The Bridges of Madison County is Almost Real(ly Good)

Soaring melodies, lush arrangements, romantic performances, and the voice of a Broadway generation, these are Hallmarks of The Bridges of Madison County, based on the novel and movie of the same name. If you don't mind sacrificing plot depth for musical complexity, then skip on down to the Schoenfeld where Bartlett Sher is taking audiences on a tour of Iowa eight times per week. It is a simple story where we learn about the Johnsons, a seemingly average Iowa family. Bud is a former soldier and his wife Francesca (Franny to the locals) is an Italian war bride. They live on a farm with their two children and all is well until Francesca is left home alone for a few days and Robert Kincaid, a mysterious photographer and soon-to-be love of her life appears on the farm.

Kelli O'Hara and her voice are the true stars of this production. I've seen her in other shows and concerts, and while she is always fantastic, she was born to play this role. It is a different type of character than we've seen her play in the past, no longer an ingenue, and Brown's music sits right in her sweet spot. Her Francesca feels like a Rodgers and Hammerstein's leading lady with a lot more issues. These flaws make her Francesca feel more contemporary and therefore, relatable in a way that she's "Almost Real," hence my title. Francesca is every woman who has ever been in a loveless marriage, has regrets, or wishes her life would have turned out differently. I'm slightly appalled that I would get behind a character who would sacrifice her family for another man, but when Francesca takes us through her past and we see how much she has endured, we want her to have every bit of happiness. O'Hara does an Italian accent, and I thought it would be a distraction, but after the first few minutes of the piece it seems so natural that you don't even question in. In fact, in makes her seem more exotic and even more out of place in the flat Iowa farmland. Vocally, this is the best she has ever been. Her soprano is a breath of fresh air in an era where you can't go into a Broadway house without hearing belting, or even worse, screlting. Her singing is very controlled for the majority of the show, but there are a few times that she really let's it fly, especially in "Almost Real" when she takes us back to Italy and in "Before and After You/One Second & a Million Miles," during her last moments with Robert.

It's hard to believe that this is Steven Pasquale's Broadway musical debut. Why on earth hasn't some director scooped him up? Because he is fresh for the musical theatre audience, he works even more perfectly as Robert. First of all, he is terribly handsome and just rugged enough to make us believe he was a former cowboy and current vagrant artist. His brilliant baritone really makes Brown's music sing, no pun intended, and his chemistry with Francesca Kelli O'Hara is undeniable. It is a credit to their acting that the forbidden affair between their characters becomes something that the audience not only accepts, but actually roots for. Pasquale portrays Robert as a shy, polite gentleman who simply tries to keep to himself until fate puts him on Francesca's front porch. His intensity grows throughout the show in a way that feels natural and honest, peaking during his final moments of Francesca. When we see Robert again at the end of the show, he is quiet and reflective, resigning himself to the fact that he will live his final days alone in such a way that we as the audience and heartbroken that he never tried to go after her again.

The songs are the heart and soul of the show, as they should be with a composer such as Brown who is known for his nuanced and layered music, but this also highlights the weaknesses of the book. Outside of the songs, the characters aren't particularly well-developed. This is fine for Francesca and Robert, who sing the majority of the songs, but it is a true disservice to the rest of the characters. For example, Bud, (Hunter Foster) Francesca's husband, is written as so flat and boring that the audience roots for the affair and pulls for Francesca to leave him. It is only the presence of their children that makes Francesca's decision a true moral dilemma, not only for her, but for the audience. And even the children, Carolyn (Caitlin Kinnunen) and Michael (Derek Klena) have few redeeming qualities. Both are written, and acted, as so whiny and annoying that it's no wonder Francesca can finally let her hair down when her family goes off to the Indiana State Fair. Marge (Cass Morgan) is the one likable member of the supporting cast. The nosy neighbor could easily become a caricature, but as she nails the one-liners with such zip, she also shows her heart in the end when she just subtly lets on that she knew about Francesca's affair all those years ago and never once judged her for it.

