straightforward race. Karl is quite charming in Groundhog Day, but I wouldn't call it his best work, let alone the best musical performance of the year. Both Josh Groban and Christian Borle feel like they were nominated because they played roles that are supposed to be Tony-worthy rather than fully earning their nominations, and in a different season might have been left out of this race. At the same time it must be said Groban acquits himself quite well in his Broadway debut, and Borle's work in Falsettos is the least obnoxious thing he's done in a very long time. And  while David Hyde Pierce is reliably great as the well known half-a-millionaire Horace Vandergelder in Hello, Dolly!, no amount of mutton chops and curmudgeonly Yonkers attitude will let the veteran character actor unseat Platt.

Will and Should Win: Ben Platt, Dear Evan Hansen

Check back throughout the week for my predictions of the Best Actress, Revival, Play, and Musical categories, and you can catch up on the rest of the my Tony coverage below:

Nominations React
Best Book and Score
Best Direction and Choreography
Best Featured Actor
Best Featured Actress

A Musical In Need of a Do-Over

Review: Groundhog Day

Barrett Doss and Andy Karl in Groundhog Day at the August Wilson Theare.

The plot of Groundhog Day revolves around a weatherman forced to live the same day over and over again until he finally gets it right, breaking the loop and allowing him to move on. The creative team behind this new Broadway musical, many of whom were also involved in 2013's wildly inventive Matilda, seem to have encountered a similar conundrum in their writing. The show doesn't really start to click until well into its second act, and once it finds its narrative voice the musical promptly ends. And while it feels somewhat wrong to criticize a show built around the concept of repetition for being, well, repetitive, one has to imagine that some of the invention and creative spark of the last 20 minutes could have been brought into the proceeding 2 hours.

The show opens with the cantankerous Phil Connors (Andy Karl in full leading man mode) being forced to take an assignment covering the Groundhog Day festivities in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Shipped off to a small town he detests with a fairly green associate producer named Rita (Barrett Doss offering the right combination of sass and sympathy), Phil finds himself snowed in by an unexpected blizzard. The big city forecaster can't wait for the day to be over and be on his way, but to his horror when he awakens the next morning it is still February 2nd. No matter what Phil does or doesn't do during the day, every morning the loop resets, leaving him to ponder the unpleasant possibility that he may relive this day forever.

The high concept setup allows Groundhog Day to tackle some surprisingly dark material. Stuck reliving the same day on repeat, Phil goes through every imaginable reaction to the news, from horror to hedonism to depression and more. Yet rather than fully embracing its darker instincts or satirizing them with biting comedy, the show seems stuck in the same kind of limbo as its main character, unable to satisfactorily reach either tonal destination despite multiple valiant attempts. Danny Rubin's book is structured like a warped romantic comedy, but both the romantic and comedic aspects are only present is short bursts during an otherwise dull affair. (Rubin also wrote the screenplay for the beloved Bill Murray film on which the musical is based.)

Tim Minchin's score is equally confused, unable to settle on what it wants to be. The verbose songs are arranged and harmonized in such a way that the lyrics are often difficult to understand; the first three songs in particular are sung multiple times throughout the evening and I'm still not sure I caught all the words. Yet the songs also aren't melodically interesting enough to hold your attention without comprehending the words, so every time a musical number appears it seems to interrupt the narrative rather than enhance it. Minchin also devotes several numbers to minor characters we neither know nor care about, the most egregious example being the Act II opener "Playing Nancy." If Nancy were providing some commentary on the show's overarching narrative or themes it might prove to be a nice change of pace, but the song is entirely about her journey even though she has little to do or say either before or after.

Further compounding the show's narrative woes is Matthew Warchus' hyperactive direction, which rarely allows the actors time to stand still and focus on the emotion of their scenes. Although to be fair, standing still on Rob Howell's overly elaborate set is clearly a safety hazard, with so many set pieces moving in and out on the five(!) turntables that staying in place too long is a sure way to get injured. All of this technical wizardry might be impressively complex, but like many a British megamusical before it Groundhog Day ultimately becomes about the set rather than the story or characters.

