Podcast Episode 4: Fall Season Wrap-Up

As 2012 fades into 2013, Jared, Brian, and Christopher look back at the past six months on Broadway and the many productions of the fall season.  Which shows impressed the most, and which ones missed the mark?  Find out as we discuss our favorites and which shows we fully expect to see among next year's Tony nominees.
 

Sometimes, Pretty Is Enough

Review:  Bring It On: The Musical

Adrienne Warren and the cast of Bring It On serve up major musical theatre realness.  And they're pretty good athletes, too.

Needless to say, Bring It On: The Musical is not high art.  Anyone with such lofty expectations for the show has a gross misunderstanding of the source material on which it is based.  What this stage adaptation of the film series of the same name does offer is plenty of fun and high-flying acrobatics, even if some questionable story and tonal choices keep it from becoming the great piece of fluff theatre it could be.

Set in the world of competitive cheerleading, Bring It On doesn’t precisely follow the plot of the original movie or any of its sequels, instead using the franchise’s general premise and themes as inspiration for an original story.  The show begins with perky blonde Campbell being elected captain of the Truman High School cheerleading squad, but her dreams of winning the National Cheering Trophy are dashed when some questionable school redistricting results in her forced transfer to the scary multi-ethnic Jackson High.  Not only is Campbell a fish out of water, but the closest thing to a cheerleading squad at Jackson is a dance crew led by sassy queen bee Danielle.  This is obviously the Worst Thing Ever, and poor Campbell must somehow find a way to convince Danielle to form a cheerleading squad so that they both can compete at Nationals and win that coveted trophy.

Obviously, this campy setup is meant to provide more jokes than drama, a fact the show knows but doesn’t fully embrace.  The biggest problem is that Bring It On doesn’t take the outrageousness far enough, opting to play a large portion of the show completely straight despite a steady stream of one-liners provided by book writer Jeff Whitty (a Tony-winner for his work on Avenue Q).  As a result, the predictable plot drags at the start, although the approach does lead to some surprisingly heartfelt scenes as the characters struggle with growing up.  The second act ballad “Enjoy the Trip” is an especially poignant and insightful commentary on the ultimate importance of high school drama, and a highlight of the show.

Like most musical comedies, the real interest lies in the production numbers, which are plentiful and generally well done.  The contemporary score, co-written by Tom Kitt (Next to Normal) and Lin-Manuel Miranda (In the Heights), highlights the very distinctive styles of its two composers while still sounding like a cohesive whole.  The R&B stylings that characterize Miranda’s work are particularly prominent and enticing, and the Bring It On score ends up being one of the most fully realized blendings of showtunes and modern pop to ever grace a Broadway stage.  Mirroring this mix is the excellent choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler (who also directed), which makes hip hop dance wholly theatrical and is a refreshingly new addition to an art form that can be painfully slow to evolve.

And when the fresh-faced cast breaks into the cheer routines that form the centerpiece of Bring It On, prepare to be amazed.  The dizzying combination of backflips, tumbling, and aerial acrobatics will take even the most jaded theatre-goer’s breathe away, and these athletic feats are performed with a precision and sleekness any show would do well to emulate.  It is honestly a shame there aren’t more of them – setting the first act primarily in a cheerleader-less school makes the routines hard to sneak in – although the upside of this decision is that it makes the dueling routines of the musical’s climax even more exciting.

The vast majority of the cast is making their Broadway debuts, and what the performers lack in experience they make up for with enthusiasm and general charisma.  Taylor Louderman’s Campbell can be a little bland, but she is believable, earnest, and a generally likeable leading lady (Louderman also does an excellent job with the enormous amount of singing she’s been handed).  Adrienne Warren belts to the rafters as Danielle, and her well-executed transformation from antagonistic to grudgingly respectful to genuinely friendly is one of the more dramatic character arcs in the show.  The supporting players all manage to make a positive impression, although the sheer number of characters leaves a lot of the actors with precious little to do.

The real standout among the cast is Gregory Haney’s camp-tastic turn as a drag queen student called La Cienega.  One of the few actors with prior Broadway experience, Haney takes a character we know nothing about (only one line in the show even acknowledges that her attending school in drag might have made her life difficult) and makes her into the most compelling person on the stage.  Completely over the top and reveling in every minute of it, Haney represents the type of show Bring It On is *this close* to being: a high-camp delight that is simultaneously hilarious and oddly engaging.