Bartlett Sher's direction is pretty traditional, highlighting the romance and beauty of the score and his two leads. It's actually quite similar to his work in The Light in the Piazza. He does spice things up a little, particularly in Act I, with a scene that can best be described as a flashback. As Robert tells Francesca about his first wife, Marian (Whitney Bashor) actually takes the stage to sing the story. Sher took a stab at a different type of storytelling, but it just doesn't feel particularly necessary. Bashor does have a fantastic voice, but it seems like Sher liked the actress and created a character for her that wasn't integral to the story. The montage scene near the end of Act II is a triumph for Sher in that it covers several decades seamlessly without feeling forced. In another director's hands this scene could have really dragged on, but he keeps it moving with Brown's bluegrassy/folksy "When I'm Gone".

The Bridges of Madison County has the makings of Jason Robert Brown's first big broadway hit. He is known for The Last Five Years, Parade, and other slightly more offbeat shows, but this piece was clearly written with Broadway patrons in mind. It is a "big show" in every sense of the word. You have a marriage-turned-love triangle unfolding in a gossipy small town in the ever changing 1960s. All of this is the perfect framework for drama and music. We've all heard the old theatrical adage "we sing because we can't speak anymore," and it plays out perfectly in this show. Emotions are running high throughout, which leads perfectly into the songs, particularly in Act II. Brown blends his layered, complex musical sensibility with the local character of Iowa to create a folksy, yet sweeping piece of Americana. This score harkens back to Aaron Copland as much as Stephen Sondheim. If you're looking for a perfect production, this show isn't that, but then again what is? I, and I think most people, see musicals for the score and the performances, so if you go in the right frame of mind, O'Hara and Pasquale's voices and Brown's music will sweep you away.

GOLDEN BOY on Broadway

The American Dream hangs in the balance in Clifford Odets' GOLDEN BOY directed by Bartlett Sher and produced by Lincoln Center Theater. If The Great Gatsby and Rocky met up in New York during the Depression, that is this story of Joe Bonaparte, affectionally referred to as Napoleon. He is torn between prizefighting and music, with family members and managers pushing and pulling him back and forth. Seth Numrich is a standout in the role of Joe. He has the sensitivity and nuance of a violin player, but all the rage and aggression of bull. For a smaller guy, his physicality in the fight scenes is very natural-it's all heart.

This 3-act epic isn't flashy. There aren't many bells and whistles. Show up ready to focus and concentrate, or you will be lost. Act I, which is much too long, introduces the characters, but it's all surface. We don't really get to know any of our characters until Act II, which opens in a boxing gym. When the curtain opens on those sparring fighters, that's when you know what this play is really about. It's not about the businessmen or the managers, it's about the soul of a fighter. Act III depicts Joe's rise to fame and his demise. It again forces us to question the American Dream. Sure, Joe has become famous, successful, and rich, but at what cost?

Tony Shalhoub is a brilliant foil to Joe in the role of his father. Every time Joe pulls closer to fighting, his father tries to pull him back toward music. A simple, happy life is all this immigrant wants for his son. He grows more fragile and downtrodden throughout the play as pride and greed rear their ugly heads within Joe. One of the most poignant scenes in the show unfolds as Mr. Bonaparte asks a seasoned fighter about his hands. He sees that they are permanently clenched and crippled and, without saying anything, understands that if his son fights his hands will no longer be able to bring music to the family. The single most heartbreaking image in the show is Joe removing his gloves after his final fight, only to realize that he cannot straighten his fingers.

Catherine Zuber's costumes are very appropriate for the Depression era and the muted shades suit the solemn, melancholy tone of the piece. Michael Yeargan's sets certainly fit the time and the themes, but a more minimalist design would have sufficed. We didn't need an overhead traffic light to understand that Joe was on the streets of New York and we didn't need lockers and showers to realize that we were in a locker room. The bulky set pieces created too much lag time in between scenes and the lengthy transitions ruin the mood.

GOLDEN BOY is A Chorus Line for fighters. It sheds light on a world that many are unfamiliar with and strips it down to bare bones. When you take away the lights and the audience, what are you really left with? This thing that was supposed to bring Joe fame and fortunate ripped him apart in the end. After proving himself time and time again, our Golden Boy is left with nothing but blood on his hands.

