off-Broadway

May 30, 2016April 1, 2017

Theatre: “American Psycho the Musical;” “Bright Star;” “Dear Evan Hansen”

“AMERICAN PSYCHO the Musical“ – YES
Closes June 5th at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, 236 West 45 Street

If you are in NYC, or plan to be by 6/5, AND you have an affinity with musical theatre or share a concern about where America is heading, I urge you to see “American Psycho.” It is truly the first modern, i.e., 21st Century, musical. Its genesis is the music video, not vaudeville nor the musicals of Broadway’s Golden Age. It is a funny and searing indictment of a time and place (Manhattan, 1989) whose values have brought us to a point in time where Donald Trump appears headed to become the Republican candidate for President. It also contains two of the most brilliant, and inexcusably overlooked, performances of the season–Benjamin Walker and Heléne Yorke.

This is not a show for children as there is coarse language and simulated intercourse as well as simulated acts of violence. It is a show for adults who like musicals that are challenging and cause one to think. A musical like “American Psycho” comes along rarely. Eventually, it will be re-mounted and recognized, but the thrill of this original Broadway production should not be dismissed.

See my earlier posts about “American Psycho” here and here.

“DEAR EVAN HANSEN” – NO
Closed May 22nd at Second Stage; opening on Broadway later in 2016

Some theatre-goers were commenting that this off-Broadway show was “superb,” so several weeks ago I went with hopes high, not knowing anything about it. Unfortunately, my elation quickly turned to annoyance and tedium. The book, by Steven Leveson, of teen-age loneliness and angst rang false and unrealistic. The show, to me, was poorly written. The first 20 or 30 minutes did not move the plot forward, it simply repeated: Evan is friendless and has some type of social anxiety disorder, wringing his hands and”Waving Through A Window.” He is being raised by his single Mom who, I seem to recall, was going to school herself or working a second job. Evan’s therapist has instructed him to write a daily letter to himself (hence the show title, get it?) encouraging himself that today will be a good day. Evan silently pines for a girl at school, Zoe, whom he believes barely notices him. The only true character conflict came in the last 15 or 20 minutes when Evan’s reprehensible behavior is revealed and his relationship with the other characters is now cracked and tested but the writers never explore this. Evan’s actions, supported and abetted by his teenage schoolmates, struck me as dishonest, disagreeable, despicable and emotionally cruel. The lone exception is the innocent Zoe, who becomes one of the victims of his inexcusable behavior.

With the exception of Ben Platt who is a good performer but too mature to be playing a teen-ager, the acting was poor all around. The score by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (“Dogfight,” “A Christmas Story,” “James and the Giant Peach”) had no song that caught my attention nor whose melody I even remember. The point was made numerous times that Evan and his mother were abandoned by the father/husband, so there was no need for a useless song about a baseball glove, “To Break In A Glove.” The plot made the point repeatedly of Evan’s strong affinity for jazz music, and in which music class he first set eyes on Zoe, yet there’s not one note of jazz music in the score. It’s all blue-grass, guitar and banjo strumming and depressing.

Michael Greif’s direction was basic and unimaginative with nearly every song sung downstage and to the audience and with little to no connection between the teen-agers and adults on stage. Act One ended for me with no reason to return. I did because I was still hoping there might have been a positive reason to have sat through the first act. There wasn’t. The show was over-produced–sliding panels gliding on and off, back and forth, onto with were projected images of teen-age emails and instant messages. The reason for these being, I suspected, to distract the audience and maintain attention while masking the fact that nothing was truly happening.

Some folks appear to be making much of this show and its supposed relevance to today. To which I strongly disagree. This show will date quickly. The Broadway audience for this show strikes me as limited at best. I recognize that many people believe this show is superb with fine music and lyrics, and that I’m in the minority. In my opinion, the reason for this Evan Euphoria stems from an unconscious collection of critics and fans of Pasek and Paul who sympathetically believe attention and recognition is due to this creative team. “Dear Evan Hansen” will not survive a transfer. The theatre work of Pasek and Paul up to now will not stand the test of time. Let’s see what they write in the future for the theatre, after they mature and leave the children and young adult shows and films behind them.

