The Wrong Man

C

The first clue that perhaps this was not the right show for me was that I had never heard of Ross Golan (2016 BMI Pop Songwriter of the Year), who wrote the book, music and lyrics for this new musical at MCC Theater. What started as a single song in 2005 about a man unjustly convicted of a murder in Reno has been developed into a concept album, an animated film and now a 90-minute sung-through musical. Since there is no dialogue, one must hang closely on every word of the lyrics to extract the story, a task that I occasionally found difficult. There is little back story or character development. The music itself sounded monotonous to my uneducated ear and the rap-style rhymes were often awkward (e.g. Reno rhymed with Evil). On the plus side, the three lead roles — Duran (Ryan Vasquez; Hamilton), the Sunday alternate for Joshua Henry (Carousel); Marianna (Ciara Renée; Big Fish) and The Man in Black (Anoop Desai on Sundays) — are performed by superb singing actors. They are supported by an ensemble of six whose performance of Travis Wall’s (“So You Think You Can Dance”) exciting choreography is a major strength of the piece. The set by Rachel Hauck (Hadestown) is a mostly empty stage flanked by bleachers on two sides. Chairs and benches are moved around as needed. The musicians are seated at the back of the stage with a plastic shield over the percussion. The main visual element is the lighting design by Betsy Adams (Daphne’s Dive) featuring wall-to-wall rows of colored LED lights that flash in various colors and combinations. Perhaps they are meant to remind us of the bright lights of Reno, but I found them distracting. The monotone costumes by Jennifer Moeller (Sweat) & Kristin Isola (A Walk in the Woods) are in shades of grey. The reason for the repeated donning and doffing of jackets escaped me. Attempting to replicate the magic they worked in Hamilton are director Thomas Kail and music arranger and orchestrator Alex Lacamoire. Most of the people around me seemed to be having a very good time. I envied them. Running time: 90 minutes, no intermission.

NOTE: Once again the possible use of color-blind casting puzzled me. I had assumed that the casting of a black actor as Duran was at least partially intended to illustrate how unfairly blacks are treated by our deeply flawed justice system. The casting of a white actor as his alternate made that theory seem less plausible.

Carousel

B-

Whether or not to see Carousel was a close call for me. Much as I admire the gorgeous score, I hate the book with its treatment of violence toward women. Curiosity to see whether an infusion of talent from New York City Ballet would matter and whether the book could be made more palatable for the #MeToo era tipped the balance so, when the show turned up on TDF, I decided to take the plunge. For me, the answer to the first question is a resounding yes. While choreographer Justin Peck has done a lot of fine work and NYCB soloist Brittany Pollack makes a fine Louise, the real revelation for me was NYCB principal Amar Ramasar, whose Jigger is a magnetic presence who commands attention. The sailors’ dance he leads to “Blow High, Blow Low” is one of the show’s highlights. He probably doesn’t have the voice for it, but I found myself wishing that he had been cast as Billy because he is far more charismatic than Joshua Henry (Violet, The Scotsboro Boys), whose Billy I found competent but unmemorable. As to the book, this production did nothing to make the element of domestic abuse less distasteful, at least for me. Nevertheless, there is much to admire. The glorious voices of Jessie Mueller (Waitress, Beautiful) as Julie Jordan and Renée Fleming (Living on Love) as her cousin Nettie Fowler do full justice to the wonderful songs and Ms. Fleming also exudes a welcome warmth. Lindsay Mendez (Significant Other, Dogfight) and Alexander Gemignani (Violet, Assassins) are wonderful as Carrie Pipperidge and Enoch Snow. Margaret Colin (Jackie: An American Life) is fierce as Mrs. Mullin. As the Starcatcher, John Douglas Thompson (Satchmo at the Waldorf, Jitney) has little chance to demonstrate his considerable talent; his silent appearances throughout the play seem a pointless distraction. The heavenly scene with the human gates is a bit kitschy. With an orchestra of 25, the music sounds lush, although I wish the volume had been reduced during the soliloquy. I was quite disappointed in Santo Loquasto’s (Hello, Dolly!) scenic design. A Carousel without a carousel is a letdown. One horse at the side of the stage doesn’t do it for me. Later we do get the top of a carousel that pops down from above like a huge inverted umbrella, but even that doesn’t revolve. Except for the elaborate background for the celestial scenes, the sets looked cheaper than what I would expect on Broadway. Ann Roth’s (Three Tall Women) costumes are rather bland. Director Jack O’Brien’s (The Coast of Utopia, Hairspray) concept of the play seems a bit muddled. To sum up, there are many strengths and many weaknesses in this Rodgers and Hammerstein revival. The bottom line is that, although I have many reservations about it, I am glad I didn’t miss it. Running time: two hours 40 minutes.

