‘SMASH’: Robyn Hurder (center) & cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

SMASH
Book by Bob Martin & Rick Elice
Based on the NBC TV series by Theresa Rebeck
Music by Marc Shaiman
Lyrics by Scott Wittman & Marc Shaiman
Choreography by Joshua Bergasse
Directed by Susan Stroman
Imperial Theatre
249 West 45^th Street
https://smashbroadway.com/

By Scott Harrah

The NBC TV series “Smash” aired for two seasons in 2012 and 2013. Now, the Tony Award-winning team of book writers Bob Martin and Rick Elice, composer Marc Shaiman, lyricist Scott Wittman and director Susan Stroman have adapted the TV series into a splashy, fun, flawed yet sublime Broadway musical, Smash.

The show focuses on the story of a make-believe Marilyn Monroe musical called Bombshell: The Marilyn Monroe Story and the colorful characters all working behind the scenes to get the production off the ground. The fictional Marilyn is established star Ivy Lynn (Robyn Hurder), a gorgeous blonde who looks the part and is so into her character that she hires a “Method”-style acting coach, Susan Proctor (Kristine Nielsen), to help her become Marilyn.

Backstage intrigue

The narrative centers on backstage intrigue at a Broadway musical, with everyone doing anything to shine in the show, with more than one actress coveting the lead role of Marilyn. Ivy hires Susan after the husband-and-wife duo Jerry (John Behlmann) and Tracy (Krysta Rodriguez) give the actress a book by the Method coach. Meanwhile, understudy Karen (Caroline Bowman) is talented indeed but considered too inexperienced to play Marilyn. Ivy and Karen become instant rivals, adding tension.

Bombshell is helmed by veteran director Nigel (Brooks Ashmanskas), with the help of associate director Chloe (Bella Coppola). Chloe is a plus-sized woman who has also memorized all of Ivy’s lines. Everyone involved in the musical must answer to the producer Anita (Jacqueline B. Arnold), a no-nonsense woman who makes sure the show adheres to the guidelines and theme her investors expect.

Insider humor

The story includes all the issues involved with mounting a Broadway musical, from managing talent and budgets to “creative differences” and coping with egos. This is all a nice recipe for a “show-within-a-show.” Does everything work? Not always, but anyone interested in theater will find plenty of insider humor to savor. Joshua Bergasse’s energetic choreography and Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman’s songs keep everything moving along at a fun, vibrant pace. Fans of the TV series might recognize some of the numbers from the NBC show, including “The 20^th Century Fox Mambo” and “Let Me Be Your Star.”

Shows-within-a-show are nothing new in theater. Shakespeare used this technique in Hamlet (when actors performed for the court), Agatha Christie used it in The Mousetrap (still playing on the West End in London) and so did the recent British comedy The Play That Goes Wrong and the 1982 farce Noises Off.  The French call the concept mise en abyme, or “placed into abyss,” and in English it’s often called “metadrama.”

A hit for director Susan Stroman?

It has been a while since renowned Tony Award-winning director Susan Stroman scored a bona fide hit, but she might just have one here with Smash. Although far from being a perfect musical, the show has so much going for it, including an accomplished cast, many of whom have been working on Broadway for decades.

Fine cast

Robyn Hurder is delightfully imperious as the self-centered Ivy who makes everyone’s life hell in the production with her diva-like behavior. Caroline Bowman is equally top notch as Ivy’s rival and understudy, Karen. Ms. Bowman is exquisite, particularly in her show-stopping number “They Just Keep Moving the Line.”

Longtime Broadway vet Brooks Ashmanskas is always outstanding in any show. However, as the middle-aged, self-deprecating gay director Nigel, Mr. Ashmanskas gives one of his finest performances yet. He has never been funnier, from his quick-witted delivery of dialogue to his dynamic stage presence. He never fails to mine the material for laughs.

Supporting cast members shine

Nearly all of the supporting-cast performances are noteworthy as well. Krysta Rodriguez and John Behlmann are both hilarious as the often-arguing, married book and songwriting duo Tracy and Jerry. Two-time Tony nominee Kristine Nielsen is almost unrecognizable as the black-clad Method coach Susan Proctor. Ms. Nielsen’s Susan is a camp delight. She plays the character (or should I say caricature?) as a pretentious theatrical sorceress, charging big bucks to coach Ivy in the acting “method” used by Konstantin Stanislavsky and Lee Strasberg.

Bella Coppola gives one of the musical’s most magnificent performances as Chloe. Watching her transform herself from a frumpy associate director to a solid replacement for the glamorous Marilyn role is one of the show’s highlights.

This may not be the stage adaptation some fans of the old TV series were expecting, but as a musical comedy loaded with wit and nonstop silliness, Smash is simply splendid.

Published April 12, 2025
Reviewed at press preview performance on April 8, 2025

‘SMASH’: (left to right) Megan Kane, Brooks Ashmanskas, Robyn Hurder, Kristine Nielsen, Krysta Rodriguez & John Behlmann. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

‘SMASH’: (left to right) John Behlmann, Krysta Rodriguez, Jacqueline B. Arnold, Brooks Ashmanskas, Robyn Hurder, Caroline Bowman, Bella Coppola, and Nicholas Matos. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

‘SMASH’: Robyn Hurder & Brooks Ashmanskas. Photo: Paul Kolnik.

