Prince of Broadway Review

PRINCE OF BROADWAY

My first review will be of this show, a compilation of songs from 16 shows, connected only by the fact that they were all either directed or produced by Hal Prince. A surprisingly small cast of 9 does the material very well. The show begins with a dramatic overture, a mixture of songs from all of his shows. Then flashing logos of all of his shows come one by one, and the whole cast assembles on stage. Soon they disperse, to reveal one person dressed as Hal Prince. As the music builds, they all have soliloquies as Hal, about his life and early career. The first real number is “Heart”, from the classic Damn Yankees, about a baseball team that loses every game. Chuck Cooper, Tony Yazbeck, Michael Xavier, and Brandon Uranowitz, all four male performers. It is a charming song, if not a showstopper. The next songs are the only letdown of the show, making West Side Story seem so boring and simple that you almost think ‘that’s not the West Side Story I saw.’ Tony Yazbeck and Kaley Ann Voorhees are adequate. My favorite musical, She Loves Me, is tackled next. The numbers are done well, but not tackled as well by Bryonha Marie Parham and Brandon Uranowitz as they were by Laura Benanti and Zachary Levi in the recent revival. Next comes the best number in the show, “You’ve Got Possibilities” from It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Superman! It makes you wonder how the show could have flopped. Janet Dacal has a real acting flair that makes it apparent why they gave her that part.  Michael Xavier is perfect as straight man Clark Kent, and especially funny when Dacal reveals his Superman costume, but doesn’t see it herself. The rolling chair is also made good use of. Follies, the great Sondheim musical, is the next one to be presented. “Beautiful Girls” and “Waiting for the Girls Upstairs” are done well, if not especially well. Next, though, comes the show stopping “The Right Girl”, sang and danced beautifully by Tony Yazbeck. It was smart of choreographer Susan Stroman to let him shine as a tapper. Next comes the brilliantly sophisticated “A Little Night Music”. “Night Waltz” is as entertaining as possible, and “You Must Meet My Wife” is so funny, and Michael Xavier is so perfect, that you feel like you’re watching the actual show. “Send in the Clowns” is put over well, but is not the highlight you’d expect it to be. Fiddler on the Roof comes next. Chuck Cooper is a decent Tevye, but nothing to come out of the theater talking about. Next come four numbers from Kander and Ebb’s Cabaret. “Wilkommen” is not as entertaining or lively as you’d expect it to be, instead it drags along at a slow pace. “If You Could See Her”, the controversial number with an anti-semitic line at the end, is done so well that you an partially overlook the bad message. “So What?” is done so drily and comically by Karen Ziemba that she immediately makes you love her. The first act appropriately ends by bringing the house down with the title song,knocked out of the park by Bryonha Marie Parham. She brings feeling and expression, but also razzle-dazzle. Special shout out here to Howell Binkley’s lighting designs. The 2nd act opens with a surprisingly dull and mundane Company sequence. First the company does a convincing, but not thrilling title song. Next, The Ladies Who Lunch is done so disappointingly by Emily Skinner, that I almost groaned. Next Being Alive is brutally attacked by Michael Xavier, made dull and boring not to mention not fun to listen to. He only is okay at the ending, when he gets to show off his vocal chops. Next comes a disappointing Evita sequence. Janet Dacal is a letdown as Evita. She has the personality, but not the voice. She shies away from belting “Don’t Cry for me, Argentina”, and Buenos Aires is so unmemorable I can’t even remember how she does it. A New Argentina is almost ridiculous when done by Tony Yazbeck, because it is so out of place. Next comes Show Boat, from 1927, which is a bit of a stretch because he did a revival. Anyway, Ol’ Man River was not properly thrilling (listen to the ultimate Norm Lewis version), and Chuck Cooper was not especially good. Next was “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”, done very well by Bryonha Marie Parham, and Kaley Ann Voorhees in a properly boring role. It is good, but not memorable. “Now You Know”, Emily Skinner’s triumphant moment, comes next. This Merrily We Roll Along song is done so well, it makes you want to listen to the whole show. (listen to the one with Lin-Manuel Miranda, Celia Keenan-Bolger, and Colin Donnell.) Parade, a disturbing Jason Robert Brown musical, comes next. The song is done stirringly, and Tony Yazbeck is good, though he looks ridiculous. Next comes Kiss of the Spider Woman. Also a rather disturbing musical, the first song is about a crossdresser who lands in jail, and sings about dressing up mannequins at his store. Then Janet Dacal performs the sweeping title song, and does not disappoint. She brings real dramatic intensity. Shout out here to set designer Beowulf Borritt. Next comes perhaps the all-time scary musical Sweeney Todd.

Karen Ziemba does an amazingly funny Worst Pies in London, and this is one of the instances where you think, (s)he could actually play the part. Chuck Cooper then tears apart the house with an absolutely thrilling My Friends. Then comes an awkwardly condensed “Ballad of Sweeney Todd”, and the small ensemble is not really right for it. Next comes the smash hit Phantom of the Opera. I literally can’t even remember them doing the title song. I guess it must have been bad. Ironically, Kaley Ann Voorhies was Christine on Broadway, and Michael Xavier was not Phantom, but he’s much better at his role than she is at hers. Her “Wishing you Were Somehow Here Again” is lackluster without the special effects. “The Music of the Night” is thrilling, though, and you wonder why Xavier has;t yet been Phantom on Broadway. For the curtain call, one of my all-time least favorite composers, Jason Robert Brown, has written an original song, that is quite awful. It features such inane lyrics as “Do the work, get it done”. It is a disappointing ending to a great show. See the show before it ends on October 29th. An after show talkback revealed that there will probably be a cast album. I will tell you when further plans are made. Be sure to check the blog again Sunday, and have a good rest-of-week.