Catch this glimpse of prizefighting's past at the Belasco Theater through January 20th. For a chance to win a fantastic ticket package including dinner for two at Saju Bistro, enter our Pinterest contest here http://pinterest.com/lctheater/golden-boy-contest/.

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

The three most exciting things about great musicals should be the score, the book, and the performances. Well in the case of Lincoln Center Theater's production of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown based on Pedro Almodovar's film of the same name, the three big highlights are Patti LuPone with a gun, Patti LuPone on a motorcycle, and Sherie Rene Scott singing next to a burning bed. To say that this show relies too heavily on its special effects is a gross understatement. I'm afraid that director Barlett Sher, who did a stellar job with the recent revival of South Pacific, missed the mark with this show. The use of projections to further the story is an attempt to make up for holes in the book and the score, but then that is simply a cop out for sub-par material. Sher underestimates the intelligence of the audience and presumes that we need to actually see a moving street scene on the scrim to believe the taxi is moving. The very idea behind theatre is that the audience will suspend disbelief and use their imagination to fill in the blanks.

Composer David Yazbek who delivered hits with The Full Monty and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels fails to write one hummable tune, aside from the act I closer "On the Verge." The lyrics are just as forgettable and a week after seeing the show, I can't remember a single line except "Welcome to the edge, to the verge," which the title practically gives us anyway. Having not seen the film, it is difficult for me to judge Jeffrey Lane's book because it is challenging to tell what is from the source material and what was written by Lane himself. There are certainly holes in the plot and loose ends are never tied up. For example, in the song "Mother's Day" Pepa's (Sherie Rene Scott) mother is introduced but is never addressed again in the play, leaving the audience hanging without a resolution. Also, we are led to believe that the uptight Carlos (Justin Guarini) has left his fiance for Candela (Laura Benanti), yet she has been flighty and noncommittal in the past and all he really wants is monogamy and security, so why choose her?

In terms of performance, Benanti in the role of Candela steals the show, turning a small part into a star turn. Her true commitment to the character is evident not only in her speech patterns but also in her body language and her walk, or well, her prance. We truly believe that she is a scatterbrained but lovable model who honestly would fall for a terrorist. Patti LuPone as Lucia gives a dominating performance as usual and her starpower speaks for itself. She is the only actor to get entrance applause and though the material given to her is shallow, she tries her damnedest to give life to this stock character and I did sympathize with her greatly. Sherie Rene Scott in the role of Pepa is tough for me to critique because I saw her at her finest in Everyday Rapture and nothing could ever live up to that. We get the sense in this show that Scott is unhappy as an actor because she does not seem to commit to this role as she has to others. Her Spanish accent is not as strong as that of other actors and in many of her songs, she drops it entirely. It doesn't help that she is given the weakest material of any character and while Pepa is supposed to be the central character, the one that we all root for, we feel no sympathy for her. But then again, I hate to fault Miss Scott for the problems with the book and the lyrics. Her singing is perfectly enjoyable in the show, but with the ballads she is given by Yazbek, she has no opportunity to show off her fabulous belt, which is what makes her truly special. Brian Stokes Mitchell as Ivan is in perfect voice and is lovely as always, though his character does nothing to further the plot and could be eliminated entirely. Guarini in his Broadway debut is surprisingly strong as Carlos and his confusion between his commitment to his fiance Marisa (Nikka Graff Lanzarone) and his infatuation with Candela is palpable.

I'm not the first person to say this and I won't be the last, but this show would have benefited greatly from an out of town tryout. Performing the show in another city, away from New York critics, would have given Sher and the creative team a chance to hear audience reactions and correct some of the show's problems. The actors also would have had more time to experiment with making their characters less generic. This show is a limited engagement and will end in January, and I just get the feeling that the creative team realized the show would never live up to the hype it inevitably received due to its all-star cast and creators. However, because they didn't have to worry about the show's ability to sustain a long Broadway run, they settled for mediocrity. The box office sales may prove me wrong, but I feel pretty confident in saying that this is one limited engagement that will not extend.