As stated above, Bring It On isn’t high art.  It has some fairly glaring oversights, like a story that meanders for much of the first act until settling into the predictable but effective drama of a sporting competition.  Everything seems to be just a little too easy for Campbell, which makes it difficult to fully invest in the plot or her hardships.  And for a show that traffics in cheerleader stereotypes, there is a surprising lack of unrepentantly bitchy girls to serve as effective antagonists.  The absence of a truly memorable villain, someone the audience could love to hate, keeps Bring It On from entering the realm of top-tier escapist entertainment, and we the audience must settle for merely very good rather than great.  That said, there are certainly worse ways to spend a summer night than with this slickly polished musical confection, and I for one am glad this national tour decided to stop by and play in the big leagues.

A New Broadway Business Model? Bring It On!

This week we were treated to the first new musical of the 2012-2013 season when Bring It On officially opened on Broadway.  While I am personally excited for the show, which I think sounds like a blast, I can also understand those who are wary of a musical based on a movie of dubious quality that has no less than four writers.  But aside from being a new show, I think Bring It On represents a new way of developing musicals that while not perfect for every show, could end up being a major boon to the future prospects of certain theatrical properties.

We’re told Bring It On was never intended for Broadway, and while I find that claim suspect (when Tony-winning composers Tom Kitt and Lin-Manuel Miranda are collaborating, any sane producer must at least *consider* Broadway), the fact of the matter is the producers chose to skip the Great White Way in favor of a national tour.  In doing so, they removed a lot of critical pressure from the show, as Broadway-bound musicals are evaluated on an entirely different and much more stringent metric.  These raised standards almost inevitably lead to lukewarm out-of-town reviews, and if the press is overly negative it can lead to the cancelling of the proposed Broadway run.

Shows that cancel already announced Broadway runs inevitably get branded as failures, a major marketing hurdle any future productions or revisions must overcome.  By only announcing a tour, the producers of Bring It On managed to keep media scrutiny to a minimum and in essence gave themselves permission to fail.  A tour is much less susceptible to negative reviews, because by the time bad word of mouth starts to spread it has already moved on to the next destination, one in which a good deal of seats are already sold to the touring house’s season subscribers.  The producers and the production also don’t have to endure the embarrassment of canceling already announced Broadway plans, keeping any potential downsides at a manageable level.

BUT, since the tour received enough positive response to prompt a Broadway run, suddenly Bring It On is positioned to be a pleasant surprise.  In addition to having avoided the massive expectations attached to “Broadway-bound” shows, Bring It On is also arriving in the midst of the summer doldrums, making it the only new game in town for New Yorkers who have seen everything else.  Add to that audience the enormous number of tourists that are currently increasing the box office of every show in town, and you have a musical that is poised to do relatively strong business.  The show’s limited engagement should also help increase ticket sales, as it forces anyone interested in seeing the show to buy their tickets sooner rather than later.

Of course, New York’s famously jaded theatrical press could spoil everything by trashing the show, but I think truly terrible reviews are unlikely.  For one thing, the show has essentially been running for months, meaning that if nothing else it should be the tightest, most polished version of Bring It On possible.  The competitive cheerleading setting also necessitates musical staging unlike anything currently on Broadway, and novelty usually earns at least measured praise from the press.

If Bring It On can manage decent reviews and good word of mouth from audiences, I see no reason why its limited run can’t be extended, making the show more money and increasing the perception of the show as a Little Musical That Could.  The mere fact that the show had a Broadway production brings with it a certain amount of legitimacy that will help catch the eye of regional theatres and other touring houses, which in turn helps widen the show’s exposure.  And perhaps most importantly, the longer Bring It On runs, the better its chances at some Tony nominations, which would be a huge boon to its future prospects on the road and as a licensable property.

Am I saying Bring It On will win the 2013 Best Musical Tony?  Of course not.  It’s far too early in the season to be making those kinds of predictions.  But I am saying that by starting with a tour and then coming to Broadway during the less crowded summer months, Bring It On has maximized its chances of making money and being generally well-received.  This developmental path would not work for every new musical (for instance, the big name stars producers love to build a show around rarely go out on tour), and I expect most shows will stick to the traditional out-of-town or Off-Broadway routes.  But if Bring It On is a success, it gives producers another option on how to develop new work that helps maximize their chances at financial success.  And the more money any musical makes, even a bad one, the more money producers have to develop new works and continue to employ the next generation of theatrical artists.