The Worst Shows of 2014

In addition to my annual Best Shows features, it is also a tradition here at Broadway, Etc. to make a list of the worst theatrical offerings of any given year. I must admit, the article is a bit late this year as I debated whether or not to even publish a Worst of 2014 list. I have lately come to feel there is a lot of unwarranted negativity among the industry and less support than there should be for the incredibly hard task of mounting a show, especially a new work. But ultimately, I decided that if my blog is retain any legitimacy as a platform for reviews, I need to be able to point out the bad along with the good (if all my reviews are rave reviews, they don't really mean much).

And with that preface, here are the 5 least enjoyable experiences I had last year.

5) Bullets Over Broadway

Looks like a charming, old fashioned musical comedy, right? Unfortunately for us, looks can be deceiving.

Susan Stroman, a director/choreographer I have the utmost respect for, had a rough 2013-2014 season. While she had the honor of helming two big budget, highly anticipated new musicals, both productions failed to impress critics and shuttered within a few months of opening. But whereas I really enjoyed her Big Fish despite its flaws, there are few saving graces to her misguided collaboration with Woody Allen, Bullets Over Broadway. Allen's particular brand of comedy is very specific and intimate, making it perfectly suited for film but a poor fit for the Broadway stage. His script for Bullets fell flat, with the premise (backstage shenanigans in the 1920s) promising far more laughs than the show actually delivered. Stroman's direction felt frantic, perhaps in an attempt to provide the laughs Allen and the show's period score failed to deliver. The decision to us pre-existing songs also limited the show's potential, forcing the pair to awkwardly shoehorn musical numbers into the book scenes. The entire cast struggled to find their footing, and although many called out Marin Mazzie for grandstanding as the show-within-a-show's booze addled diva, at least she provided some much needed life to an otherwise dull affair. By the time the literally bananas finale rolled around, both the cast and the audience seemed visibly relieved the entire affair was over.

4) Les Miserables

The fresh faced cast of Les Miserables is certainly excited to be there, but even their enthusiasm can't breathe life into this ponderous, too-soon revival.

For all its 80s bombast, I've always had a soft spot for Les Miserables, perhaps because the original production was my first ever Broadway show. So while I felt it was far too soon for another Broadway revival, given the 2006 production and the very successful film version, I went into the Imperial Theatre excited to see what a reimagined Les Miz might look like. Unfortunately, this current production highlights all of the show's flaws (thin writing, cheaply emotional power ballads, an overlong length) and none of its strengths (a genuinely touching story of redemption, a richly melodic sung-through score). Many actors are obviously miscast and/or misdirected, with normally reliable performers like Will Swenson and Nikki M. James delivering work far below their usual high standard. That said, credit must be given where credit is due: Ramin Karimloo is a superb Jean Valjean, and his spine-tingling delivery of the iconic "Bring Him Home" is one of the vocal highlights of the season. Too bad the rest of the production wasn't up to Karimloo's high level.
 

3) Rocky

Andy Karl and the cast of Rocky perform "Eye of the Tiger." When the most memorable song in your musical is something you didn't even write, you might have a problem.

When first presented with the idea of a Broadway musical based on the Oscar-winning film Rocky, most people were sceptical. But the involvement of Tony-winning songwriters Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, whose Ragtime is one of the single greatest achievements in musical theatre writing ever, not to mention rising star director Alex Timbers piqued everyone's curiosity and convinced many that Rocky just might work onstage. As it turns out, our gut instincts were the right ones, with the resulting show failing in just about every conceivable way despite the talent involved. The primary problem seems to be one of tone, with Flaherty & Ahrens believing the working class Rocky Balboa and his friends merited small, intimate writing while Timbers insisted on a gargantuan physical production that often drowned out the storytelling happening onstage. The final 20 minute boxing match, which moved the audience onstage and the action into the audience, was indeed an eye popping spectacle, but by that point the damage had already been done by 2 hours of questionable character motivations and non-existent drama. One of the year's biggest disappointments.