Shuffle Along or The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed ****

There is an embarrassment of riches onstage at The Music Box in this tribute to the first all-black musical to reach Broadway. Brian Stokes Mitchell plays the genteel F.E. Miller and Billy Porter is Aubrey Lyles, his abrasive partner in a blackface vaudeville team who suggested expanding one of their skits into a musical. Joshua Henry is lyricist Noble Sissle and Brandon Victor Dixon is composer-pianist Eubie Blake, the pair who join them in this enterprise. Audra McDonald is Lottie Gee, star of the new show. In addition to their usual talents of acting and singing, the five leads join the fantastic dancers in performing Savion Glover’s brilliant tap choreography. Mitchell, whom I have found overbearing in recent years, manages to submerge his ego into the role with fine results. McDonald, as always, is a phenomenon; it is inconceivable that she was not Tony-nominated. Dixon and Porter are both fine. Adrienne Warren is a knockout both as the show’s second female Gertrude Saunders and as her successor Florence Mills. Brooks Ashmanskas, the sole Caucasian onstage, is a delight playing several of the men who placed obstacles in the production’s path. The abundant talent of the performers is equalled by the superb sets by Santo Loquasto, the riotous costumes by Ann Roth, the evocative lighting by Jules Fisher & Peggy Eisenhower and the wonderful arrangements and orchestrations by Daryl Waters. Director George C. Wolfe keeps the show moving energetically. It is the book, also by Wolfe, that I found wanting. The story of mounting a show against all obstacles seems cliched, even with racial prejudice added to the list of problems. With five main protagonists, there is too little time to develop any of them very deeply. Perhaps the book should have focused on Lottie, especially her long affair with the married Blake and her sacrifice of career advancement for him. I don’t see how the show could possibly have been considered a revival because Wolfe tosses out virtually the entire book of the 1921 show. Only one song “(I’m Just) Wild about Harry” is presented in its original context. The second act, which chronicles the fading fortunes of those involved with the show and the show itself is more told than shown. At times I felt I was watching an illustrated history lesson. Nevertheless, you won’t find more talent on one stage anywhere else on Broadway. With all the book’s flaws, the story represents an important piece of theater history and black history that should not be forgotten. Sadly the audience was practically all-white. Running time: 2 hours 40 minutes. NOTE: Avoid seats in the first few rows if you want to see the dancers’ feet.

Violet ****

What a pleasure it is to attend a musical where the music is the main attraction! This intimate musical theater piece originally produced at Playwrights Horizons in 1997 has finally made it to Broadway in a thrilling production that shows off the beautiful score by Jeanine Tesori to full advantage. Sutton Foster is amazing as a 25-year-old North Carolina farm woman whose face had been horribly scarred in a freak accident at the age of 13. (Her father’s axe flew off the handle while he was chopping wood.) The time is 1964, months after the Civil Rights Act became law. She is taking a bus to Tulsa, fully believing that her scar will be healed by a TV evangelist there. Along the way she meets two soldiers recently out of boot camp. Monty (Colin Donnell) is a charming skirt-chaser about to leave for Vietnam. Flick (Joshua Henry), as a black man, knows what it means to be an outsider. After Violet recruits them for a poker game at a rest stop, they both take a shine to her and the three decide to spend their overnight in Memphis together. Violet’s visit to Tulsa leads to a different kind of healing than she hoped for. Tesori’s score is a wonderful melange of country, blues and gospel that, in my humble opinion, outshines any other currently on Broadway. The lyrics and book by Brian Crawley are also fine, but I did have occasional trouble making out words. The excellent supporting cast includes Emerson Steele as the young Violet, Alexander Gemignani as her father, Ben Davis as the preacher, Annie Golden as both an old lady on the bus and a aged hotel hooker, and Rema Webb as the lead singer in the gospel choir. The onstage orchestra was excellent. Leigh Silverman’s direction skillfully blends past and present. David Zinn’s set and Clint Ramos’s costumes work well. I was afraid that such an intimate show would be lost in Roundabout’s American Airlines Theatre, but it is not. It was a thoroughly bracing evening. Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes; no intermission.