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Week Of August 27, 2007 - Young Frankenstein - Mon / Wed
September 5, 2007
Not So Under The Sea
There is no drama like theater people throwing gossip around about the latest show they hope goes down the drain. When shows fail, the gossip is "I told you so." When the gossiped about shows hit, they suddenly forget that there was any fuss at all.
The latest show to get bashed and bashed hard is Disney "The Little Mermaid," now in a pre-Broadway run in Denver';s Ellie Caukins Opera House. Variety's David Rooney shredded the show and soon after, Michael Reidel, The NY Post's theater attack dog, threw the Variety review and every rumor about the show out into a spectacularly bitchy column.
So The Little Mermaid must be one dead fish, right?
Wrong.
As it turned out, I was heading through Denver on the way from Telluride to Toronto. Unfortunately, I couldn't score a ticket through any of the regular sources ... not eBay, not StubHub, not Craigslist, not any of the premium ticket brokers who sell $77 tickets for $200. Nothing. (At least not for any of the three shows that could have potentially fit into my schedule.) Just people wanting more tickets. I did find a single seat in the third balcony all the way to the right. I bought it, but taking a detour from my travels to sit in the nosebleeds seemed like a bad idea. Disney was kind enough to find me a seat in the orchestra when I offered that I was trying to follow up these attack pieces by seeing the show for myself.
There were a lot of young kids in the theater, the show starting at a surprisingly late 8pm. Merchandise was everywhere. My personal favorite was them pre-selling the Broadway Cast Album, in a kind of counterintuitive version of Amazon.com. Also surprising was the number of women in their teens and twenties, dressed as on their way to a showy party. (The only place you could see more flesh in this theater was on the stage ... but more about that later.)
The first impression of the show was a bad one. Inexplicably, the curtain for the show is basic black with a bunch of small stenciled sea creatures that were painted for black light glowing. Really ... right out of a high school musical ... and not High School Musical.
Remember, my prism for this experience, like David Rooney's, was a recent experience of Young Frankenstein, where you walk into a theater to the well lit image of Castle Frankenstein in a not-overlit older Seattle theater that fits the mood.
Opening the program, which cleverly has a nightly pullout page with that night's songs and details. (Who knows how often it changes?) But another detail that seemed cheap, an orchestra with two conductors, three electronic pianists, and a drummer. Really? Disney can't afford a full orchestra for a big show like this?
So I started by being a bit down on the experience.
Then, the show started. The waves of the ocean are represented by a series of 2 foot high, stage wide plexiglass flats, with blue light waving through them ... like waves. Bordering the stage, for most of the show, are white plexiglass curtains, three deep, on which colors often change. So the action takes place in the front, behind the first "curtain" or the second "curtain.'
We are above the sea now and the first image is the arrival of the boat on which Prince Eric (our hero) first hears Ariel (our little mermaid) comes into view. Again, the image is of views of colored glass, floating as the hull and the rest of the boat on the representative ocean.
I found it remarkable ... so much so that I had a hard time paying attention to the actors who were singing. I thought that the whole thing would be well served by the boat being at the very front of the stage, not two curtains back on the stage. The boat kind of ate the performances in that first scene. And the blandness of the performance of Prince Eric - a Disney tradition in movies, but not so good on stage - wasn't helping. Sean Palmer, who plays the Prince, is a nice looking guy with a strong voice. But he is small ... maybe an inch and a half taller than Ariel ... and not terribly macho. Obviously, they want him to be lovable by a sweet, innocent girl. But from the start, the role screamed for a big-shouldered guy who might make a girl at least a little faint. A Gaston, really.
But the production design by George Tsypin is what has most been under fire and I have to say, "Get a little perspective." The Lion King is a landmark of representational design on Broadway, right on the level of the wall-free version of Our Town. And the design for The Little Mermaid doesn't feel that revolutionary... but it is quite beautiful ... a set of blown Italian glass rendered for obvious reasons in plexiglass. There are two giant bongs that are not only bizarre looking, but the only pieces of the set that have no clear dramatic purpose, seeming at times simply there to fill space. (The bongs also reminded my of the odd set pieces that the dancers with the white body suits with veins hang off of in the finale' of All That Jazz ... though I never understood that piece of set design either, though the dancing on them is memorable.) But to obsess on that one big flaw - completely fixable - to write off the show seems petulant at best.
The irony is that those whining about this set are probably the same people who mock the literalism of the Phantom's chandelier or the chopper in Miss Saigon. It is true. I prefer the big, ballsy, steroidal classical production design on Young Frankenstein or the clever, dark, tricky work on Grey Gardens. But I found much of the design on this show inspired. Sometimes, I even felt that director Francesca Zambello didn't trust the design enough.
