Superhero Fades in the Stretch

Superhero, premiering at the 2^nd Stage Theater, with a book by John Logan and music & lyrics by Tom Kitt (composer of Next to Normal) promises a heady ride. And the show starts off fast and interesting, before getting lost. The second half meanders around a bit before just running out of ideas. It is too bad because there is some amazing singing by Kate Baldwin and (one of my personal favorites) Bryce Pinkham. The debut of Kyle McArthur also starts out strong, before winding down.

Superhero is the story of a 15 young man – Simon (Kyle McArthur) trying to pull his high school life together after the death of his father and the remoteness of his mother (Kate Baldwin).  They have moved to a new city, generic high-rises and problems, where Simon attends school. Whenever he can he draws. He draws superheroes in comic stories that take off on the stage, an interesting idea that is used well early on. 

Kyle McArthur as Simon, in Superhero

Simon sleep-walks through life, looking up only to see the cute environmental activist at school (Salena Qureshi) and his comics. Until ... he happens to see his neighbor flatten a fire hydrant with a single punch. The elusive neighbor, Joe (Bryce Pinkham) might really be a superhero. After Joe gets closer by dating mom and befriending Simon, Joe admits (to Simon only) that he is a real Superhero. Sent from another planet to protect people of earth, when he can. We see Joe use super strength, and we see him bolt out on a beam of light.

Is Joe a sad, pathetically lonely man spinning stories to make friends? Is Joe mentally ill? Is Joe really a superhero?  Oddly, those questions don’t seem to matter in the story. Joe is ultimately unable to be there for Simon and mom because either, a) the demands on a superhero are constant or, b) he is too emotionally damaged to be physically available.

In any event, Joe flakes on being there for Simon and mom. He moves out of the city, and Simon and mom move on with their lives.  It isn’t much of a story for over 2 hours of theater. This is surprising because writer John Logan was the Tony winning writer of Red, and the screenwriter of Skyfall, Hugo and a host of other great stories. Superhero could use a rewrite, or use some deep trims. 

Kate Baldwin and Bryce Pinkham

The songs from the wonderful Tom Kitt are not wonderful. Kate Baldwin and Bryce Pinkham lend their amazing voices, but still can’t give most of these songs flight. A fantastic writer and fantastic composer have collaborated to give us a superhero story that is flat and boring.

I enjoyed Superhero, because listening to Kate Baldwin and Bryce Pinkham sing live, even not the best songs, is a thrill for me. But I cannot recommend it to others. The rewards are few, and spread out over a too long, too dull play.

SuperHero

Book: John Logan, Music & Lyrics: Tom Kitt | Director: Jason Moore | Cast: Julia Abueva, Kate Baldwin, Jake Levy, Kyle McArthur, Bryce Pinkham, Salena Qureshi, Thom Sesma, Nathaniel Stampley

Bette Pulls Off Hello Dolly in Top Form

Hello Dolly is an old school musical. You can either try to update it somehow, or hire a star and revel in the revival. Director Jeffery Zaks decided to go full on traditional, using Gower Champion’s staging and turning the full wattage of Bette Midler on to a willing audience. And it works marvelously.

Bette Midler charms as Dolly Levi in Hello Dolly

Hello Dolly is a star vehicle, a Bette Midler is a star that carries it with ease. The audience loves every minute she is onstage, and she loves it as well. As times when her smile is turned up to 12, you see the happiness under the character, this is a showman that loves to connect with the audience.

For those few that don’t know the story, Bette Midler plays Dolly Levi, a matchmaker and more. She has set her eyes on Horace Vandergelder, the famous Yonkers’ half a millionaire. Horace is played by an always fun David Hyde Pierce, who is too pleasurable in the role to complain about his in and out accent. Dolly has been hired to find him a wife and has procured one Irene Molloy, haberdasher and widow from New York City.

Horace sets out to New York, without realizing he has a house full of trouble. He has a niece that wants to marry an artist. Two store clerks that want an adventure and Dolly Levi who wants Horace for her own. Songs, laughs and mayhem ensue.

The clerks (the always excellent Gavin Creel* and the perfectly cast Taylor Trensch) meet Mrs. Molloy and her assistant, Minnie Fay at the hat shop. Dolly and Horace enter at the same time and tales are spun as to Cornelius’ wealth. Horace leaves, determined to find a more suitable new wife, and Cornelius and Barnaby find their New York adventure by escorting Irene and Minnie to dinner. Kate Burton plays the lovely Irene and Beanie Feldstein is great fun as the bubbly and charming Minnie Fay. The couples have a nice and light chemistry.