See my earlier post about “Dear Evan Hansen,” here.

“BRIGHT STAR” – YES
Currently at the Cort Theatre, 138 West 48th Street

My opinion about the score’s overindulgent use of repetitive lyrics and false rhymes remains unchanged from my first hearing of the Broadway Cast Recording (Sh-k-Boom/Ghostlight). Since seeing the show at the Cort, however, which gave context to the score I found that I truly enjoy listening to the cast recording. Truly, truly. The show’s book is simple, straightforward, even predictable. Still it’s full of heart. It also has one of the season’s brightest Broadway debuts, Carmen Cusack. See this for her. See it too for Alexander Paul Nolan, Hannah Elless, A. J. Shively and Emily Padgett, all who deliver fine performances. You’ll also have a good feeling have when it’s over, and you’ll be glad you went. Don’t be surprised to find Steven Martin, one of the co-writers, showing up to play the banjo in the Entr’acte with the on-stage band. He’s known to do that.

See my earlier posts on “Bright Star” here and here.

May 23, 2016April 1, 2017

CD Review: “Jasper In Deadland”

Recently, I had the opportunity to listen to “Jasper In Deadland,” by award-winning composer/lyricist Ryan Scott Oliver, whose name was known to me but whose work was not. “Jasper In Deadland” isn’t the type of show that I would generally be drawn to, I’ll admit.

I’ll also admit that to my surprise I was captivated from the first track, “Goodbye Jasper!” and its first “YA TA TA DA DA TA TA DA.”

"Jasper In Deadland" cover — “Jasper In Deadland,” world premiere recording

The story by Mr. Oliver, co-written with Hunter Foster, has as its source the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Orpheus, traditionally the son of a Muse, was endowed with the gift of sublime musical skills, playing the lyre and singing. After returning from sailing with the Argonauts, Orpheus meets and falls in love with Eurydice who later dies from a snakebite. Overcome with grief Orpheus ventures into the land of the dead to bring her back to life. Hades, king of the underworld, ultimately agrees to allow Orpheus to return to the land of the living with Eurydice though with one condition. Orpheus is to ascend with Eurydice accompanying him from behind, but Orpheus is not to look back at her until after they have left the land of the dead. The story of Orpheus and Eurydice is one that has fascinated many creative writers over the centuries, being retold numerous times in operas, in drama and in films. Now, it’s been given a contemporary setting and the sound of theatrical rock.

Jasper, earnestly sung and performed by Matt Doyle (Broadway’s “Book of Mormon,” and “Spring Awakening”), responds to a voice message from his friend Agnes. She asks that he meet her at the cliff where they often met. Once there he quickly realizes that she has fallen into the River Lethe thirty feet below. He jumps in determined to bring her back. As in the myth, once in the land of the dead Jasper meets an assortment of characters all determined to prevent him from leaving, starting with the three-headed dog Cerberus who wants to know, “What Is Life?” In this well-sung recording the Deadland characters are alternately comic and scary. In addition to Matt Doyle, the singers are not only good, but extremely versatile as they sing various characters throughout.

Matt-02 What impressed me the most in this witty, zany, well-written score is the variety of Mr. Oliver’s music. “The Forgetting” is written in waltz-time and lyrically reminiscent of Sondheim in a good way. During his time in Deadland Jasper meets the real Eurydice who sings “Lifesong,” a song with the sound of soul (no pun intended) and is nicely sung by Andi Alhadeff. Mr. Oliver’s score never loses its driving rock-and-roll sound nor its clear drive to tell a story in a musically interesting way. It also delivers songs that are remembered.

The recording is well produced with a clarity of voices and a separation of voices and instruments. There is a 16-page booklet of complete lyrics plus color photographs from Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre production in 2015. It was previously produced in 2014, in New York City by the Prospect Theatre Company.

