When You Say Vegas, You're Saying Laughs

Review: Honeymoon in Vegas

Tony Danza (left) and Rob McClure (right) ham it up in the hysterical new comedy Honeymoon in Vegas.

If there was a Tony Award for most versatile composer, Jason Robert Brown (who already has 3 of the gold statuettes) would certainly be a prime candidate. Brown's bouncy songs for the frothy, tuneful Honeymoon in Vegas couldn't be further removed from the rapturous, nearly operatic score he composed for The Bridges of Madison County just one year ago. Like Bridges, his latest show is not entirely free from flaws, but those problems are miniscule compared to everything this slickly produced and highly entertaining comedy gets right. Honeymoon is the most purely entertaining new musical of the season, and represents yet another high point in Brown's ever expanding songbook.

The show concerns Jack Singer, an everyday Brooklynite with serious commitment issues. Although Jack dearly loves his longtime girlfriend Betsy, a deathbed promise to his departed mother causes him to choke every time he contemplates popping the big question. He finally works up the nerve to take her to Las Vegas to elope, but things go awry when an unscrupulous gambler by the name of Tommy Korman decides he must have Betsy for himself (as she is a dead ringer for Tommy's deceased wife). What follows is a madcap adventure that takes everyone from the Vegas Strip to the beaches of Hawaii and back over the course of one zany weekend, with plenty of musical comedy shenanigans along the way.

Brown has been duly praised over the course of his career, and his work here again asserts his position as one of the most versatile, accomplished composers working in the theatre today. Brown combines infectious melodies and toe tapping vamps with playfully inventive lyrics that are witty without feeling forced; even the ever-exacting Sondheim would surely be delighted with the rhyming of "Beyoncé" and "fiancé." The songs walk the fine line between sounding familiar and still offering sonic surprises, and everything has been arranged by Brown and his co-orchestrators Don Sebesky, Larry Blank, and Charlie Rosen to evoke the big brassy musicals of yesteryear. While a couple of songs overstay their welcome, the vast majority are so delightful you'll actually find yourself wishing for full fledged reprises rather than the melodic motifs Brown favors here. If there's one major knock against the score, it's that the songs are so well integrated into the plot that it prohibits any true showstoppers from emerging.

Speaking of plotting, librettist Andrew Bergman has done a smashing job of adapting his own screenplay for the stage. Although certain developments are a little too clearly telegraphed, the book scenes in large part avoid the inauthenticity that plagues so many musical comedies. The songs are the clear highlight, but the book scenes hold your interest because they handle character and plot development in a way that is virtually seamless.

Unfortunately for the show, some of Brown and Bergman's sterling work is obscured by Gary Griffin's overly busy direction. Certain jokes get lost thanks to unnecessarily distracting staging, which renders numbers like the opening "I Love Betsy" less humorous than they could be. There are also certain physical conventions that are only haphazardly employed, which again confuses things in this very tightly written and plotted show. One glaring example is "Forever Starts Tonight," which sees Tommy inexplicably interacting with Jack and Betsy while they steadfastly ignore his presence. Griffin probably means for Tommy to be in a separate location, but having him move between the two and even touch them (on a bare stage) makes the distinction harder to grasp. First time choreographer Denis Jones' work is also underwhelming, although part of his problem stems from trying to shoehorn a traditional ensemble into songs that don't really require them outside of backing harmonies.

In the central role of Jack, Tony-nominee Rob McClure does exceptional work. McClure has an appealing everyman quality with just enough neurosis to keep him interesting, and his delivery of Brown's lyrics is as natural and effortless as breathing. McClure's incredibly expressive face speaks volumes, and the young actor has a clear gift for musical comedy that he smartly deploys throughout the evening. Television icon Tony Danza is surprisingly effective as McClure's romantic rival Tommy, with a pleasant singing voice and an easy-going persona that belies the nefarious means he'll use to get what he wants. Danza can seem stiff at times, but overall he gives a charmingly accomplished performance.

As the much desired and put upon Betsy, Brynn O'Malley is something close to a revelation. O'Malley takes a character that could have been quite boring and makes her the most interesting and human person onstage, in a brilliantly naturalistic turn that has just enough comedic bite to withstand the tomfoolery going on around her. Equally adept at heartfelt ballads and more comedic uptempos, O'Malley also has a subtly hilarious, entirely wordless cameo as Tommy's long-dead wife during the song "Out of the Sun." The only thing that could possibly improve O'Malley's performance is if Brown had written her the showstopper she so clearly deserves. The extremely catchy "Betsy's Getting Married" comes *this close* to being such a number, but unfortunately for O'Malley the song morphs into a musical scene between Jack and Tommy just when she's poised to kick the song into high gear.