For instance, the standout performance in the show is by Sherie René Scott as Ursula. She and Sebastian the Crab are the money roles in both the movie and now, the musical. When we first meet Ursula, she is sitting in a bubble that rolls onto stage with her eight arms floating around the bubble. The role - part Mae West, part Cruella de Ville, part Medusa - is a vamp, who should always have the audience in her hot little hands. And what a great idea ... give Sherie Scott the ripe shape of Ursula, but free her of those arms that keep her from being able to perform all out. But no, when she rises from the seat of power, she has arms attached to her, as well as on her throne. And later, she dances with an even more elaborate rig on.
This is one of the big flaws of the show, still a couple of months from landing in New York. There are little details like this that get in the way. Instead of vamping it up, using the entire stage to rage, tearing down the house, Zambello, who does not seem terribly interested in literalism, gets too literal with Ursula. And while she still brings down the house, the number comes up short of what she could be.
As long as I am bitching and moaning about Ursula, we should talk about her side kicks, the two electric eels, Flotsam and Jetsam. Again ... two ELECTRIC eels ... who don't light up. They are ELECTRIC eels. And there is all kinds of stuff lighting up all over this show. The outfits they wear even look like they're made for wiring. But no.
That brings up the costume design of Tatiana Noginova, another much attacked area. And again, there is some very good design and some representational design that needs a bit more help from the director. If you want Scuttle the Gull to move like a bird and not rely on flying him, fine. But you really do need to fly him in the first time if you expect the audience that is not quite as hip to the character (like me) to get that he is a bird from the start.
I can't say that the costumes blew me away. But the costumes do their job. The least effective - the gull costumes are very well served by a number with 8 of them late in the show ... the flaw becomes an asset ... but the flaw part could have been avoided earlier - is Flounder, which really doesn't read distinctly. But basically, function is served.
However, I should point out that I was surprised at time by how much anatomy was pointed out. I don't know that I need to be coming out of The Little Mermaid being so specifically disabused on the notion that black men are better hung than white men. But there are a few crotch-hugging moments that are as unavoidable as Triton's trident. The women have their share of exposure as well.
The oddest costume phenomenon to my eyes was with Sierra Boggess' Ariel. Early in the show, she felt a little distant to me in her mermaid gear. The one great bit she has with that costume is when she actually waves it as part of a character beat. (Zambello should go to the movies and watch Travolta work his fat suit in Hairspray a few times. What he and Adam Shankman made work so well for Edna could be used to great effect in this show, expecially for the mermaids and for Ursula.) But when she finally gets her legs and loses her voice, her performance comes alive. For the first time, Ariel is what she should be - must be - for the whole audience, but especially the men ... she is sexy. She even has notably cute feet. But somehow, her entire physicality loosens up. Her mimed mute performance is bigger than she is as Ariel early on ... and that tone works really well for her as a performer.
Sierra Boggess is not the first pretty young woman with a big voice and a somewhat too gentle personality to hit Broadway. Kelli O'Hara is the most recent example that comes to mind. And she went on from her too-low-key-for-me performance in The Light In The Piazza to a bigger bang opposite Harry Connick, Jr. in the revival of The Pajama Game. But it happens to be a tough time for new, fresh, pretty faces amongst Broadway actresses right now with Kerry Butler killing in Xanadu, Laura Bell Bundy overcoming a weak show and miscasting with raw energy in Legally Blonde, Sutton Foster going blonde for Young Frankenstein, and Kristen Chenowith on the top of everyone's perky blonde list. But by the end of the show, Boggess has done the job as Ariel, even if the next great Broadway star has not been born.
Now, in more than 1700 words, I have still not mentioned anything much about the show itself ... the songs and the story. Why? Because it basically works.
Early on, I felt like I wasn't getting enough of Doug Wright's book. Too much singing and not enough interesting dialogue. But things evened out more in the second act. My initial urge to see both of Prince Eric's droopy dramatic songs cut became more of an urge to see Sean Palmer replaced by someone more interesting. It's not that he's not talented ... he's just not a movie prince.
Really, my primary issues with this show - aside from the giant bongs - is the lack of star power. And I think that this will be the difference between acceptance by New York critics and non-acceptance.
There are some casting oddities in the show that can be argued. Striking, though it is so politically incorrect to mention it, is that the show is close to 50/50 black and white actors. For a show that doesn't have a single role (except perhaps Sebastian) that is race specific, that is an oddity. I don't think that it's an issue that needs addressing in any particular way, but I must admit, it caught my eye. Color-free casting is one thing, but this feels intentional more than a natural occurrence.