2) 50 Shades! - The Musical

Eye candy is about all 50 Shades! - The Musical has going for it.

Given the popularity and absurdity of the bestselling novel/Twilight erotica 50 Shades of Grey, it was only a matter of time before someone developed a tongue in cheek musical spoof. No one expects a show like 50 Shades! - The Musical to be high art, but I was expecting something a fair bit better than the travesty currently playing at Off-Broadway's Elektra Theatre. Even at a mere sixty minutes, 50 Shades! feels like an eternity, with the show lasting far beyond the writers' ability to sustain their already thin premise. The songs are blandly forgettable and the direction overly simplistic, leaving the fresh faced cast with nothing to hold onto as they try to find some redeeming quality in this variety sketch the miraculously managed to score a full production. I have never been so close to leaving a show at intermission (yes, even though the show is only an hour long the producers felt the need to prolong the agony by still including an intermission). To be fair, the numerous groups of women in the audience seemed to be having a grand old time, although I suspect that had more to do with their heavy alcohol consumption than it did with the quality of the production.

1) Mothers and Sons

During the BC/EFA collection speech during curtain call, Bobby Steggert (left) promised the highest bidder a four person re-enactment of the Tyne Daly (right) Gypsy. That would have been *infinitely* more entertaining than the preceding 90 minutes.

Many critics considered Terrance McNally's Mothers and Sons one of the spring season's highlights, and it even managed to snag a much coveted Best Play Tony nomination despite a fair bit of competition. I don't know what show those people saw, but the ponderous "drama" I saw last March at the Golden Theatre committed so many dramaturgical sins it's difficult to know where to begin. McNally's unsuccessful attempt to tackle every aspect of the modern gay male's life (marriage equality, familial acceptance, child rearing, the still relevant threat of AIDS, etc.) in the span of ninety minutes led to characters who were mere mouthpieces rather than three dimensional human beings. McNally didn't even have the sense to make them consistent mouthpieces, with characters adopting wildly different and at times diametrically opposed views from moment to moment to keep the heavy-handed lecture going, even though the play's short length prohibited any meaningful discussion of the many loaded and multifaceted issues that arose. Even more shocking is how poorly the show was acted, with the much lauded Tyne Daly turning in a performance that was stiff, wooden, and anything put believable (not that McNally's thin writing did her any favors). Everyone involved is capable of much better, and Mothers and Sons is easily the worst show I had the misfortune of encountering this past year.


And there you have it; the 5 shows with the dubious honor of being the least enjoyable productions of 2014. In an ideal world, I won't have anything to put on this list for 2015. That probably won't be the case, but one can always dream.

Happy New Year everybody!

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.

Most Anticipated of Spring 2014

Idina Menzel and the cast of If/Then.  You just *know* she's belting her face off.

Now that we are officially in 2014, it is time to start looking forward rather than back (which I did in my two Best Of 2013 posts as well as my Worst Of list).  There are 20 new productions opening on Broadway this coming spring, and somewhat surprisingly they are evenly divided between plays and musicals.  Any new Broadway show is cause for celebration, but naturally there are some shows that I'm looking forward to more than others.  So here, in no particular order, are the productions I'm most excited to see in the coming months.

Aladdin

Full disclosure:  Aladdin has always been my favorite Disney film.  I have been hoping for a stage adaptation for the last 10 years, and I will finally get my wish when the show arrives on Broadway in March.  I'm not sure exactly how they'll translate the film's magic to the stage (the Genie's mile-a-minute dialogue and transformations seem like a particular challenge), but 16 years ago no one thought they could make The Lion King work and that show has gone on to gross $1 billion on Broadway alone.  I have full faith in the technical prowess Disney's money can buy, and I also have supreme confidence in the musical comedy chops of director Casey Nicholaw, whose work on The Book of Mormon remains the greatest example of sustained hilarity in the new millennium.  Final bit of disclosure: I bought my orchestra tickets to this show last month. :-D

