Several new musicals, now having their world premieres in various Northeast locations, draw their inspiration from movies to greater or lesser degree. The most direct adaptation is The Queen of Versailles, based on a 2012 documentary of the same name and its more recent reality series sequel The Queen of Versailles Reigns Again. Reuniting Tony Award winner Kristen Chenoweth with Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz, it is making its pre-Broadway debut at Boston's historic Emerson Colonial Theatre. Reverend was privileged to attend a preview performance on July 27th.
Chenoweth is fantastic as Jackie Siegel, the real-life wife of billionaire David Siegel. In the wake of their European honeymoon 24 years ago, Jackie became inspired to build a replica of the French palace of Versailles in their home state of Florida. With unlimited financial resources, at least at the time, the couple broke ground on what would become one of the largest private homes in the US. However, the 2008 recession and David's related financial losses temporarily halted construction. The house remains unfinished to this day.
Schwartz, playwright Lindsey Ferrentino and Tony-winning director Michael Arden have envisioned the Siegels' story as a Faustian tale of what one can lose in gaining excessive wealth and/or pursuing "the American dream." Their musical's first act is engaging as it introduces us to Jackie, David (played by Academy Award winner F. Murray Abraham), their first daughter Victoria, Jackie's adorable dog Bear, and the various characters in their employ. Though currently a tad overlong, it is important to note The Queen of Versailles is a work in progress and will likely continue to be revised. Schwartz's generally upbeat Act One songs convey Jackie's joie de vivre well, and Chenoweth delivers them with gusto.
The plot becomes decidedly more serious post-intermission, and the shift in tone is jarring. The current Act Two songs also aren't as good, save a powerhouse finale song spectacularly performed by Chenoweth as she scales a massive staircase. (Song titles were not provided in the program, likely because they are still subject to change.) Abraham's limited singing ability is also a deficit that becomes more apparent the longer the show goes on. On the plus side, Act Two currently offers some pointed and very timely political commentary.
Despite its current liabilities, The Queen of Versailles has much to recommend it including very impressive costumes, scenic and video design, and orchestrations. But the main asset is undeniably Chenoweth. A Tony award for Best Lead Actress may well be in her future once the show — with or without further revisions — transfers to NYC next season as planned.
F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic 1925 novel The Great Gatsby recently entered the public domain. As such, it is now available for theatrical, cinematic and television adaptation by anyone who wants to take a stab at it. Many have tried over the decades but few have been successful at capturing the book's philosophical blend of romance, social critique and Jazz Age opulence. The best to date is arguably Baz Luhrmann's 2013 movie.
One new stage musical of The Great Gatsby is already playing on Broadway while another Broadway-bound version, simply titled Gatsby, just celebrated its world premiere run at American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. On entering the theater, one is instantly struck by scenic designer Mimi Lien's set. Dominated by car wrecks to evoke the mechanic George Wilson's junkyard and also foreshadow the tragic death of his wife, Myrtle, it communicates to audience members that this will not be as pretty a production as we may be used to. It turns out to be accurate, even with a handful of lavish dance numbers set in the title character's fairly minimalist mansion.
This Gatsby (subtitled An American Myth in publicity materials) better balances the overlapping stories of Jay Gatsby's undying love for the married Daisy Buchanan and the difficult marriage between Myrtle (who is having an affair with Daisy's husband) and George. This brings the social-economic disparities between them into sharper focus. Pulitzer Prize winner Martyna Majok wrote the book for the musical. The songs were co-written by Florence Welch, longtime headliner of Florence + the Machine, and Thomas Bartlett. They are tuneful and serviceable if not particularly memorable. They were also frequently over-amplified during the performance Reverend attended, making it hard to distinguish the lyrics at times.
The cast was strong, even with swings/understudies in the roles of Myrtle and Nick. Notably, this production makes Nick Carraway's long hinted-at homosexuality or bisexuality explicit, which I definitely appreciated after seeing so many adaptations tiptoe around this.
Ask for the Moon, a self-proclaimed "mischievous new musical," features some enjoyable cinematic connections/allusions. With a book and lyrics by Tony winner Darko Tresnjak (who also directs) and music by Oran Eldor, it is playing at Goodspeed's Terris Theatre in Chester, Connecticut through August 11th.
With plentiful references to classic Hollywood melodramas like Now, Voyager (from which the show draws its title) and The Poseidon Adventure, audiences set sail on the Jewel of the Sea ocean liner with a scheming widow, a vengeful lawyer, and a volatile nurse. There are also a pair of squabbling Carpathian twins; Persimmon De Vol, stylist par excellence; and even a pet piranha with digestive issues!
Running a brisk 2 hours including intermission, Ask for the Moon is something few new musicals are nowadays: fun! This is largely due to hard-working cast members Luba Mason, Ali Ewoldt and Jamison Stern. Stern works a little too hard playing multiple roles (including the aforementioned twins) and goes over the top at times, but this is ultimately a minor criticism. And what's not to love about a show that boasts a dance number titled "The Skankey Meringue"?
New York City's iconic Empire State Building has been spotlighted in hundreds of movies since its construction way back in 1931. An Affair to Remember, multiple versions of King Kong, and Independence Day come to mind, among many others. While the new stage musical Empire is not adapted from a film, it certainly evokes many of these classic cinematic sequences.
Now being performed at Off-Broadway's New World Stages through September 22nd, Empire relates the historical drama behind the skyscraper's development while naturally adding song and dance. With book, music and lyrics by Caroline Sherman and Robert Hull, the show incorporates both real-life and fictional characters. Significantly, it tends to focus on the women whose work on the building has long gone unrecognized. This is admirable but the writers also add a 1970's-set framing device that proves excessive. The fact that one of the latter-day characters is able to time travel back to the 1930's definitely strains credibility.
Tony-winning actress and director Cady Huffman helmed this technically impressive production, with scenic design by Walt Spangler. Lorna Ventura's energetic choreography makes the best of sometimes limited space. The cast is good and their vocal arrangements are sometimes striking, especially when the men sing together. I definitely found Empire enlightening and sporadically entertaining but it could benefit from some further work.
Reverend's Ratings:
The Queen of Versailles: B
Gatsby: B-
Ask for the Moon: B+
Empire: C+
Reviews by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film and stage critic of Movie Dearest and Rage Monthly Magazine.
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