Beyond race, they made the decision to focus on King Triton's six-pack (and yes, a fine singing voice) over the need for a parental figure in the show. With due respect to the enormously talented Norm Lewis (who looks a lot like the gym rat version of Tim Meadows), a gray wig doesn't make it feel any less like Ariel is going to engage in a sex romp with Triton rather than have a father/daughter chat. If you ask me, Ken Page would add 100 pounds and a ton of credibility to a role like this, even if he isn't going to play it without a shirt. Or make a call to Terrence Mann, who can probably fake the pecs, look the right age for that white hair and beard, and bring needed B-cred to the show. Mr. Lewis is a lock for 300: The Musical, however.
Meanwhile, though he makes it feel as though he is having the time of his life, Eddie Korbich as Scuttle isn't quite Hank Azaria, which is who the role feels like it was written for. It's not that Korbich isn't talented. It's star power. Gut instinct tells me that Joel Grey would be miscast for the role and yet, he would still make it into more than it is... because he has that kind of star power. Korbich worked for the audience I saw the show with, don't get me wrong. But the character as conceived for this show is a vaudevillian bird. And you want someone there who owns the audience for every second of his 15 minutes of stage time. Korbich wins them over, but like so much of the cast, he doesn't add that thing that you want to jump off the stage when you are opening on Broadway.
One of the oddest moments of the experience of this show was the cast coming out for their curtain calls and how it didn't feel like the order was right. Obviously, there is some logic for the order in someone's mind (or contract). But the balance is off. Sherrie Rene Scott's Ursula owns this show. You can't have her come out last, but she should certainly be #2. And Sebastian, who still has the two best songs in the show as he does in the film, must be your #3. Scuttle should be #4. And after that, it's all a shoulder shrug.
Still, as excellent as Sherrie Rene Scott is, if I were Disney, I would be fighting to get Christine Ebersole in for six months, just to make sure that the show flies. It would be a very different Ursula and the kids and tourists wouldn't know the difference, but you can be sure that every critics and hard core theater geek would.
And that is the real story of Disney, The Little Mermaid, and the chattering class. Disney is, without question, a big target. They changed the face of Broadway as much as any entity ever has. And for New Yorkers, they are the fascists responsible for cleansing (not cleaning) Times Square into something with less palpable passion. Many would thank them for this and kiss their oversized Mickey feet. But after one flop - based on one of the least financially successful, least musical, least girl attractive films - Reidel and the boo birds are all too happy to try to bury the Mouse House and ship them back to Burbank.
The thing is, The Little Mermaid can work as is. It is girl bait - the most powerful demographic on Broadway lately, as they are in a few movie niches - and it is one of the true Disney classics and audiences will be humming the big songs on their way into the theater. As you can see, I can find some flaws in this show ... but it ain't no Tarzan. (The funniest thing in Reidel's "the group buyers won't go for it" smear was the broker who admitted that not going first class to Denver colored his view of the show and its potential.)
The current song list is at the bottom of the page. As you can see, the six Menken/Ashman songs are there, in all their glory. (Well, at least five are glorious.) You can start singing "Part of Your World," "Under The Sea" "Les Poissons," "Poor Unfortunate Souls," and "Kiss The Girl" now. Add the new Menken/Slater tunes "She's In Love" (a girl group number that reads a little like a response to the "Greek chorus" of Legally Blonde, but is still a lot of fun and very sticky), "Positoovity" (a gull group number that is currently just short of where it needs to be, though it still plays strong), and "If Only" (four characters sing their subtext) as memorable. And the one new addition that is up to the best of Menken/Ashman, "I Want The Good Times Back," Ursula's ode to giddy evil.
That's nine strong songs in one show. There are very few shows that have that strong a foundation.
As I noted earlier, the only numbers that could really be cut are the two Prince Eric ballads, both of which might play better with a more charismatic actor in the role.
So in closing, here are the five things I would say Disney needs to get done to make this show the hit they are hoping for and not the bomb that some people are praying for ...
1. Change A Couple Actors - This show is filled with showstoppers. But you need performers who are showstoppers to get where you are aspiring to go.
The biggest single problem, with due respect to the talented actor currently in the role, is Sebastian, who has two of the three biggest numbers in the show. If his numbers do not stop the show, the show is in trouble. And right now, both numbers are overproduced and undersold by Tituss Burgess. At 60 years old, Ben Vereen could still change the entire face of this show. The role needs a smooth, facile charmer. Where is Andre de Shields? And there must be someone out there who is younger than Vereen or De Shields who are in the right mold. But should I ask the most obvious question of all? Where is Samuel E. Wright and why isn't the original Sebastian playing Sebastian? It's not like it's a big, demanding dance role and the guy brings two Tony noms to the table. Hmmm ...
2. Free The Actors - Sometimes it is design. Sometimes it is the costuming. Sometimes it is the wheelys that are being used to give the feeling of undersea movement. But never forget that the key to this show is not the gimmicks, but strong performances by strong actors.