The Bridges of Madison County

I have zero knowledge or particular interest in either The Bridges of Madison County novel or the film version starring Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood.  But I do have extensive knowledge and admiration for the musical career of composer Jason Robert Brown, who is scoring the musical adaptation set to begin previews on Broadway in a couple of weeks.  Brown is one of the smartest pop-influenced composers working in the theatre, and I have no doubt his score will be a marvel to behold.  The fact that he has enlisted Kelli O'Hara to take on the lead female role makes the entire enterprise even more exciting, as she is one of the most gifted singing actresses of her generation.  Add in the fact that Tony-winner Barlett Sher is at the helm and has described the score as the best one he's ever worked with (remember the Sher introduced the world to Adam Guettel's rapturous Light in the Piazza) and you have the makings of a theatrical event.

If/Then

10 years after her Tony-winning turn in the smash-hit Wicked, Idina Menzel finally returns to the Broadway stage in If/Then.  That information alone would be enough to pique my interest; the fact that the show is written by Next to Normal's Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, who crafted one of the most fascinating musical dramas of the past decade and wrote an incredible diva role for eventual Tony-winner Alice Ripley, shoots this towards the top of my must see list.  Menzel has some able-bodied support in costars like LaChanze (whom I adored in The Color Purple) and fellow Rent alum Anthony Rapp, and the incredibly talented Michael Grief directing her.  All the ingredients for theatrical magic are there, and I cannot wait to see what this team has come up with.

Violet

Two words:  Sutton Foster.  Foster is one of the select few performers who can prompt me to buy a ticket based on her name alone, as she has never been anything less than stellar in every show I've been privileged enough to see her in (even when the actual shows left me cold, as was the case with Little Women).  She has one of the purest belts in the contemporary theatre, along with the acting chops and sheer charisma to hold your attention even when she isn't singing.  And while I know almost nothing about Violet, which had a very brief Off-Broadway run in the 1990s, everyone I know who has actually heard the music raves about it.  Composer Jeanine Tesori also has the distinction of having written Thoroughly Modern Millie, the show that shot Foster to stardom and her first Tony Award, so seeing the two reteam on this new project is doubly exciting.

Rocky

I am in no way, shape, or form convinced that this adaptation of the Oscar-winning film will actually work as a musical.  In fact, it could be a disaster of epic proportions.  But Stephen Flaherty and Lynne Ahrens wrote one of the greatest musicals of all time (if not THE greatest) in Ragtime, and the rest of their catalogue is equally lovely.  The pair are also famous perfectionists, constantly rewriting and revising their shows in an effort to make them as good as they can possibly be, so I have to believe that there was something about Rocky that drew them to the project.  Good or bad, I think Rocky will be one show the entire industry is talking about come spring, and I want to see it firsthand.  Whether I leave praising its triumphs or deconstructing its missteps remains to be seen.


I wish I could say I was excited about the plays that are opening this spring on Broadway, but the truth of the matter is none of them grab me the way the above musicals do.  Like everyone else, I was blown away by Bryan Cranston's performance on Breaking Bad, and I fully believe he will make an excellent stage actor, but the out-of-town reviews for All The Way were lukewarm (many critics felt the play was too long and unfocused).  I personally thought Denzel Washington was overrated in Fences a couple of seasons back, so the idea of him doing A Raisin in the Sun doesn't thrill me.  And while I find the idea of Debra Messing starring in a comedy by Pulitzer-winner John Patrick Shanely appealing, it isn't a must see for me.  I *am* excited to see Alan Cumming reprise his Emcee in the Roundabout's remounting of their Tony-winning Cabaret (since I missed it the first time around), but at the end of the day they are just dusting off a production from 15 years ago that may or may not still feel relevant.

What are you most looking forward to for the coming spring season?  Feel free to let me know in the comments.  And look for reviews of as many of the spring shows as I can get to in the coming months.