On his website Mr. Oliver is described as “A composer-lyricist fashioning epic dramas, gothic thrillers, and high-octane rock and roll into exhilarating new musicals.” “Jasper In Deadland” hits all three points plus it’s fun!

Recommend.

Visit Ryan Scott Oliver for more information.

Visit Sh-k-boom & Ghostlight Records to purchase this recording.

May 17, 2016April 1, 2017

CD Review: “Bright Star”

“Bright Star” the musical with the music, lyrics and story written by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell opened on Broadway at the Cort Theatre on March 24, 2016. The show was directed by Walter Bobbie, and stars Carmen Cusack and Paul Alexander Nolan. The cast also includes Michael Mulheren, A. J. Shively, Hannah Elless, Stephen Bogardus, Dee Hoty, Stephen Lee Anderson, Emily Padgett and Jeff Blumenkrantz. The musical has been nominated for 5 TONY Awards: Best Musical; Best Score; Best Book; Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical and Best Orchestrations. The Original Broadway Cast recording will be released on May 27, 2016, and comes with a beautifully illustrated 10-page lyric booklet which includes a synopsis as well as statements from the authors, Steve Martin and Edie Bickell. It is available today at sh-k-boom.com.

"Bright Stat" cover art — “Bright Stat” cover art

After repeated listenings I found the music to be lively, upbeat and easy to take. It has a warm wonderful sound of back woods down home–plucky, toe-tapping’, banjo strummin’, foot stompin’, goin’ to revival meetin’ sound. The superb orchestrations by August Eriksmoen and the Music Direction and Vocal Arrangements by Rob Berman keep the recording moving at a fast pace and interesting. Against my better judgement I found myself liking the sound of this score, and I should add the sound of the recording. It’s clear, crisp–a bit like a cold night in the woods when every tree, every star, every footstep is distinct.

Carmen Cusack, making her Broadway debut in “Bright Star,” has performed on the West End and toured the UK, as well touring the U.S. as Nellie Forbush in the 1st National Company of the Lincoln Center production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “South Pacific.”

Carmen Cusack, star of "Bright Star." — Carmen Cusack, star of “Bright Star.”

She also starred as Dot in the Chicago Shakespeare production of Stephen Sondheim’s “Sunday In The Park With George.” Her voice is strong and likable with a hint of breathiness that I find reminiscent of Tammy Grimes.

Unfortunately, while Ms. Cusack’s voice can be heard in nine of the twenty one tracks, she does not have a true solo among them. She is either singing with an ensemble or the entire company. Even in one of two bonus tracks where she sings the song with the most repetitive lyrics (more to come on that) she is augmented with back-up singers. The other unfortunate fact of this score is that Ms. Cusack, who as noted above has sung lyrics by Hammerstein and by Sondheim among others, finds herself here, along with the rest of the cast, saddled with lyrics by Martin and Brickell. Lyrics that are cliched, dumb and say nothing in a dramatic musical. The lyrics are also infinitely repetitive, saying nothing over and over and over and over and over again.

Let me give you a few examples. The first song on the recording is entitled “If You Knew My Story” and starts it with a melancholy fiddle leading into the song. Ms. Cusack sings “If you knew my story you’d have a hard time believing me you’d think I was lying.” From that fiddle I get the sense that this is perhaps a memory piece. After listening to the recording numerous times, however, I still don’t know whether to believe that she’s lying or not because have no idea of the story. A musical score that starts with “If You Knew My Story” and then over twenty subsequent songs doesn’t clearly tell you the overall story nor identify the central character is poor musical story-telling. The listener shouldn’t be forced to rely on the printed synopsis and/or the lyrics to understand what is happening.

Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, authors of "Bright Star." — Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, authors of “Bright Star.”

