Recent Broadway Nights: 11/23/05
But John Doyle's minimalist, Brechtian staging is one of those one-offs that works. Seemingly taking place in the mind of a deranged Tobias and with the characters inmates of the asylum to which he's confined, the production is striking, chilling, and effective.
Having the ten actors double as the orchestra proves to be an inspired notion here, producing several intriguing moments when the instrumentalists contrast sharply with or appear to comment on the action. Some will, of course, miss the original, lush orchestrations of Jonathan Tunick. But if the sound is greatly reduced from what we've heard on Broadway, at City Opera, and at the Philharmonic, that's all been well-documented, so one doesn't mind relinquishing it this time around. In exchange, we get a distinctly original staging that's often mesmerizing.
Decisions that might have seemed bizarre or arbitrary turn out to be telling. Most of the musical "buttons" have been dropped, so there are few breaks for applause. There are cuts in the book and music. The cast sports an odd mix of period and contemporary attire. The performers often speak their lines face front to the audience, rather than addressing one another, and when they're not playing scenes or their instruments, they move pieces of the set around. Because they are doubling as the orchestra, cast members remain on stage throughout the evening. Actors don blood-splattered labcoats to indicate their status as victims of Sweeney's razor. Sweeney's killings are embodied by a red glare and blood poured into a bucket. But everything, right down to the deployment of a big black coffin and a miniature white one, contributes to the overall effect.
Playing Mrs. Lovett once again, Patti LuPone has never been better, managing the neat trick of being irresistibly stellar while functioning as a self-effacing member of the ensemble. She's deeply committed to the proceedings, but happily lends them her magnetic presence. LuPone has thrown out much of the Lovett she performed in concert, which was much broader. In this more intimate setting, she's comparatively restrained, both vocally and dramatically, but still severe, funny, and grand. Stomping around with her tuba, she's a sight to behold.
Michael Cerveris is a menacing, haunted, and most persuasive Sweeney. Of the other members of one of the hardest-working casts in town, I particularly liked Alexander Gemignani's elegantly sinister beadle; Mark Jacoby's sadly deluded judge; Donna Lynne Champlin's quirky Pirelli; and Manoel Felciano's sweetly innocent Tobias.
As for Sweeney Todd, it is probably unnecessary at this point to state that it remains an astonishing work. I find it just as impressive today as I did when I attended the world premiere performance of the original production. For me, this revival comes along at just the right time: After the recent Kennedy Center and City Opera versions, I had had my fill, at least for the time being, of conventional Sweeney stagings. So it's a welcome change to see the show done in a manner that owes virtually nothing to previous mountings.
An intricate, artful production, this Sweeney is bound to be the conversation piece of the fall season. It will obviously not be to all tastes, and may simply be too stark or obscure for some. Then too, those unfamiliar with Sweeney's plot may, by the end, become confused about what's going on. So one would perhaps not want this to be the only Sweeney one ever saw.
Still, I found it far more rewarding than that first Broadway revival of Sweeney, which shrunk the show's size without providing any discernible new concept. The new Sweeney is, like the better revivals of recent years, a genuine reinvention of a classic piece, and it's also a memorably creepy evening.
As for Jersey Boys, it must be irresistible, because even I had a pretty good time. As you might expect, I came to the show with no interest in or knowledge of the music and career of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. As with such other jukebox musicals as Mamma Mia! and Good Vibrations, the score of Jersey Boys, which consists of pre-existing songs, almost all of them written by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe, was almost entirely new to me. I did recognize "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" and parts of "Sherry" and "Big Girls Don't Cry." And I didn't expect to be terribly gripped by the true story of four young, blue-collar guys from New Jersey who make it big in the pop world.
But Jersey Boys has a lot going for it. Des McAnuff has provided it with a sleek, fluid staging that moves with great speed, easily carrying you from decade to decade and from location to location. Michael Bennett's staging of Dreamgirls, another show about the rise and fall of a pop group, appears to be an influence. Blending perfectly with McAnuff's work are Sergio Trujillo's smart choreographic recreations of the group's moves.
Then there are those songs; the audience greets the arrival of each hit with applause, and the conclusion of each with cheers. Not since Mamma Mia! has a classic pop-song catalogue held a Broadway stage as well as the Gaudio-Crewe songs play here. With a couple of exceptions, the songs are mercifully not deployed as book or character numbers, and are instead allowed to function as plain performance pieces.
And then there are the principals. John Lloyd Young's Frankie Valli has been justifiably lauded, and one only hopes that his voice holds out for the run. Equally strong is Christian Hoff's wiseguy Tommy DeVito, while Daniel Reichard and J. Robert Spencer are ideal as composer Gaudio and the group's most taciturn member, Nick Massi.
The Marshall Brickman-Rick Elice script tells its real-life story swiftly and with seeming frankness, and has enough sharp lines to qualify as more than just a break between the songs the audience has come to hear.
As predicted, this is the show that will turn around the recent fate of the jukebox musical. This writer must admit to less than ecstatic feelings about another Broadway house being tied up for years with a show featuring old pop songs. But one might as well accept it, as Jersey Boys is an unstoppable crowd-pleaser.
A Broadway transfer from last season's York Theatre Company presentation, Souvenir, Stephen Temperley's two-character play with music, had the audience roaring at the final preview that I attended. And it has received many lovely reviews. So I'm sorry to say I found Souvenir broad, arch, campy, and overextended. Many have described it as the touching story of a sweetly self-deluded woman. Instead, it seemed to me a one-joke evening, with that joke expanded in a manner that's labored and implausible, and with a central character who's mostly a buffoon.
As a long-time admirer of the estimable Judy Kaye, it's good to see her exercising her talents on the juicy role of real-life society matron Florence Foster Jenkins, who never let a lack of talent prevent her from giving operatic recitals that took her as far as Carnegie Hall. And Kaye delivers grandly, doing everything possible to humanize Florence and make her sympathetic. As Cosme McMoon, Jenkins' loyal accompanist and the show's compere, Donald Corren is called upon to act, sing, and accompany both himself and the diva, and he holds up his end of the evening admirably.
As a fan of both Kaye and opera, I expected to love Souvenir. But it seemed to me a drawn-out jest rather than a satisfying play.