The entire enterprise is slickly designed and lovingly realized, with the saturated colors and slightly exaggerated geometry of Anna Louizos' set selling the fantasy of Honeymoon's versions of Vegas, New York, and Hawaii. Louizos also makes excellent use of projections to seamlessly enhance her sets in a way that is almost unnoticeable (and more importantly, doesn't replace physical set pieces). Brian Hemesath's costumes encompass everything from track suits to feathered headdresses, all rendered in eye-popping colors that perfectly compliment the show's heightened tone. The show is always a joy to look at, successfully combining a modern Broadway aesthetic with an old school sensibility.

In fact, that duality best sums up Honeymoon in Vegas. It seamlessly combines the best traits of Golden Age musical comedies and more contemporary works, bolstered by yet another outstanding score from the multi-talented Jason Robert Brown. Overflowing with wit and warmth, the production is occasionally hindered by Gary Griffin's overreliance on bells and whistles, but the show's big beaming heart shines through regardless. Rob McClure proves that his excellent work in the ill-fated Chaplin was not a fluke, and Brynn O'Malley emerges as a musical comedy force to be reckoned with. Honeymoon is one of the safest bets you can currently make on Broadway, a guaranteed good time that deserves a wider audience.

2014 Fall Preview: The Musicals

Erin Davie and Emily Padgett are set to reprise their roles as conjoined twins Violet and Daisy Hilton in the Broadway transfer of the acclaimed Kennedy Center production of the cult musical Side Show.

Although I am vehemently opposed to our nation's obsession with pumpkin everything and the attendant rush to have it be fall RIGHT NOW, there's no denying that the summer is coming to a close. The coming months will see a bevy of new Broadway productions begin performances, and since I've already examined the fall's crop of plays it's time to turn our attention to the type of theatre that is most synonymous with the Great White Way: the Broadway musical. While there aren't nearly as many musicals as plays premiering in the coming months, the industry seems to have collectively decided on a quality-over-quantity approach. (Almost) Every single musical, new or revived, sounds like an enticing evening at the theatre, and I am legitimately excited for them. So without further ado, here are the upcoming shows that will hopefully have us singing and dancing in the aisle this coming fall.

On the Town
Previews begin 9/20; Opening Night 10/16

While I'm not convinced the current Broadway economy can really support a big budget, old school song-and-dance fest like On the Town, I'm sure glad some producers have decided to give it a try. The Bernstein-Comden-Green musical perfectly fits my criteria for shows that merit a full scale revival (it's a well-liked musical that was a huge hit during its original run that isn't produced very often anymore), and it will be nice to see another dance musical on the Great White Way now that Newsies has ceased carrying the banner. I'm concerned On the Town has booked Spider-Man's old theatre (the freshly renamed Lyric), because I don't think the musical has the kind of drawing power to consistently sell a house that size, but hopefully the producers keep running costs low so it won't need to be a sell-out hit to survive.

The Last Ship
Previews begin 9/30; Opening Night 10/26

This is the one musical I am not interested in seeing, thanks mostly to the snooze-inducing preview performance on this year's Tony telecast. Multiple Grammy-winner Sting tries his hand at writing showtunes for this semi-autobiographical show about a shipbuilding town in England struggling to stave off financial ruin. As Bono and the Edge proved with their disastrous Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, success and acclaim in the recording industry doesn't always translate to the stage, and quite honestly the entire affair sounds dull and uninteresting. In fairness, The Last Ship received encouraging (but by no means stellar) reviews during its out of town tryout, but it's going to need really strong buzz to convince me I want to sit through 2 1/2 hours of the same type of low-key material showcased on the Tonys.

Side Show
Previews begin 10/28; Opening Night 11/17

It took longer than I initially expected, but the well-reviewed Kennedy Center production of this 1997 cult-musical is officially coming to Broadway, and I couldn't be more excited. While the original production of Side Show only ran for a couple of months, the musical's reputation has only grown since its premature closing thanks to an intriguing premise - it tells the story of real-life conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton - and a fantastic score. The show has been retooled, rethought, and rewritten by original authors Henry Krieger and Bill Russell along with the revival's director, Bill Condon (an Oscar winner who is also responsible for the fantastic film version of Krieger's Dreamgirls). I'm concerned about the show's financial prospects - dark musical dramas are a hard sell these days - but I will certainly be in attendance, and I hope this new production is the beginning of a long and prosperous second life for the ambitious property.