The one constant among the show's disparate elements is the sparkling class, who are effortlessly winsome and entirely believable despite reenacting the exact same scene multiple times each night. Anchoring the production is newly minted Olivier Award winner Andy Karl, whose Phil Connors transforms slowly and seamlessly from a self centered ass into a warmhearted philanthropist. Karl's utterly charming performance has an ease about it that never betrays just how hard he is working, and the only knock against it is the role doesn't allow much of the overt comedy he's proven so adept at in the past. He is perfectly commented by Barrett Doss as the spunky Rita, and their chemistry makes even some of the clunkier scenes breeze by.

But ultimately, their alluring performances cannot fully salvage a show that doesn't really justify the need for musicalizing the beloved Bill Murray movie. In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that I have never seen the Groundhog Day film, but a truly great adaptation of any source material should not rely on one's fondness of the original. It should stand on its own, entertaining newcomers while providing fans with an added layer of appreciation, something this incredibly busy stage adaptation doesn't quite manage.

2015 Tony Predictions: Best Featured Actor

Broadway's biggest night is just over two weeks away, and the entire industry is wondering who will walk away from the 2015 Tony Awards a winner. And since rampant awards speculation is one of my favorite pastimes, I am continuing my survey of the productions and people I think are most likely to win big on June 7th. Now that I've predicted some of the behind the scenes winners, it's time to move on to what I lovingly call the Big 12 categories. The 8 acting and 4 production awards seem to be the ones that carry the most industry clout, as well as provoking the most intense speculation among the theatrical community, and I would argue they are the ones the general public is most interested in when they tune in to the annual Tony telecast.

Of course, who will win and who is most deserving are not always one and the same, which can make any Tony predictions doubly difficult. So should I feel someone besides the most deserving person will be giving an acceptance speech that Sunday, I will make sure to say so in my analysis. Now without further ado, here are my thoughts on two of the most wide open races in this year's awards: the Featured Actor categories.

Warning: Occasional snark and wild speculation to follow.

Best Featured Actor in a Play

Nathaniel Parker as the volatile Henry VIII in British import Wolf Hall.

Nominees: Matthew Beard, Skylight; K. Todd Freeman, Airline Highway; Richard McCabe, The Audience; Alessandro Nivola, The Elephant Man; Nathaniel Parker, Wolf Hall Parts I & II; Micah Stock, It's Only a Play

I'll admit, I was caught completely by surprise when they announced this category's nominees; the only person who was even on my radar was Wolf Hall's Nathaniel Parker. I also find it interesting that of all the acting categories, this was the only one where the votes were close enough to prompt an expansion to six nominees, further indicating what a tight race we have on our hands.

Despite being one of three central figures in the critically acclaimed Elephant Man revival, I think Alessandro Nivola is at a major disadvantage as the only nominee whose show isn't currently running. I also don't have a very good feeling about K. Todd Freeman, as no one seems to be talking about Airline Highway and the show's box office is so paltry that Manhattan Theatre Club has shortened the play's run (a rare move for a non-profit). And since any discussion of The Audience generally begins and ends with how brilliant Helen Mirren is, I don't find Richard McCabe to be particularly competitive in this category.

The three most likely winners are the aforementioned Parker, Skylight's Matthew Beard, and It's Only a Play's Micah Stock. I personally don't see what is Tony worthy about Stock's performance, as the actor's biggest laughs come from the absurd celebrity coats he brings onstage rather than anything the young actor actually says or does. And not to diminish Beard's work, but Skylight is often described as a two-hander between the roundly praised Bill Nighy and Carey Mulligan, which leads me to believe the actor's role is relatively modest and somewhat inconsequential to the plot. Which makes Parker the most likely winner in my eyes, given his larger than life character's importance to Wolf Hall's plot and the fact that Tony voters and the industry in general are clearly enamored with the British double bill.

Will Win: Nathaniel Parker, Wolf Hall Parts I & II
Should Win: Haven't seen enough nominees to know

Best Featured Actor in a Musical

Andy Karl flexes his comic muscles in Roundabout Theatre's On the Twentieth Century.