Then there are the repetitive lyrics, starting with that first song. The words “if you knew my story” are repeated ten times throughout the three minute track. This is followed closely by the title song where “bright star” is repeated at least a dozen times. Not long after the dumb and meaningless lyrics “a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do when a man’s gotta do what he’s got to” make their audible presence known, and again later in the reprise which serves as the Act One closing song. The song with with most repetitive lyrics though has to be “Sun Is Gonna Shine,” where the lyrics “the sun is gonna shine again” are sung over thirty times. A rousing church song? I dunno, maybe. We’re well into Act Two and someone needs cheering up but I don’t know who or why. Theatre lyric writing has changed and someone who prefers a more traditional musical score may not warm up to this.

Thanks to the orchestrations I do find the “Bright Star” score to be infectious and an enjoyable way to get moving. Still, when the best track on the recording, hence in the score, is the “Entr’acte” that alone says you have a words problem. Now I’ll go read the synopsis or better yet, perhaps go see the show.

RECOMMEND.

brightstarmusical.com, Cort Theatre, 138 W. 48 St., Broadway

Visit: sh-k-boom.com

May 9, 2016April 1, 2017

CD Review: “When Everything Was Possible – A Concert With Comments”

For every young person who dreams of coming to New York City to be on the stage, for every adult who has lived through that dream or is living it now and for everyone who loves Broadway musicals this live concert recording is for you. On Sunday evening, April 29, 2012, at 7:30 p.m. New York’s City Center on West 55th Street was filled to the rafters to hear Kurt Peterson and Victoria Mallory, considered two of the brightest lights of Broadway’s Late Golden Age, perform together publicly for the first time in over 40 years. I was lucky to be there that night and now, thanks to Sk-K-Boom Records, everyone can be too.

Kurt, from the Mid-West, and Victoria, from the South, were two kids each with dreams of coming to New York City and making it on the stage. They did come and they met and they bonded immediately over their shared thirst to perform. All the while they, independent of the other and sometimes together, sang the songs of, and performed on stage with, the best talents of Broadway in the late 1960s and early 70s. Broadway however can be a mean mistress and it didn’t allow them to stay together. Still, the forever fickle Broadway, plus dreams of the stage in a younger generation, brought them back into each other’s lives.

300_possible This beautiful concert was lovingly recorded and is sumptuously packaged, including many private black and white photos. Produced by Kurt’s James Williams Productions and by Stephanie Skyllas, it is distributed by theatre’s friends at Sh-K-Boom Records. In the concert, which is vividly captured, Kurt and Victoria each share their early dreams and tales of their early mis-steps and their fortitude to persevere. They first grabbed attention in the late Spring of 1968. The New York Times announced on May 24th that two newcomers were selected by Richard Rodgers to star as Tony and Maria in the revival of the Laurents-Bernstein-Sondheim-Robbins classic “West Side Story,” to be produced by Mr. Rodgers and the Musical Theatre of Lincoln Center at the New York State Theatre that summer. According to The Times, Victoria was 19 and Kurt 20, and both had graduated from AMDA just a week before.

They were on Broadway in three shows a piece, in two of which they both performed. After “West Side Story” Kurt was featured in the original productions of Jerry Herman’s “Dear World” starring Angela Lansbury (1969),and later in the Stephen Sondheim-Michael Bennet-Hal Prince masterpiece “Follies” (1971). Victoria was also in “Follies” and in 1973, the original production of “A Little Night Music.”

Even with Ed Sullivan writing in July 1968, “Richard Rodgers predicts stardom,” after their “West Side Story” debut neither Kurt nor Victoria became big Broadway celebrity names. Each of them however earned the highest respect from the most critical and discerning group of individuals in New York City–their professional Broadway colleagues and musical aficionados on both sides of the footlights.