Honeymoon in Vegas
Previews begin 11/18; Opening Night 1/15/15

While I couldn't begin to tell you why a show The New York Times' Ben Brantley practically demanded transfer to Broadway has a two month preview period, the important thing is Honeymoon in Vegas is coming to bless us with another glorious Jason Robert Brown score. While this is the first full-fledged comedy the three-time Tony-winner has written, his previous works are rife with inventive lyrics and fun, uptempo melodies in songs like The Last 5 Year's "Summer in Ohio" or Songs for a New World's "Surabaya-Santa." It also marks the Broadway return of rising star Rob McClure, who will hopefully find a vehicle more worthy of his talents than the misguided Chaplin a few years back. If the show is as good as early buzz suggests, Honeymoon may give Brown his first commercial success, something that should help ease the sting of the criminally chilly reception his brilliant Bridges of Madison County received earlier this year. (Sidenote: both the show and leading lady Kelli O'Hara were *robbed* of Tony Awards this year!)


And there you have it! Those are all 16 productions scheduled to premiere on Broadway this fall. Which shows are you most excited about? Don't be afraid to let me know in the comments!

And in case you missed it, here are the previous two parts of my Fall Preview:

2014 Fall Preview: Play Revivals
2014 Fall Preview: New Plays

2014 Tony Predictions: Book and Score

Continuing my Tony predictions for the 2013-2014 Broadway season, it's time to turn my eye towards the writing of this season's musicals.  Since musicals are a collaborative art form, they are arguably harder (and definitely take longer) to write than a regular play, and there are a lot more places where something can go wrong.  It is also possible for elements of a show to succeed while the production as a whole doesn't, which is why this year's Best Book and Best Score categories aren't just copies of the Best Musical nominees.  So which shows will win the Book and Score Tonys on June 8th, and are they the same as the shows that deserve to win?  Find out below!

Best Book of a Musical

Jefferson Mays gets a lot of credit for his 8 scenery chewing characters in A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, but bookwriter Robert L. Freedman gave him some great material to work with.

 

Nominees:  Woody Allen, Bullets Over Broadway; Chad Beguelin, Aladdin; Robert L. Freedman, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder; Douglas McGrath, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical

It's very hard to imagine a scenario where A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder's Robert. L. Freedman doesn't win this category.  Gentleman has the most Tony nominations of any show this year, clearly illustrating the Tony committee's fondness for the musical farce.  And since Gentleman's Guide doesn't really have any production numbers or marquee value stars, that love is entirely based on the show's witty, tightly paced writing.  Like most musical comedies, the destination isn't all that interesting (or even all that clear), but the journey there is filled with smart dialogue and characters that walk fine line between being large enough to elicit laughs and believable enough for the audience to invest in.

Given the ambivalence towards Bullets Over Broadway, I doubt Oscar-winner Woody Allen is much of a contender here (and whether true or not, the recent child molestation scandal will surely deter a few voters from supporting him).  The book of Beautiful was generally the most derided aspect of that show in critical reviews, and although I think Chad Beguelin did a better job than previous Disney musicals of incorporating new elements into the existing material, Aladdin's charms lie mostly in its musical numbers.  This one is deservedly Freedman's to lose.

Will and Should Win: Robert L. Freedman, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder 

Best Score

Jason Robert Brown turned The Bridges of Madison County from a trashy, critically derided novel into a legitimate work of art.  That should be worth a couple of Tony Awards on its own.

 

Nominees:  Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, Tim Rice and Chad Beguelin, Aladdin; Jason Robert Brown, The Bridges of Madison County; Steven Lutvak and Robert L. Freedman, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder; Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, If/Then

This category is so lopsided it isn't even a race; it's just a formality between Jason Robert Brown and his second Best Score Tony.  The music for The Bridges of Madison County is one of the greatest examples of sustained artistic excellent in the past decade, gloriously sung by two of the most gifted vocalists working on Broadway today.  Epically grand and breathtakingly gorgeous, the score is packed to the gills with songs that stop the show with their sheer beauty (the picturesque yet mournful opening "To Build a Home," the folksy "Another Life," Kelli O'Hara's Act II stunner "Almost Real," and the climactic duet "One Second and a Million Miles").  Even the show's detractors were forced to admit that Brown's score is a masterwork, easily the best thing this gifted composer has ever written.