Nominees: Christian Borle, Something Rotten!; Any Karl, On the Twentieth Century; Brad Oscar, Something Rotten!; Brandon Uranowitz, An American in Paris; Max von Essen, An American in Paris

Multiple nominees from the same show in the same category has been a recurring theme in recent years (see: the two Book of Mormon leads, the multiple women from A Raisin in the Sun last year). This always raises the question of if they will split votes, although the phenomenon has produced enough actual winners (Kinky Boots' Billy Porter, Raisin's Sophie Okonedo) that it is obviously not an insurmountable obstacle.

Of the two Something Rotten! nominees, I actually think Brad Oscar has the edge over his Tony-winning costar Christian Borle. Oscar is a hardworking character actor who has been a part of the community for years, headlines Rotten's biggest and best production number, and gets most of the show's best lines ("A show about cats???"). Borle is certainly a beloved performer, reusing many of the same tricks that led to his previous win for Peter and the Starcatcher, but I suspect voters may choose to spread the love this year. Both men from An American in Paris are helped by being in a heavily nominated show - the fact that Paris is tied for the most nominations virtually guarantees every voter will see it - but at the same time the performances aren't necessarily the first thing people mention when discussing the new Gershwin musical.

And then there's Andy Karl, the wildcard who could spoil everyone's fun. Like several of the nominees in this category, Karl is a longtime staple of the Broadway community who is very well liked. After earning critical acclaim and a Tony nomination for playing the title character in the deadly serious Rocky, he has gone to the opposite end of the spectrum with his over the top performance as Kristin Chenoweth's musclebound boy toy in On the Twentieth Century. Karl's comic timing is impeccable and his chemistry with Chenoweth palpable (they are easily the season's funniest pair), and as much as I would love to see Oscar recognized I think this may well be Karl's year.

Will Win: Andy Karl, On the Twentieth Century
Should Win: Probably Karl, but I am partial to Something Rotten's Brad Oscar


Check back every Monday and Friday between now and the Tony telecast to see the rest of my predictions, and don't forget to check out the rest of my awards coverage if you haven't already!

Nominations React
Best Book and Score
Best Director and Choreography

An Highly Entertaining, If Slightly Dated, Ride

Review: On the Twentieth Century

Kristin Chenoweth makes her triumphant return to Broadway in Roundabout's lavish revival of On the Twentieth Century.

She's ba-ack. 5 years after her ill-advised stint in the woefully underwhelming 2010 revival of Promises, Promises, pint-sized powerhouse Kristin Chenoweth has returned to Broadway in the Roundabout Theatre Company's big budget revival of the Tony-winning On the Twentieth Century. Thankfully, this musical farce is a much greater showcase for Chenoweth's multitudinous gifts, including her impeccable comic timing and robust soprano that effortlessly fills the American Airlines Theatre. If Chenoweth and her first-rate costars are occasionally let down by material that is starting to show its age, that does little to diminish the overwhelming fun to be had by those willing to surrender themselves to the show's old school charms.

Chenoweth plays Lily Garland, a glamorous movie star who was plucked from obscurity by Broadway producer Oscar Jaffe before trading the bright lights of Broadway for the allure of the silver screen. A string of flops has left the once successful Oscar deep in debt, and the desperate producer hopes to convince box office magnet Lily to return to the stage by offering her the lead in his (currently non-existent) epic about Mary Magdalene. There's just one problem: Lily hates his guts, and Oscar only has the duration of their shared transcontinental train ride to change her mind and get a signed contract from the temperamental starlet.

As Garland, Chenoweth is absolutely radiant, the character's glamorous aura enhanced by Chenoweth's own innate star quality. She seizes on the material's farcical nature and runs with it, delivering the libretto's old fashioned zingers with a pitch perfect rhythm that often makes the lines seem funnier than they actually are. Chenoweth sounds expectedly stellar singing Cy Coleman's score, which offers the gifted vocalist plenty of chances to show off the lush, full tones of her upper register; that she often produces these high notes while running around the stage or dancing Warren Carlyle's high energy choreography just makes her purity of tone all the more impressive. Chenoweth is such a unique talent that other revivals have had difficulty fitting her into roles written for more conventional types, but Lily suits Chenoweth so well its easy to forget the part wasn't written for her.

