A really interesting producing failure -- the theatre was mostly empty, with an audience trying to send as much love to the performers as possible. Not much to add to the general consensus that the tone is all over the place, the focus is scattered, the topic may not be one most NY theatre audiences want to engage with at the moment, etc.
But ... if you can get a cheap ticket ... it's a more interesting failure than, say, something like LEMPICKA. Yes, Borle is miscast but the performances across the board are fun. The set is dynamic and expensive and interesting. Whatever remaining energy and good will slowly dissipates throughout Act Two, but the tonal whiplash every now and then gets a laugh in and of itself. Some fun character ensemble work.
Maybe in a decade, someone will reexamine this for Encores! and (hopefully) strip this of any sincerity so it can be the 90-minute slapdash broad satire musical comedy it so desperately wants to be. |