The only team with even the slightest possibility of scoring an upset is A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder's Steven Lutvak and Robert L. Freedman.  Their Gilbert-and-Sullivan-esque score has more melodic invention than is apparent on first listen, and their deft lyrics are overflowing with wit and a decidedly cheeky sense of humor.  But this isn't a Wicked/Avenue Q situation, where the latter's consistently clever score surprisingly beat out the former's uneven mix of modern classics ("Popular," "Defying Gravity") and inert clunkers (anything involving the Wizard).  Bridges is fantastic from end to end, and will rightly win the Tony Award for its sustained excellence.

Will and Should Win: Jason Robert Brown, The Bridges of Madison County


Keep checking back throughout the next two weeks for more Tony predictions and commentary!  And catch up on any coverage you may have missed by checking out the following:

2014 Tony Nominations React
Best Direction and Choreography


Who's to Blame for "Bridges" Early Closing?

Steven Pasquale and Kelli O'Hara in the underappreciated (and soon to close) The Bridges of Madison County

Jason Robert Brown's beautiful, heartbreaking The Bridges of Madison County (featuring a career-best and Tony worthy performance by the always amazing Kelli O'Hara) is closing this Sunday.  If you haven't seen the show yet, stop reading this and go buy your ticket now; the blog will still be here when you return.  For those of you who have seen it, let's sit down and have a frank discussion about all of the issues Bridges' premature closing points to in our industry and the people who work in its.

Now, Broadway is a business, and Bridges has hardly been a box office sensation.  It would be unfair to blame the producers for closing a show whose grosses don't cover its weekly running costs; if anything, they should be commended for keeping the show running as long as they did.  No, if blame must be assigned, it belongs squarely on the potential audience members who supposedly wanted to see the show but didn't.  I was in the theatre district the day after Bridges announced it was closing and heard multiple people discussing the news with some variation of the phrase, "That's too bad. I wanted to see that."  To which I say, "Well then why didn't you?"

Theatre people love to complain, and one of the most common complaints over the past decade has been the lack of original and artistically daring work on Broadway.  According to these naysayers, everything is movie adaptations and revivals with miscast stars and jukebox musicals that clearly had their genesis in a marketing meeting.  These complaints aren't entirely without merit - although I tend to think the situation isn't as dire as most people make it out to be - but the fact of the matter is when something like Bridges comes along and *is* artistically daring and more serious, it isn't supported.  The easy scapegoat is the tourists aren't cultured enough for these sorts of things, but it isn't exactly fair to blame them for not attending a show during their 4-day vacation that you couldn't be bothered to see in your months of living here.

When it closes on Sunday, Bridges will have run for exactly four months.  And while that isn't a particularly long run in this time of multi-year hits, it also isn't an insignificant amount of time.  Especially for someone who lives in the city, I find it hard to believe that there wasn't at least one evening (or afternoon) during that four months where they could have attended the show.  And before any New Yorker even starts with that "I'm busy" nonsense, the fact of the matter is that everyone is busy, but with a little thing called time management it really isn't that hard to carve out a 3-hour block to see a show (especially if you have time to see a movie, go out drinking, or any of the millions of other leisure activities even "busy" people have time for).  If you make seeing Show X an actual priority, I promise you that you will magically find the time to do so. 

And before anyone brings up the price of tickets, I have a twofold counterargument.  First of all, while theatre tickets are certainly expensive, industry people should know better than anyone just where all that money is going and the importance of supporting the industry financially.  Secondly, no one is saying you need to buy a $150 orchestra seat.  There are rush seats, there are discount codes (especially easy to come by when a show is not selling well), and plenty of other ways to get in to see a show that don't involve spending an entire week's paycheck.  If all you can afford is a $40 or $50 ticket (and if you cut out a night or two of drinking/dining out at NYC prices, I promise you that over the course of a month you can scrounge up that much money), then buy that ticket and know that you supported the arts as much as you were able.  If all of the New Yorkers who wanted to see Bridges had bought a $40 ticket, the show might have been able to run an extra week or two.