Leading man Peter Gallagher missed a large number of preview performances thanks to a much publicized sinus infection, but watching him attack the role of Oscar Jaffe you'd never know it. Gallagher is smooth and assured throughout, even if his role as the show's straight man doesn't present him with the same types of opportunities as Chenoweth's more multi-faceted character. It would be nice if Gallagher and Chenoweth generated a bit more heat during their interactions, although Gallagher's truncated rehearsal period and some bizarre directorial choices are mostly to blame. For instance, the pair have been instructed to sing to audience rather than one another during a key Act I duet, which undermines their character development and makes their relationship's arc less satisfying than it could be.

Andy Karl turns the one-note role of Bruce Granit, Lily's marquee idol boy toy, into a veritable comic feast. Karl displays a particular affinity for comic business, whether it's plastering the train car with his headshots, being constantly shoved into doors, or tossing an entirely game Chenoweth around like a sack of potatoes. Mary Louise Wilson also shines in the small but memorable role of Letitia Peabody Primrose, an exceedingly wealthy religious fanatic that Oscar hopes will bankroll his proposed play. And while they have almost zero bearing on the show's plot, a special shoutout must be given to Rick Faugno, Richard Riaz Yoder, Phillip Attmore, and Drew King as the train's tap dancing porters, whose performance of the Act II opener "Life is Like a Train" proves to be the evening's biggest showstopper.

Visually, this is one of the most stunning productions Roundabout has ever mounted, although it does feel like the show has been squeezed into a smaller space than it should have been. David Rockwell's playful art deco sets perfectly encapsulate the evening's tone, and he has come up with some startlingly effective solutions to the musical's many scenic demands. Costumer William Ivey Long has done it again with his period perfect costumes, all candy colored hues and sophisticated elegance. And everything is beautifully lit by Donald Holder, whose creative lighting design helps to supplement Rockwell's sets in a way that the show feels even more expansive than it already is.

Unfortunately, while director Scott Ellis has done a commendable job staging this production, he rarely utilizes his cast or the material in the best way possible. Perhaps Ellis is just exhausted (he already directed this season's You Can't Take It With You and The Elephant Man), but there is a lack of tonal cohesion in this revival that occasionally yields chuckles when it's obvious belly laughs were desired. The gifted cast can sometimes come across as frantic, and Ellis has allowed a few too many contemporary mannerisms to sneak into his blocking. While these often produce laughs, it ultimately comes at the expense of being true to the characters, making some moments stick out for the wrong reasons. At the same time, the material hasn't aged particularly well, and the fact that this production is as enjoyable as it is speaks highly of Ellis' work.

For most theatergoers, the main attraction of this production is the chance to Chenoweth return to the stage after years of film, TV, and concert work. And in that light, On the Twentieth Century is a resounding success, proving once again that given the right material there are few women funnier than Chenoweth (and no musical comedienne can touch her operatic soprano). Roundabout has pulled out all the stops on this production and it shows, from the first rate cast to the beautiful production design. This revival fails to completely overcome the more dated aspects of the material, but there are far worse ways to spend a night in the theatre, and hopefully this production will remind the industry that someone really needs to build a new show around Chenoweth's unique talents. She certainly deserves it.

2014 Tony Nominee Predictions: Part III (Best Actor)

As the announcement of the 2014 Tony nominees draws ever closer, I continue my valiant (insane?) effort to try and predict the nominees in all the major categories.  I've already tackled the production and Best Actress categories; today I take my best guess at Best Actor.  Again, my predictions are based on a very unscientific mixture of first-hand experience, industry hearsay, and gut feeling (but I tend to have a pretty good record at these sorts of things).  And I will always pick a Wildcard performer who I think has the greatest chance of unseating one of my presumptive five nominees.

On with the show!

Best Actor

Bryan Cranston should probably look into expanding the trophy wing of his house in the near future.

