The Secret Life of Bees

B+

When it was announced that Atlantic Theater Company would present a musical adaptation of Sue Monk Kidd’s 2001 best-selling novel with a book by Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage (Sweat, Ruined), music by Tony winner Duncan Sheik (Spring Awakening), and direction by Tony winner Sam Gold (A Doll’s House, Part 2; Fun Home), the news created great excitement and high expectations. I am pleased to report that these expectations have mostly been met. The producers have splurged on a cast of 13 and nine musicians, a rare number for off-Broadway. Musically, the results are very rich. The songs are mostly strong and are given first-rate presentation by gorgeous voices and strong arrangements. The lyrics by Susan Birkenhead (Jelly’s Last Jam) are effective in creating the characters. During the first act, I felt the book did a good job of capturing the novel’s essence. The troubled background of opposition to civil rights in the 1960s South is skillfully blended into the book. However, after intermission it seemed like the creative team realized they had too much material to cover and began a rush to wrap things up that shortchanged important elements of the novel and left out the fate of an important character. While “Fifty-Five Fairlane” is a delightful song that Zachary sings about his beloved car, there is no such car in the novel (he drives an old truck) and the time the song takes could have been better spent on something more relevant such as the back story of the madonna statue. Somehow, the occasional outbursts of violence seemed more shocking in the context of a musical. Elizabeth Teeter (The Crucible) makes a solid impression as the young heroine Lily. LaChanze (The Color Purple), Eisa Davis (Luck of the Irish) and Anastacia McCleskey (Waitress) bring the three Boatwright sisters August, June and May vividly to life. Saycon Sengbloh (Eclipsed, Fela!) is spunky but sympathetic as Rosaleen, Lily’s fellow fugitive. Nathaniel Stampley (The Color Purple) is earnest as June’s long-suffering suitor Neil. Manoel Felciano (Sweeney Todd) is properly menacing as Lily’s abusive father T-Ray. As Zachary, Brett Gray is quietly appealing. As other members of The Daughters of Mary, the group of women who venerate the black madonna statue in the Boatwrights’ living room, Romelda Teron Benjamin (Brooklyn), Vita E. Cleveland and Jai’len Christine Li Josey (SpongeBob SquarePants) add beautiful voices to the ensemble. Joe Cassidy (Waitress) and Matt DeAngelis (Hair) are fine in several small roles. The set by Mimi Lien (True West, Fairview) is simple and uncluttered with brick walls, a polished wood floor and scattered votive candles. Dede Ayite’s (American Son, BLKS) costumes befit the characters well. Sam Gold’s direction is assured. Although I had some reservations about the book, I nevertheless found the production worthwhile.) Running time: two hour 20 minutes including intermission.

If/Then **

Unless you’re a really dedicated Idina Menzel fan, you can take a pass on this high-concept musical by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey. Menzel plays Elizabeth, a recently divorced almost-40 city planner returning to NYC after 12 years in Phoenix. She seems more interested in dwelling on past choices than in moving ahead with her life. A seemingly trivial decision about which friend to hang out with after an encounter in Madison Square Park leads her down two different paths, one as Beth, more interested in her career than her personal life and the other as Liz, who values love above career. Following her down these two different roads sounds more interesting than it turns out to be. Neither story is particularly compelling and the alternation between them is both confusing and unproductive. The people who surround Liz/Beth are right out of the cliche book — Lucas (Anthony Rapp), a mostly gay housing activist, Kate (LaChanze), a sassy black kindergarten teacher, Josh (James Snyder), a noble doctor just returned from military service; Anne (Jenn Colella) and David (Jason Tam), two cardboard characters to provide romantic interest for Kate and Lucas, and Beth’s boss and mentor Stephen (Jerry Dixon). Mark Wendland has designed an attractive, flexible set complete with turntable and huge overhead mirror. Kenneth Posner’s lighting design features a glowing backdrop of changing colors, some of them quite bilious. Emily Rebholz’s costumes do not distract. Michael Greif keeps things both stories moving with only occasional confusing moments. And then there’s the music, none of which I could hum if my life depended on it, and the lyrics, which rarely rise above the humdrum. Since I am old-fashioned enough to think that the music is the main point of a musical, I find the show wanting at its core. Menzel is a commanding performer, but she can’t elevate mediocre material. Running time: 2 hours 45 minutes, including intermission.