Do Critics Agree that Fame Becomes Martin Short?

TV, Hollywood and stage personality Martin Short let loose with the official opening of his latest confection of semi-autobiographical, vaudevillian skits and songs, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me. The musical comedy, which bowed on August 17 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, features music and a performance by composer Marc Shaiman, as well as a plethora of impersonations from decades of stardom past. Were critics wowed by the nonstop action?

Here's a sampling of what they had to say:

Rob Kendt in his Broadway.com Review: "Short, an unabashed throwback who comes off a bit like the unholy love child of Danny Kaye and Jerry Lewis, is most in his element when he's floating far, far away from today's headlines, in a dubious showbiz ether where names like George Slaughter and Sophie Tucker, Charles Nelson Reilly and Josephine Baker, are touchstones. It's in this fertile netherworld of tarnished or superannuated celebrity, somewhere between The Match Game and Shubert Alley, that Short flourishes, since he doesn't traffic in impressions of real stars but instead imagines his own demented pantheon…. at its less inspired moments [the show] plays uncannily like one long awards-show sketch by Bruce Vilanch. Short's comedy is such a self-referential hall of mirrors that even the jokes meant to poke holes in the show's excesses become a symptom of showbiz excess themselves. In his opening monologue, Short briefly nods to the duke of self-involvement: 'As Mandy Patinkin once told me, "Always leave them wanting less."' Mission accomplished."

Ben Brantley of The New York Times: "Fame Becomes Me was supposed to be the custom-made vehicle that finally took full advantage of Mr. Short's stageworthiness. But instead of being pure pleasure, it's merely pleasant, rather like a decent summer-replacement comedy sketch series on television. That may be because the show wants to do too much, at the expense of letting us get to know its star. Now of course part of the point of Fame Becomes Me, which was conceived by Mr. Short and Mr. Wittman, is that you don't get to know Mr. Short…. though there's a vague and only vaguely witty bio-narrative, Fame Becomes Me is essentially an old-fashioned revue with serviceably melodic songs and the gear-stripping rhythms of a jittery stand-up comic. It keeps throwing out one joke after another to see which will stick. Some of these jokes are good, some moldy. But Mr. Short never settles into one routine or character long enough for us to savor it fully."

Clive Barnes of The New York Post: "Despite Short's edgy charm, which is considerable, the evening itself is simply a series of revue vignettes hung on a kind of autobiographical clothesline from the hero's unexceptional birth in Hamilton, Ontario, to his modest stardom in Hollywood. The music and lyrics by [Marc] Shaiman and [Scott] Wittman - of Hairspray repute - are essentially unmemorable and certainly unhummable, leaving the highly talented cast rubbing shticks together in the hope of igniting some kind of theatrical fire. Too many, unfortunately, are simply damp squibs…. The talent is there. But what Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me needed was a real producer/director who could trim and edit, prod and probe, and make a proper vehicle for these people, rather than an ambling hobbyhorse for the hard-working and infinitely adorable Short."

Joe Dziemianowicz of The New York Daily News: "Sure, there are laughs - lots of them. With his zany face and elastic body, Short is built for funny. He and everyone work their butts off. One guy even flashes his. But a lot of the material feels far too familiar…. Fame Becomes Me is a heaving pupu platter of sketches filled with burlesque humor… Short calls it 'a party.' But before you RSVP, just know some of the refreshments are past their sell-by date."

David Rooney of Variety: "Short's wildly embellished self-celebration makes a virtue of the glib smugness that's almost a prerequisite of the form…. If there's a slight feeling of insubstantiality since the show never really abandons jokiness to expose the man behind the performer centerstage, Short nonetheless delivers a good time. He keeps tongue planted firmly in cheek while offering celebrity self-love and shamelessly insincere soul-searching."

Michael Kuchwara of The Associated Press: "If confession is good for the soul, it's an absolute necessity for today's celebrity - sidetracked by booze, drugs, sex or any other tabloid distraction. It's also a prime ingredient of Fame Becomes Me, Martin Short's maniacally funny, sometimes frantic, but never less than entertaining revue that purports to tell the impish comedian's life story in sketches and songs…. In the end, even with an accomplished supporting cast, everything rests on Short. The man is an unstoppable comic spirit with an inexhaustible sense of fun. At Fame Becomes Me, it's the audience that is worn out from laughing."

Linda Winer of Newsday: "This is an uneven, mostly good-natured, handsomely produced evening of sketches, vaudeville bits and Forbidden Broadway-type spoofs that saves its freshest material for late in the nonstop 105-minute show…. The targets are easy and familiar - Billy Joel's driving, John Goodman's appetite. But the rhythm is quick, and Short's a pro whose singing has more suavity and power than the mockery suggests. Every so often, behind those crazy eyes and gotta-dance smile, a serious face makes a surprisingly effective guest appearance."