An embarrassment of riches that will probably see a fair amount of Hollywood talent nominated, the Best Actor race is a difficult one for me to get a read on.  No one seems to be a runaway favorite for either a nomination or a win, but some bets are safer than others.  Everybody loved Bryan Cranston in Breaking Bad, and it sounds like his acting skills have made the transition to the stage intact.  He's as close to a sure thing in this category as they come.  A week ago I would have considered The Glass Menagerie's Zachary Quinto a lock in this category, but his absence from both the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle lists makes his position rather precarious.  Formerly presumptive nominee Denzel Washington may also be in danger, as the theatrical community doesn't seem nearly as enamored with his performance in A Raisin in the Sun as they were with his (in my opinion overrated) star turn in Fences a few seasons back.

So if two of the presumptive nominees are in danger of losing their slots, who is challenging them?  For starters, Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, theatrical institutions who were roundly praised for their work in both Waiting for Godot and No Man's Land.  McKellen in particular has stated that this year's shows are likely his Broadway swan song, which means this could be the last chance ever for Tony voters to honor him with a second statuette (and his work in No Man's Land has already garnered him nods in the other guild awards).  Chris O'Dowd has wowed critics with his work as the gentle giant Lennie in Of Mice and Men, an award-bait role if there ever was one (mentally handicapped AND a tragic death).  And both Tony Shalhoub and Santino Fontano received raves for their work in Lincoln Center's Act One, although I doubt the category has room for both of them.  Given Shalhoub's seniority, and I'd say he has the edge, and Fontano will just have to console himself with last year's nomination and those royalty checks from the Frozen soundtrack.

In the unlikely but still possible category we have theatre vets Patrick Page and Roger Rees, for Casa Valentina and The Winslow Boy respectively.  Rees seemed to be more of the clear-cut lead of his show (Valentina is very much an ensemble piece), so if one of them was going to sneak in here it would be him.  I also wouldn't rule out Daniel Radcliffe, who gets steadily better reviews with each Broadway outing, although his role in The Cripple of Inishmaan doesn't allow him to show the range the other contenders in this category possess.

Nominees:
Bryan Cranston, All the Way
Chris O'Dowd, Of Mice and Men
Ian McKellen, No Man's Land
Zachary Quinto, The Glass Menagerie
Tony Shalhoub, Act One

Wildcards:
Daniel Radcliffe, The Cripple of Inishmaan
Denzel Washington, A Raisin in the Sun

Best Actor in a Musical

I don't remember this much smiling in Rocky, either onstage or from the audience.

In surveying this category, I am struck by how many men are doing solid work in questionable productions.  Ramin Karimloo single-handedly makes the ill-advised Les Miserables watchable, and Andy Karl manages to rise above the truly awful material he's given in Rocky to become a bonafide Broadway star.  Despite the questionable quality of their shows, I think both men are in a good positions to score their first-ever Tony nominations on Tuesday, although neither is a sure thing.  That honor goes to Neil Patrick Harris, who blew almost everyone away as a transgendered rocker in Hedwig and the Angry Inch.  The fact the beloved cult musical is even on Broadway is entirely due to Harris' attachment to the property, and the fact that all the critics loved it is a testament to how well the multitalented entertainer embodies the spirit of the piece.  (Besides, we kind of owe him for his years of being an amazing Tony host and all around enthusiastic theatre ambassador.)

Then we have the question of what to do about Jefferson Mays' and Bryce Pinkham's dual starring turns in A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder.  Mays has long been considered a frontrunner in this category for his madcap portrayal of all eight members of the doomed D'Ysquith clan, but Pinkham is every bit as good in the tougher and arguably more demanding role (if Pinkham wasn't carrying the show, Mays wouldn't be free to ham it up so gleefully).  In recent years, having two strong male co-leads has led to both men scoring nominations (see Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells in The Book of Mormon, or Billy Porter and Stark Sands in Kinky Boots), and that is a distinct possibility here.  I personally am rooting for Pinkham, who blew me away with his effortless charm and gorgeous tenor.