The other major problem I see with Bridges lies in its critical reception.  To be blunt, the critics were not kind to the show.  Now everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and as long as a critic can back that opinion up with specific examples from the show they can write whatever they want.  But considering that critics are some of the loudest voices decrying the commercialization of Broadway, they should maybe be a little more encouraging to new work that possesses the traits they claim the industry needs more of, even if it doesn't always execute those traits well.  There is a way to point out the flaws in a piece without dismissing the entire thing out of hand, and I feel that far too many critics latch onto the flaws of new work while ignoring the positive traits.

This problem is particularly pronounced when you compare how new works are reviewed versus revivals.  In the same week, I saw Violet and If/Then (coincidentally the same week Bridges announced its closing).  I personally think both shows have some structural problems, and if I'm being honest I feel that If/Then is the more successful of the two productions.  But the general press savaged If/Then's flaws while ignoring what in my mind are many fine performances and a thought-provoking narrative that tackles some of life's big questions.  These same individuals largely overlooked Violet's structural problems and somewhat trite message in favor of praising the cast, since the convention is that you don't review the writing of a revival.  This double standard tends to make revivals sound more appealing than new works, and as a result a lot of the revivals this season are doing better business than the new shows.  If the critics steer people towards revivals, and those revivals subsequently make more money, then the new, daring work critics claim to want will be produced less and less.

At the end of the day, we all need to take responsibility for our actions and the messages they send.  If we are going to complain about the lack of original work on Broadway, then we need to make it a priority to get out and support the original work that does get produced.  No single individual can turn a flop into a hit, and there are some fantastic shows that due to their nature are just destined to be more niche affairs (as a serious musical without much spectacle in an industry that has lately favored feel-good puff pieces, Bridges probably falls in that category).  But if we all collectively make a more conscious effort to prioritize and support new, artistically daring new work like Bridges, If/Then, or even A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, we can help counterbalance the masses of tourists who are only interested in seeing Phantom and Mamma Mia! for the umpteenth time.  And the other lesson to be learned here is that you cannot assume a show will still be running when you get around to it; if you are passionate about seeing a show, you need to prioritize it because you cannot ever know for certain how long it will run.

PS - I saw Bridges twice, once when I reviewed it in March and then again after it announced its closing date.

Glorious Music, Sung Gloriously

Review: The Bridges of Madison County

If Kelli O'Hara doesn't win the Tony for her work in Bridges, there is no justice in the world.

They simply don't make them like this anymore.  The Bridges of Madison County, the musical adaptation of the bestselling book currently playing the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, is the type of sweeping musical drama that has fallen out of favor in recent years.  Unabashedly earnest in its sentiment, the exquisitely scored Bridges features two central performances so transcendent they more than compensate for the musical's occasional listlessness via the sheer intensity of their star wattage.

The musical focuses on a brief but intense affair between Italian-American housewife Francesca (a positively radiant Kelli O'Hara) and National Geographic photographer Robert Kincaid (the smoldering Steven Pasquale, in his Broadway musical debut).  A war bride brought back to Madison County, Iowa by blue collar farmer Bud (Hunter Foster), Francesca has spent two decades being the dutiful wife and mother, so complacent in her role that she doesn't even realize how unfulfilled she feels.  When Robert innocently asks Francesca for directions to one of the titular covered bridges, a simple invitation to tea blossoms into a passionate, all-consuming love that forces Francesca to re-examine every choice she's ever made.

The material could easily descend in schmaltzy sentimentality, but never does thanks to the incredible contributions of composer Jason Robert Brown.  Brown rocketed to fame on the strength of his Broadway debut Parade, and his small but sterling body of work since then has only reconfirmed his early promise as one of the theatre's finest tunesmiths.  Brown's work on Bridges is that of a fully matured artist, able to write music that is irrefutably gorgeous in its own right while also perfectly servicing plot and character development.  He possesses a rare, precise understanding of the full potential of the human voice, and continually shows his knack for writing conversational yet deeply profound lyrics. Bridges finds Brown equally adept at writing lilting, mournfully introspective songs like "Another Life" (a knockout solo for, of all characters, Robert's ex-wife) and soaring, operatic duets like "One Second and a Million Miles" (the musical highlight of the evening, and possibly the entire Broadway season).  It is a staggering achievement, the kind of richly complex score that only comes around once every few years.