My Most Memorable Theatre Experiences: #9 South Pacific (2008 Revival)

Like most theatre fans, I grew up watching the Rogers and Hammerstein musicals on video. I started with The Sound of Music and a bit later I fell in love with Carousel, and then South Pacific. I loved the romance of these shows and the glorious, sweeping scores. When I began to study vocal performance, I gravitated toward the R&H songs as they fit wonderfully into my soprano voice. They are still among my favorite repertory pieces today. Unfortunately for me, most contemporary musicals are written for belters so when I knew that Lincoln Center Theatre was reviving South Pacific, I jumped at the chance to see it. I had seen a charming little community theatre production of South Pacific in Walla Walla, WA a few years before and fell in love with the score and staging, but what I saw and experienced at Lincoln Center blew me away. I had listened to the cast recording before I saw the show and fell in love with the voice of Kelli O'Hara. She has a glorious soprano and while she mixes down into her chest voice, she is definitely not a power belter, and she became a singer that I could relate to. Unfortunately when I saw the performance Miss O'Hara was on maternity leave, but Laura Osnes was perfectly lovely in the role of Nellie Forbush and Paulo Szot was, and I do not use this word lightly, a revelation in the role of Emile de Becque.

Now while I have always said I'm an old soul, contrary to popular belief I was not around in 1949 for the original Broadway production of South Pacific. But you could have convinced me otherwise as the opening notes of the overture transported me to the 1940s when full orchestras and romance trumped rock scores and electronic music. When the stage retracted from the thrust to reveal the orchestra as they played excerpts from Bali Hai and Some Enchanted Evening, the water works began and continued throughout the opening sequence (did I mention I love a good cry at the theatre). The opening sequence of Cockeyed Optimist, Twin Soliloquies, and Some Enchanted Evening was enrapturing. Everything about the production was captivating, from the wonderful performances by Danny Burstein as Luther Billis and Loretta Ables Sayre as Bloody Mary and picture perfect direction of Bartlett Sher, to the visually stunning scenic and lighting designs. One of the most unique aspects of this experience, for me, was the fact that I was one of the youngest people in the audience of the Vivian Beaumont theatre that night. It felt so wonderful to be in the presence of a more mature generation that may indeed have seen the original production with Mary Martin and Ezio Pinza, and above all, that truly maintained respect for the theatre as a venerated art form, and not simply as entertainment. I guess what really touched me the most about this production of South Pacific was the realization that classical musical theatre and timeless talents like Kelli O'Hara and Paulo Szot still have a place on The Great White Way.

Fun Fact of the Day: South Pacific becomes the longest running R&H revival

Lincoln Center Theatre's 2008 revival of South Pacific, directed by Bartlett Sher, played its final performance on August 22nd. The production was recently broadcast live as part of PBS' Great Performances series. Paulo Szot and Kelli O'Hara, the production's original Emile de Beque and Nellie Forbush returned for the final performance. This production, which ran for more than 2 years, will go down as the longest running Broadway revival of a Rogers & Hammerstein show.

A Trio Of Broadway Alums Join Lincoln Center Theater's Newest Production

An announcement was just made that Broadway veterans Patti LuPone, Brian Stokes Mitchell, and Sherie Rene Scott will join Lincoln Center Theater's newest production--Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. The production, directed by Bartlett Sher, will begin previews at the Belasco theatre on October 2nd with an official opening date of Novemner 4th. The show features a score and lyrics by David Yazbek and a book by Jeffrey Lane. This casting is truly monumental, not only because LuPone and Scott were just featured in "My Fave Five Broadway Belters" list, but also because a group of actors of this caliber has not been assembled in years. Two-time TONY winner LuPone has recently been focusing on revivals, so this will be her first original role in decades. TONY-winner Mitchell also makes a return to Broadway after a several year hiatus. Two-time TONY nominee Scott is fresh off her triumphant original show Everyday Rapture and I am praying that this upcoming role may finally give her the TONY she deserves. I hear that both LuPone and Scott will be playing featured roles so without even seeing their performances or knowing the rest of the Broadway season, I predict these two Divas will battle it out for the top prize at the 2011 TONY awards.

**photo courtesy of Broadway.com