But if all five of the above men make it, that leaves no room for the very deserving Norbert Leo Butz and Steven Pasquale, which seems almost criminal given their amazing performances this season.  Although Big Fish as a show sharply divided audiences and critics, no one can argue with the Herculean work Butz did in the lead role; however, with two wins and four total nominations to his name, I think the Tony committee will choose to spread the wealth this year and leave Butz out of consideration.  But Pasquale has no previous nominations and is sensational in The Bridges of Madison County, with singing and acting chops every bit the equal to his luminous costar Kelli O'Hara.  Ultimately, I think a nomination is in the cards for Pasquale, most likely to the detriment of Karimloo, who will be done in by the critical indifference to his show.  At least everyone can take comfort in the fact they don't have to compete against Alan Cumming's resurrected Emcee, since the Scottish thespian is ineligible due to the fact that he already won the Tony the last time he played the role.

Nominees:
Neil Patrick Harris, Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Andy Karl, Rocky
Jefferson Mays, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder
Steven Pasquale, The Bridges of Madison County
Bryce Pinkham, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder

Wildcards:
Norbert Leo Butz, Big Fish
Ramin Karimloo, Les Miserables


That's all for now.  Join me tomorrow for the toughest and sometimes most arbitrary predictions of the year:  Best Featured Actor and Actress!

See the rest of my Tony coverage:
2014 Tony Nominee Predictions Part I (Production)
2014 Tony Nominee Predictions Part II (Best Actress)

He Could Have Been a Contender

Review: Rocky

Let's try not to think about how disgusting and bloody Rocky's face must be right now.

The main message of Rocky the Film is that simply seeing something through to completion, despite whatever obstacles you may face, is its own form of winning.  And in that sense, everyone involved with Rocky the Musical should consider themselves huge winners, since the project has been met with huge amounts of skepticism since it was first announced.  Unfortunately, this interesting mess of a stage show fails to really go the distance, and was probably better off remaining an Oscar-winning film.

Rocky follows the titular down and out fighter from Philadelphia as he trains to take on undefeated heavyweight champion Apollo Creed in the "fight of the century."  Or at least, that's the plot of the second act; the first is almost entirely focused on the budding romance between Rocky and unassuming shop girl Adrian, and that narrative disassociation proves to be one of the show's biggest flaws.  Bookwriters Thomas Meehan and Sylvester Stallone (who also wrote and starred in the film version) can't seem to decide if the show's focus should be on the love story or the underdog sports story, and rather than interweaving the two plots they've awkwardly segregated them, to the detriment of both. 

The first act has some beautiful, nuanced scenes between Rocky and Adrian that really take the time to believably develop their relationship, only to have the pair suddenly jump to being a committed, happy couple in the second act so the show can focus on Rocky's preparation for the big fight.  The transition is jarring, and the lack of boxing elements in the first act means the second is starting from square one in terms of stakes and audience engagement.  Anyone who was interested in Rocky and Adrian's evolving relationship has to subside on what they were shown in the first half, because it's barely even mentioned in Act II.

Meehan and Stallone also don't seem to know what to do with the various supporting characters, who are either underdeveloped, serve no real narrative purpose, or both.  Adrian's brother Paulie is introduced as a nice guy who initially brings Rocky and Adrian together, only to suddenly morph into an insufferable alcoholic who all the characters despise but tolerate for unknown reasons.  The show goes to great lengths to establish the resentment Rocky harbors against unsupportive gym owner Mickey, but immediately after a particularly intense confrontation Rocky takes him on as a coach, despite have told him mere seconds before to get lost.  The book does little to illustrate what motivates such massive shifts in attitude, and most of it feels like manufactured conflict because the show's real antagonist, Apollo Creed, barely interacts with anyone until the final fight.

Meanwhile, the score by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens can at best be called unmemorable, and in all honesty probably merits harsher adjectives.  This is particularly disappointing as Flaherty and Ahrens among the greatest songwriting duos in the history of the musical theatre, easily the equal of Kander and Ebb or Rodgers and Hammerstein, and together they have written some of the greatest scores of the past 30 years.  Rocky is nowhere near their previous highs, barring the exception of the gorgeous Act I ballad "Raining" which serves as our first real introduction to Adrian.  The songs feel disconnected from the story; they work on their own as bits of musical storytelling, but are awkwardly inserted into book scenes that do nothing to set them up or build on what they establish.  They are also almost entirely forgettable, and are completely upstaged by the inclusion of "Eye of the Tiger" two thirds of the way through (a song which is technically from Rocky III, but who's keeping track?).