The fact that Marsha Norman's libretto for Bridges doesn't reach the dizzying heights of Brown's score is disappointing, although likely unavoidable given the virtuosic intensity of the songs.  Norman tries to expand the scope of the story beyond the central lovers, inserting subplots about Francesca's family traveling to the Iowa State Fair and a prying but ultimately supportive neighbor.  While interesting in theory, these subplots have a nebulous connection to the main story and aren't developed enough to be engaging in their own right.  Norman does an excellent job of establishing Francesca's disconnection from her family, to the point where the show doesn't give her a valid reason for not immediately running off with Robert (the show's primary source of dramatic conflict).  The script also hints at deeply rooted problems between Bud and his kids but fails to truly explore them, with the eventual resolution of these problems feeling forced and unsatisfactory.

Thankfully, the cast more than makes up for the script's shortcomings.  As Francesca, four-time Tony-nominee Kelli O'Hara is a revelation, giving the most nuanced performance of her illustrious career.  Through the subtlest glance or bit of stage business, O'Hara illuminates the myriad conflicting feelings going on inside Francesca, a free spirit who willingly entered into a mundane marriage and is finally confronting the consequences.  O'Hara makes Francesca's inner life readily apparent, creating a wholly sympathetic creature from a woman who in lesser hands would be easy to judge harshly.  And when she opens her mouth to sing, O'Hara reveals a vocal mastery on par with the greatest singers to ever grace the Broadway stage.  Her crystalline soprano has never been stronger, rich and soulful as it traverses the soaring heights and unexpected depths of Brown's score.  The fact that O'Hara has yet to be rewarded with Broadway's highest honor seems somewhat ludicrous given the unending reservoir of talent on display here, and hopefully this will finally be her year when the Tony Awards are handed out in June.

Surprisingly, Steven Pasquale proves every bit her equal, and watching his masterful portrayal of the lone wolf photographer makes one regret he hasn't had the opportunity to star in a Broadway musical before now.  Pasquale imbues Robert with a quiet charisma and smoldering sensuality that is intoxicating, easily explaining why Francesca would be drawn to him.  As O'Hara does with Francesca, Pasquale gives such a clear view into Robert's inner life that you instantly understand every choice he makes.  A beautiful sincerity permeates his entire performance, preventing the character from coming across as a predatory lout.  And when Pasquale unleashes his powerful baritone, the sheer force and beauty of it sends shivers down the spine.

Director Bartlett Sher stages the show with his typical precision, coaxing uniformly fantastic performances out of his cast.  As with his previous shows, Sher is occasionally seduced by the beauty of his material, letting certain moments last one beat too long.  The final fifteen minutes of the show drag (although this partly stems from the writing), and the constant scenery changes eat up too much of the evening's running time.  But credit must be given where credit is due; performances of the caliber O'Hara and Pasquale give don't just happen, and without Sher to help guide and mold them the two actors wouldn't be nearly as effective in their roles.

The fact that a maudlin novel like The Bridges of Madison County has been turned into such a powerful piece of art is a minor miracle, and despite some small missteps it makes for a worthwhile night in the theatre.  Kelli O'Hara proves once again that she is among the best singing actresses of all time, giving the kind of deeply felt, nuanced performance that theatrical legends are made of.  Steven Pasquale matches her note for note, and together they have a fiery chemistry that makes Jason Robert Brown's sterling compositions truly soar.  In an age of revivals and disposable works of escapist entertainment, it is truly refreshing to see and hear such a serious new musical on Broadway.

Goodbye Until Tomorrow

Review:  The Last Five Years

You'll want to spend more than just the next ten minutes with Adam Kantor and Betsy Wolfe in The Last Five Years.

The original production of Jason Robert Brown’s semi-autobiographical musical The Last Five Years only ran for two months Off-Broadway, but thanks to a beloved cast album featuring Norbert Leo Butz and Sherrie Renee Scott the show has gone on to achieve genuine cult status.  But despite hundreds of college and regional productions during the eleven years since its premiere, the current Second Stage Theatre revival marks this chamber musical’s first return New York City engagement, and the first chance many fans (myself included) have had to actually see the show live.  Those myriad fans, and anyone else with an appreciation for serious musical dramas, will be happy to know that this revival not only meets but at times even exceeds the lofty expectations brought on by its vaunted reputation.

A high concept affair based in part on Brown’s failed first marriage, The Last Five Years chronicles the relationship of aspiring young actress Cathy Hyatt and writing wunderkind Jamie Wellerstein.  The twist is that while Jamie’s story unfolds in chronological order, Cathy’s tale is told in reverse, beginning with the couple’s divorce and ending on the night of their first date.  While an interesting idea, this approach means the actors in this two person chamber musical almost never interact, save during their wedding day at the show’s midpoint.  The concept also requires the audience to track the two stories separately and figure out how they overlap as the evening progresses.  Although an ultimately rewarding gimmick, the time jumping narrative does keep the audience from fully engaging with the characters for the first twenty or so of the show’s intermissionless ninety minutes.