The show really revs up in the second half, where all parties converge on the Harmonia Gardens, a swank restaurant that Dolly hasn’t entered in 10 years, since her husband passed. The most famous dance numbers and songs play out here. Personally, I am not a fan of the song as a rule, but the raucous and wonderful delivery and energy sold it to me. It is a showstopper in the true sense of the word.

The show wraps up tidily – and you except nothing else.   

Bette Midler and David Hyde Pierce

Hello Dolly delivers exactly what you expect, but delivers it so perfectly you end up getting swept away. Bette Midler’s performance is excellent, and on the rare moments when she falters she easily moves back into her persona that also fits the play. Her years in Las Vegas playing The Showgirl Must Go On have taught her well.

The show has a large cast and many moving parts, both figuratively and literally in terms of staging. Director Jerry Zaks and Choreographer Warren Carlyle have done great work. I never saw the Gower Champion version, so I don’t know how much was changed, but did I love this show.

* I also attended one performance where Mr. Creel's understudy, Christian Dante White, performed fantastically in the role.

 Hello Dolly | Book: Michael Stewart, Music and Lyrics: Jerry Herman | Director: Jerry Zaks | Cast: Bette Midler, David Hyde Pierce, Gavin Creel, Kate Baldwin, Taylor Trensch, Beanie Feldstein, Will Burton, Melanie Moore, Jennifer Simard, Kevin Ligon

Big Fish Is Flashy but Limp

Big Fish is, unfortunately, both the name and a sad metaphor for the new musical now playing at the Neil Simon Theatre.  It pops up on stage, huge and magical, where it flops around for a while before dying a slow and painful death, right before our eyes.  This is through no fault of the cast, who valiantly try to breath lightness and humor into the lead weight of a story.

If you, like me, have fond memories of the movie, then the failure of its adaptation is puzzling at first.  Big Fish is the story of Edward Bloom, a southern salesman who is addicted to spinning yarns about his life.  He is the life of the party, and a man who can entertain anyone, but can’t connect with his son.  Norbet Leo Butz works hard to make Edward Bloom likeable.

In the movie, two men played Edward – Albert Finney as the older dying Edward, and Ewan McGregor as the young man trying to make sense of the world.  Here Mr. Butz does both turns, and therein lies the problem.  Edward’s son Will (an underused Bobby Steggert) just wants a dad.  But Edward can’t be just a dad.  He has to hold forth on his adventures, which are always are larger than life and obviously truth challenged.

Big Fish Cast in a Giant Hoe Down

Edward is entertaining to a fault, but chooses to ignore his son’s request – even when young will actually begs him to just talk to him.  In the movie, it is easy to divorce old Edward from the younger actor who is discovering his youth.  On stage it is hard to empathize with a father who can’t be bothered to even listen to his son.   It is awkward to watch dad ignore his sons request and instead tell him another story of how great he was.

The vignettes in which Edward retells a story are entertaining.  There are giants, witches, mermaids and Edward always the hero.  But the sheer number of them, recanted at the distress of the son, soon become numbing.

And in the second act, Edward starts dying.  And, like Evita in full Andrew Lloyd Webber glory, Edward does not go quickly.  Depending on your view of Edward, this lengthy and song studded death is either sad or annoying, but in any case it goes on too long.  Ultimately, Will’s only chance to reconcile with his father is to accept Edward as he is; shallow, self-absorbed, but funny.  The moral of the story is that asking your father to be a parent is selfish.

Edward’s wife is played by Kate Baldwin, and is excellently used in Edward’s fantasy flashbacks.  She is a strong presence on stage, bringing some humility to Edward’s life (if only by repeating that he can’t help who he is).  On the other hand, Krystal Joy Brown is criminally underused as Will’s young wife – her wonderful voice never even heard.

The sets, arguably the star of the show, are excellent and transforming.  But the wonder of the sets cannot sustain interest for two full acts despite the great work by scenic design by Julian Crouch.

I wanted to love this show: the actors are great, I liked the movie and hoped for some magic on Broadway.  Instead the transfer to the stage highlights the limitations of the story.  Big Fish just doesn’t work as a stage musical.  

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Big Fish

Director: Susan Stroman

Cast: Norbert Leo Butz, Kate Baldwin, Bobby Steggert, Krystal Joy Brown

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