The performances in Rocky are generally solid, although it is often uncomfortable to watch the actors struggle through such questionable material.  Andy Karl makes for a fine Rocky, tipping his hat to Sylvester Stallone's performance and mannerisms while still maintaining an air of authenticity.  Karl also has excellent chemistry with the Adrian of Broadway newcomer Margo Seibert, whose beautiful alto has the privilege of singing the score's best songs.  Together Karl and Seibert create the evening's most fully realized characters, and it's a shame the second act shifts focus away from their interactions.  Danny Mastrogiorgio sells every scene he's in as Paulie, even if the writing does little to provide a cohesive throughline for his actions.  The only weak link in the cast is Terence Archie's Apollo Creed, who looks the part but comes across as a borderline offensive caricature of African-American stereotypes (a problem made all the more shocking when one considers that Flaherty and Ahrens are responsible for Ragtime, one of the greatest gifts ever given to singing actors of color).

The staging by rising director Alex Timbers (which is intrinsically tied to Christopher Barreca's Rubik's cube of a set) is a mixed bag, simultaneously impressive and underwhelming.  The smaller, character focused first act is overwhelmed by the massive, constantly moving set, while the larger, more spectacle-oriented second half isn't visually interesting enough to overcome the weakness of the storytelling.  Rocky feels like a small-scale show that has been unsuccessfully blown up in order to fill the massive Winter Garden Theatre, and while watching Barreca's set reconfigure itself into various settings is impressive it is not emotionally involving.  The one genuinely thrilling sequence is the fourth wall-breaking final fight, which moves the action out into the audience and is unlike anything seen on a Broadway stage.  This electrifying set piece goes a long way towards making you forget about the shortcomings of the previous two hours, and if one thing can be said about Rocky, it's that the show ends on its highest note.

Overall, Rocky is a noble but misguided effort that doesn't really have a discernible target audience.  The book and score aren't sophisticated enough for high minded audiences, nor are they entertaining enough for those who just want to have a good time.  The size and spectacle of the physical production overwhelms the intimate love story the writers are trying to tell, without being impressive enough to hold our attention on its own.  Rocky was never a property that begged for musicalization, and the unwieldy show that has resulted confirms it would have been better served by remaining an iconic film.  The show isn't quite awful enough to be a career killer for anyone involved (all of whom are established talents to begin with), but it also won't be high on the list of their greatest achievements.  Like Rocky himself, let's give everyone involved credit for trying and move on with our lives.

Murder Can Be Fun (Provided You Have the Right Cast)

Review:  The Mystery of Edwin Drood

The merry muderers of the Music Hall Royale in their rendition of "The Cell Block Tango"

Let’s get one thing straight:  The Mystery of Edwin Drood – the 1985 musical murder mystery with book, music, and lyrics by Rupert Holmes – is a terrible show.  The music is bland, unmemorable, and breaks so many rules of good theatrical composition that the mind boggles.  The poorly constructed book consists of an endless parade of paper-thin characters prattling on about nothing, with an abundance of puns thrown into the mix to distract the audience from the fact that nothing is actually happening.  The show’s central gimmick, allowing the audience to pick an ending for Charles Dickens’ unfinished final novel of the same name, is a good one, but Drood relies so heavily on that conceit that the initial two hours suffer mightily in comparison.  Rarely have I found so few redeeming qualities in a Broadway musical.

Having said all that, the Roundabout Theatre Company’s current revival is an excellent production that manages to transcend all of the script’s shortcomings to emerge as one of the most entertaining musicals of the fall season.  The hilarious and supremely talented ensemble cast features a host of Broadway veterans all doing excellent work, and the magnificent physical production offers a richly colored tapestry on which the show unfolds.  This is an excellent mounting of a horrible show, and only the most jaded audience members won’t find at least some enjoyment among the production’s many charms.