In this concert recording Kurt and Victoria sing with more mature voices the songs they each originated on Broadway plus other songs from those shows, as well as songs they revived in other productions. For Victoria, this included a revival at City Center of Bob Merrill’s “Carnival” and for Kurt, as a replacement in the off-Broadway original production of “Dames At Sea,” which had introduced Bernadette Peters. Kurt also sings from a revival of the Bernstein-Comden and Green classic “On The Town,” from which he was replaced before opening. Kurt was the driving force behind “Sondheim–A Musical Tribute,” the now classic one-night tribute in 1973 to Stephen Sondheim’s early work which is represented here too.

The years brought unexpected changes to each of their lives culminating in their reuniting for a series of concerts, of which this was the first. Those concerts however were not fulfilled as Victoria passed away in 2014 after a sudden illness. The glory of their young vocal talents remain ever preserved in several original Broadway cast recordings of the earlier mentioned shows. This recording preserves the maturity of their talents, the sound of their voices adding a depth to lyrics many of us know well. It also preserves their mutual love and respect and the still youthful exuberance and wonder of days when, to quote Stephen Sondheim, “everything was possible and nothing made sense.”

Having this unique and valuable recording in one’s musical theatre collection today makes a hell of a lot of sense to me.

“When Everything Was Possible” can be ordered directly from Sh-K-Boom.com.

Visit http://www.wheneverythingwaspossible.com for bios and for more pictures and information.

May 2, 2016April 1, 2017

CD Review: “Hamilton,” 2016 Original Broadway Cast

WTF?! Patrick Bateman led me to Alexander Hamilton.

I’ve spent the last several weeks under the musical spell of the Original London (and only so far) Cast recording of “American Psycho” by Duncan Sheik. I decided it was time to stop holding my nose and listen to the OBC of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton: An American Musical,” the Original Broadway Cast recording. I have to admit that there is a lot to admire.

Having listened to “Hamilton” four or five times over the last week, including following along with the lyric booklet, I found myself more disposed to be taken in by the sheer musical audacity of the piece. Musically it is much more varied than I had ever imagined and filled with catchy rhythms, snippets of which have stayed with me. Lyrically, I found that there is little imagery in my opinion and even less poetry. To my sensibilities it is over-stuffed with repetition and cheap and poor rhymes. (I want a Hamilton $10 bill for every “Burr sir.) What I kept thinking each time I listened was, “how do the performers even begin to remember those lines?” I found that there is nothing to help one remember where the music track is going. It’s accurate, I believe, to note that these are tracks and not songs as there isn’t a traditional song among the 46 tracks.

The history that the show’s lyrics convey is quite fascinating, for one or two hearings, even if some historians claim it to be historically questionable. At one point I was reminded of being in elementary school and the class being forced to hear one of those recordings of American history. Fascinating if one liked history. After several repeated listenings would one want to hear it again?

The vocal and choral arrangements are credited jointly to Alex Lacamoire and Mr. Miranda; like jewels, the arrangements are multi-faceted and brilliant. The three-part vocal blending and harmonies of Philippa Soo, Renée Elise Goldsboro and Jasmine Cephas Jones in “The Schuyler Sisters” can take one’s breath away. The orchestrations and music direction by Mr. Lacamoire is nothing less than stunning.

Frankly, it is these elements that make the recording of the score engaging, accessible and listenable. Well, listenable to a point for someone like me who has lived with the songs of the Great American Songbook in his head. I can most certainly understand, however, why listeners who live their life with a music shuffle would be caught up with the sound of “Hamilton.” It works well in small doses.

american-psycho-album-jpg
Still, while I greatly surprised myself by liking it, I can not imagine listening to it too many times over the years. Not say, like I’ve listened to “Gypsy” or “South Pacific” or “West Side Story,” and even “American Psyho.” Scores whose songs are hypnotic and are able to recapture a moment of time in some of our lives and illicit deep personal feelings. On the London recording of “American Psycho” I found that “You Are What Your Weat,” “Oh Sri Lanka,” “At The End Of An Island,”and especially “A Girl Before” to be songs that I found easy to like and to listen to repeatedly.

“I am needing so much more, every pleasure is a bore, I am something other than a common man, I’m not a common man.”