Thankfully, whatever clunkiness is caused by the show’s narrative structure is more than compensated for by its lushly romantic score.  Since first bursting onto the scene in the mid-nineties with Songs for a New World, Brown has been routinely hailed as one of the most sophisticated composers of his generation.  The Last Five Years is his most unabashedly beautiful score to date, a perfect melding of pop-influenced character songs and gut-wrenching ballads.  Vocally demanding and richly textured, Brown’s music rewards repeated listening thanks to its subtle motifs and complex, often surprising lyrics which speak volumes about the characters singing them.  Brown has also ingeniously orchestrated the piece with a fullness that belies the six person pit’s small size, making judicious use of strings to add to the music’s romantic flair.

Brown’s music is notoriously difficult to sing, and finding two young performers with the vocal ability and emotional maturity to bring this score to life is one of the primary challenges facing any proposed production.  For this incarnation, Brown – who also assumes directing duties – has found the exceedingly talented Betsy Wolfe and Adam Kantor to embody Cathy and Jamie, respectively. 

Wolfe in particular is simply sensational, immediately banishing any memories of Sherrie Renee Scott’s performance (no small task) and making Cathy entirely her own.  With an emotional vulnerability that pulls the audience in, she creates a wholly sympathetic portrayal of a not entirely likable woman, as Cathy’s crushing self-doubt and neurotic need for attention are at least partially to blame for her marriage’s eventual collapse.  Wolfe starts the show on a high note with a superbly acted “Still Hurting” and proceeds to improve from there, and as Cathy regresses to happier times Wolfe gets to display her finely tuned skills as a comedienne.  She turns Brown’s purposefully ridiculous “A Summer in Ohio” into comedic gold, and her pitch-perfect send up of every bad audition habit during “Climbing Uphill” will be especially appreciated by anyone unlucky enough to experience such a thing in person.  The actress sings like a dream, tenderly caressing her notes or belting them to the rafters as the score dictates.  It is a star-making performance, and I expect Wolfe to become one of the city’s most in-demand musical actresses following her work here.

Kantor is slightly more problematic as Jamie, at least initially.  His first song, “Shiksa Goddess,” is surprisingly subdued both vocally and emotionally considering the song is about the unequaled thrill of a stellar first date.  But as the show progresses Kantor becomes steadily more effective, and by the time he sings his final farewell to Cathy your heart breaks with his.  Credit must be given to Brown for writing Jamie – obviously an author analogue – as a real person and not a faultless saint, and Kantor’s performance makes it clear that Jamie hates himself as much as anyone for the mistakes he makes, a trait most readily illustrated during his particularly forlorn rendition of “Nobody Needs to Know.”  Kantor also transforms “The Schmuel Song,” which has always seemed overlong and unnecessary on the cast recording, into one of the most surprisingly touching moments of the show, displaying a gift for emotional clarity and a charming sensitivity that goes a long way towards explaining why Cathy puts up with Jamie’s ever-burgeoning ego.

Brown’s staging of the work is excellent, emphasizing clarity and emotional honesty over any theatrical trickery.  The amount of visual interest Brown derives from what is essential an uninterrupted succession of solos is astounding, and with each scene transition it is immediately clear both where and when the characters are in their journey.  Brown has permitted his actors to take slight liberties with the rhythm and tempo of the music, and while this may initially throw fans of the cast recording for a loop, almost every change brings with it greater illumination of the show’s lyrics and the psychological state of its characters.  Set designer Derek McLane and costumer Emily Rebholz provide minimalistic but evocative designs in purples and blues, all gorgeously lit by Jeff Croiter’s rich lighting design.

Anyone interested in The Last Five Years should run, not walk, to purchase their tickets to this deeply moving Off-Broadway revival.  This is a definitive production of Brown’s deeply personal work, representing the show as he intended it to be and executed with the utmost professionalism by all involved.  Kantor and Wolfe are promising young talents poised for great things, and this could be the last chance to see them in such an intimate setting.  Like Sondheim before him, Brown has pushed the boundaries of what the contemporary musical can be, creating an artistic triumph that demands to be seen by all.