The show is set in the fictional Music Hall Royale of London during the Victorian era, and the resident acting troupe has taken it upon themselves to present a musicalized adaptation of the unfinished Mystery of Edwin Drood.  The show-within-a-show concerns the drug-addicted John Jasper’s unhealthy attraction to the beautiful Rosa Bud, who has been betrothed to marry Edwin Drood since birth.  Other characters in the tale include twin siblings Helena and Neville Landless, their caretaker the Reverend Crisparkle, opium purveyor Princess Puffer, and the town’s resident drunk Durdles.  What any of these characters have to do with one another remains something of a mystery, even after the show’s conclusion, and matters are further complicated by the fact that the Music Hall Royale’s actors are constantly breaking character to make asides or react to scripted mistakes.  Thankfully, the characters of Drood and the fictional actors who play them are brought to such uniformly charming life by the show’s cast that this narrative murkiness doesn’t really matter.

Donning drag to portray the titular character, Stephanie J. Block has found the perfect vehicle to showcase her many talents.  Block’s natural charisma helps taper the character’s more abrasive qualities, and her broadly comedic portrayal provides plenty of belly laughs.  Her spine-tinglingly good voice makes Holmes’ amateurish songs sounds leagues better than they actually are, and her rendition of the show’s finale is positively thrilling.  She also possesses a winning chemistry with Betsy Wolfe’s delightfully coquettish Rosa Bud, and the pair is nothing short of enchanting whenever they share the stage.

Will Chase is clearly having a blast as the cartoonishly sinister John Jasper, and his delight in the role’s over-the-top nature is infectious.  He’s the type of villain you love to hate, even if his excessive snarling sometimes prevents him from making the best use of his strong singing voice.  Andy Karl’s hot-headed Neville Landless is a hoot, and as his twin sister with the “geographically untraceable accent” Jessie Mueller continues to prove that she’s one of the most versatile actresses of her generation.  Doing a complete one-eighty from her equally winning work as Cinderella in this summer’s Into the Woods, Mueller’s Helena Landless emanates a steely resolve and exotic beauty that extends to the back of the balcony and beyond.  Mugging in all the right places and given too few opportunities to demonstrate her superb alto singing voice, Mueller is one of the show’s strongest assets, and although her part is sizeable she still leaves you wanting more.

This Drood also sees the welcome return of the Chita Rivera to the Broadway stage, and the legendary actress makes the most of her limited stage time.  If her Princess Puffer doesn’t quite live up to the insanely high standard the actress has set for herself, Rivera remains the consummate professional and an utter joy to watch.

And then there’s Jim Norton.  As the Chairman and master of ceremonies of the Music Hall Royale, the veteran actor’s virtuosic performance is the highlight of the evening.  Although he initially appears to be little more than a genial guide meant to hold the audience’s hand throughout the freewheeling show, each scene allows Norton to reveal more and more of his vast reserve of talent.  The actor’s deft comic timing makes even the most groan-inducing puns seem hilarious, and the detached, slightly perturbed way in which he introduces scenes and characters only serves to add to his charm.  Norton can turn a raised eyebrow or muttered aside into comedic gold, and when a scripted mishap forces him to assume a more active role in the show-within-a-show Norton unleashes the most hilarious characterization of the night.

Like the cast, Drood’s physical production is top-notch.  William Ivey Long’s sumptuous Victorian costumes are resplendent in their beauty, utilizing a deep color palette and intricate detail work to jump off the stage.  His attention to detail permeates everything, from the perfectly tailored suit Will Chase wears for the duration of the evening down to a breathtaking gown Stephanie J. Block wears for all of thirty seconds.  Anna Louizos’ set simply and effectively evokes the show-within-a-show’s multiple locations and the English music hall the entire event occurs in (even the lobby has been given a suitable Victorian makeover).  Brian Nason’s lighting design makes both the sets and the costumes pop, and the overall result is a stage that is almost as interesting as the action taking place on it.

The Roundabout’s Broadway productions have been hit or miss for the past few seasons, but the ones that have worked have worked extremely well.  The Mystery of Edwin Drood is an example of a production that works, despite the subpar material’s best attempts to derail the entire endeavor.  The cast is top notch, and the fact that many of them are playing roles outside their typical wheelhouse (and succeeding brilliantly at it) adds an extra layer of enjoyment to their performances.  While it would be a mistake to come to Drood expecting high art or evening coherent storytelling, an abundance of fun and loads of laughs are virtually guaranteed.