True of both Patrick Bateman and Alexander Hamilton. I recommend both recordings. If I were a TONY voter though Best Score would be “American Psycho.”

http://www.hamiltonbroadway.com

Currently playing at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, West 46 Street, New York City

http://americanpsyhothemusical.com

Currently playing at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, West 45 Street, New York City

April 24, 2016May 17, 2016

Patrick Bateman or Evan Hansen? Who is Crueler?

Friday night I went to see the brilliant musical production of “American Psycho The Musical” on Broadway, for the second time. Saturday, on a whim, I went to a matinee performance of “Dear Even Hansen” off-Broadway at the Second Stage. I knew nothing about the show or its origins except that it was written by Benj Pasik and Justin Paul. After reading the Playbill I learned that they are jointly credited with writing the Music and Lyrics, and that the Book is by Steven Levenson. I was told by an Usher that the show is still in previews and opens on May 1st. Respecting that fact I won’t be reviewing the production I saw, so no spoilers ahead.

While observing the plot unfold I was reminded of a reader’s comment to Ben Brantley’s review of “American Psycho” published in The New York Times Friday morning. The reader commented on being “…utterly appalled and horrified that the torture and murder of women would be trivialized for Broadway.” From the totality of that reader’s comment there was nothing that indicated they actually saw “American Psycho” on Broadway, they were instead simply stating their position on depicting cruelty towards women. That then led me to begin thinking about what I was watching and hearing. I thought, “who is crueler–Patrick Bateman or Even Hansen?”

Now granted, fIrst and foremost both of these shows are theatre pieces. They both ask their audiences to suspend belief and to view and listen to what is happening on stage as if is happening in the real world. Each of the leading characters, Patrick Bateman and Evan Hansen, believe themselves to be disenfranchised and separate and apart from the others who inhabit their worlds. Patrick because he is superior and “not a common man,” and Evan because he believes he is invisible, living life “waving through a window.” As a result, they both act out behavior that is nothing short of being cruel to the people around them. But which is crueler?

Benjamin Walker as Patrick Bateman in "American Psycho the Musical" on Broadway. — Benjamin Walker as Patrick Bateman in “American Psycho the Musical” on Broadway.

Patrick Bateman is so emotionally removed that his means of coping with a world and a life that he despises is to create a fantasy world where he engages in acts of murder and torture. In this fictional world he creates for himself Patrick can easily remove anyone who displeases him or whom he finds unworthy of taking up space. The physical cruelty and bloodshed that he causes is initiated by himself, and although depicted in stage time it is inflicted in his imagination, stylistically and with scalpel-like precision on both women and men. Patrick’s initial delight in brutal killing gradually loses its ability to lift his spirits and he is left little choice but to accept his common man place the real world around him. The harm to himself and to others is purely in his head.

Ben Platt stars as Evan Hansen in the Second Stage Production of 'Dear Evan Hansen" currently performing through May 22, 2016. — Ben Platt stars as Evan Hansen in the Second Stage Production of ‘Dear Evan Hansen” currently performing through May 22, 2016.

Evan Hansen, another loner, is about ten years younger than Patrick, and someone whose socio-economic class would have made him a prime target for Patrick had their worlds intertwined. He is awkward and shy, where Patrick is polished and out-going. Evan’s cruelty begins not by his own choice but by a circumstance of life that places Evan at the forefront of the family tragedy of teenage suicide. Almost immediately Evan realizes that he gains and becomes less invisible and more valued by a simple omission of fact. By not correcting this and perpetuating a mistaken impression Evan engages in an emotional cruelty on the real people in his world, vulnerable innocents already suffering a tragedy from which none ever truly recover.

So, which of the two is truly more cruel? Patrick Bateman, who inflicts imaginary physical pain and death on people in his imaginary world? Or is it Evan Hansen, who by initially omitting a fact promotes and perpetuates emotional and psychological life-long harm on real people in his real world?

http://dearevanhansen.com/

http://americanpsychothemusical.com