This means freeing up Ursula to vamp around the stage, with maybe even bigger curves, but not the debilitating 8 fragile arms. This means flying in Scuttle at least once for the sake of establishing character and the physicality that really doesn't come into shape now until the second act. This means a bit more freedom for the actors playing to the audience, especially for Sebastian, Scuttle, and Ursula.
The one true disaster of direction is Sebastian's crabby walk, which simply looks like he has a stick up his sphincter. We can argue about how well the crab costume works or doesn't walk, but once established as a crab, we get it ... stop playing it. (Moreover, the defining movement of a crab is side-to-side, not lurching forward ... so really, the whole idea just doesn't work.)
Sierra Boggess needs to own this role if she is going to hit it out of the park. As I wrote before, she is better now when silent and doing pantomime. Her joy over the idea of being on the land needs to play a little better. Think Jessica Rabbit before she knew that men/rabbits/tunes were looking.
3. Less Is More - We don't need Mardi Gras every time. Less black light, more big performances.
A special note on this to Ms. Noginova ... sexy is good, graphic is not. Get those guns back in those holsters. Decide one way or the other on bra and panty lines. Every once in a while, it feels like Vegas. But it's The Little Mermaid, not MerMade.
And to whomever is doing hair and make-up ... simpler, please. The work is not bad. But green hair looks like green hair, not like an eel. So either tone it down or make it more specific.
4. Lose The Bongs - Everyone seems to mention them (often referred to as nutcrackers or corkscrews) and they just plain need to go. Scenery should not distract or confuse. And these things do, though I really do like the rest of George Tsypin's design.
5. Hire A Few More Band Members - Especially for "Kiss The Girl" and "Under The Sea," a few musicians on stage playing sea slugs (or whatever sea animal) would be great. Create intimacy with real instruments.
I admit that I stopped feeling like I was listening to electronica in the second act. But there is a big difference between an orchestra and near-taped music in a theater. This show needs more life and real music, the threat of a mistake, the threat of being beyond, could help.
IN CLOSING - The show played great for the Denver audience ... but what do they know? (ha ha) The thing is, there are critic-proof shows and this is probably one of them, but it isn't really up to Broadway standards yet. And with a few notable exceptions, the issues are not in the material itself, but in elements of execution. It is not the desperate situation that some have made it out to be.
The reason you bring a Tommy Tune or the like in to look at the show at this point is to being credibility to the criticisms that should stick. I wouldn't be listening too hard to Variety's David Rooney on that account.
There is work to do, no doubt. Disney can either bury its head in the pre-sale and out-of-town and merchandising numbers or it can aspire to raise the show to a level - at least for six months or show until the media stops sneering - that makes it undeniable.
It still won't be Sondheim, but it certainly can compete, if made near-perfect, with Legally Blonde and Wicked and Mary Poppins and Grease and Hairspray.
THE SONGS
ACT I
Overture
"Fathoms Below".........................................................Sailors, Pilot, Prince Eric, Grimsby
"Daughters of Triton".................................................Mersisters
"The World Above"*.................................................Ariel
"Human Stuff"..............................................................Scuttle, Gulls
"I Want the Good Times Back".................................Ursula, Flotsam, Jetsam
"Part of Your World"*................................................Ariel
"Storm at Sea"
"Part of Your World" (Reprise)*...............................Ariel
"She's in Love".............................................................Mersisters, Flounder
"Her Voice"...................................................................Prince Eric
"The World Above" (Reprise)..................................King Triton
"Under the Sea"*........................................................Sebastian, Sea Creatures
"Sweet Child"...............................................................Flotsam, Jetsam
"Poor Unfortunate Souls"*.......................................Ursula
ACT II
Entr'acte
"Positoovity"..............................................................Scuttle, Gulls
"Beyond My Wildest Dreams"................................Ariel, Carlotta, Maids
"Les Poissons"*.........................................................Chef Louis
"Les Poissons" (Reprise)...........................................Chef Louis, Chefs
"One Step Closer"..................................................... Prince Eric
"I Want the Good Times Back" (Reprise) .............Ursula
"Kiss the Girl"*............................................................Sebastian, Animals
"Sweet Child" (Reprise)............................................ Flotsam, Jetsam
"If Only" .....................................................................Ariel, Prince Eric, Sebastian, King Triton
"Her Voice" (Reprise).................................................Ursula
"The Contest"..............................................................Grimsby, Princesses
"Poor Unfortunate Souls" (Reprise)........................Ursula
"If Only" (Reprise)..................................................... King Triton
"Finale Ultimo"^.........................................................Ariel, Prince Eric, Company
Music by Alan Menken
* Lyrics by Howard Ashman
^ Lyrics by Howard Ashman & Glenn Slater
All other lyrics by Glenn Slater
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