‘SMASH’: Bella Coppola. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

‘SMASH’: Krysta Rodriguez & John Behlmann. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

‘SMASH’: Caroline Bowman & cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

‘SMASH’: Robyn Hurder & cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

The post ‘Smash’: Show-within-a-show is sublime appeared first on StageZine.

‘LEFT ON TENTH’: Peter Gallagher & Julianna Margulies. Photo: Joan Marcus.

LEFT ON TENTH
By Delia Ephron
Based on her book Left on Tenth: A Second Chance at Life: A Memoir
Directed by Susan Stroman
James Earl Jones Theatre
138 West 48^th Street
https://leftontenthbroadway.com/

By Scott Harrah

Playwright, author and screenwriter Delia Ephron certainly knows all about romantic comedies. She wrote the screenplays for such “rom-com” hits as You’ve Got Mail (co-written with her late sister, Nora) and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Ms. Ephron’s new Broadway play Left on Tenth is an adaptation of her best-selling 2022 memoir Left on Tenth: A Second Chance at Life: A Memoir. Like the book, the play is based on Ms. Ephron’s real-life story of losing her sister, writer Nora Ephron, to cancer and the untimely death of her husband Jerry shortly afterward. Not exactly a winning formula for a “rom-com,” but romance is only part of the story here.

Before the curtain even rises, the audience hears a repetitive recording from Verizon’s customer service department: The annoying, robotic-sounding call-center menu anyone who ever has to call about service on a cell phone, internet or the like has experienced. We see Delia (Julianna Margulies) in her Manhattan apartment, waiting on hold on the phone with Verizon, hoping to speak to someone about her lost internet connection. She recently disconnected the landline of her husband of 33 years, Jerry, who died just six months ago.

Overcome by frustration with the phone carrier and the grief of her husband’s passing, Delia writes an essay about Verizon and it gets published in the New York Times. Shortly afterward, she gets a fan letter from Peter (Peter Gallagher), a Jungian psychiatrist in California. They start emailing each other and then telephoning and she learns he is also single, he’s also Jewish and originally from New York and he wants to come visit her in person. Delia soon learns that she supposedly dated him years ago, but she does not remember him.  Sounds like your typical formulaic Lifetime or Hallmark made-for-TV romantic comedy, right? Not exactly.

When Peter comes to New York, he and Delia hit it off immediately. They fall in love, but things don’t go as planned. Delia is soon diagnosed with AML, the same type of leukemia that killed her sister. Delia has only been dating Peter for four months.

The story takes a sharp turn as Delia starts an experimental treatment for AML and Peter stays lovingly by her side. There’s a lot of sincerity and heartbreak in this sentimental tale, but much of the dialogue is wooden and strained. Something is definitely off as the story segues from a romantic comedy to a serious drama, and the hospitals scenes in which Delia grapples with the agony of chemotherapy come across as mawkish and contrived. Part of the problem is Susan Stroman’s uneven direction. Ms. Stroman is great at directing musical theater, but this is definitely not a musical.

Despite the jagged narrative, most of the cast member transcend the flimsy material.  Julianna Margulies (“The Good Wife”) does a nice job portraying Delia. She has the right mix of vulnerability and emotional strength, and the audience definitely roots for her. She also has great chemistry with Peter Gallagher (“Grace and Frankie”) as Peter. Mr. Gallagher is always charming and charismatic as Peter.

Kate McCluggage and Peter Francis James portray multiple roles in the show. Ms. McCluggage plays Delia’s oncologist, a friend in Wales, and another friend in California, while Mr. Francis James plays Delia’s middle-aged gay neighbor and other characters.

So much happens in the 100-minute play with no intermission, but there is little substance or nuance in the story, and the play is, thus, unsatisfying. There is definitely a great story here to tell, but as is, the true subtext is never made clear in this production. Perhaps Left on Tenth was much better as a book than it is as a play.

Published October 29, 2024
Reviewed at October 26, 2024 press performance

‘LEFT ON TENTH’: Julianna Margulies & Kate MacCluggage. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘LEFT ON TENTH’: (left to right) Peter Francis James, Peter Gallagher, Julianna Margulies & Kate MacCluggage. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘LEFT ON TENTH’: Julianna Margulies & Peter Francis James. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘LEFT ON TENTH’: Julianna Margulies. Photo: Joan Marcus.

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‘NEW YORK, NEW YORK’: Colton Ryan & Anna Uzele. Photo: Paul Kolnik.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK
Music & lyrics by John Kander & Fred Ebb
Additional lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda

Written by David Thompson
Co-written by Sharon Washington
Based on the MGM picture New York, New York
Direction & choreography by Susan Stroman
St. James Theatre
246 West 44th Street
(212-239-6200), NewYorkNewYorkBroadway.com/

By David NouNou

Beowulf Borritt should win the Tony Award for Best Set Design in a Musical as well as Ken Billington for his lighting design. That’s the best I can say for the new musical New York, New York. If it wasn’t for their sets and lighting, the show wouldn’t have even merited one star.

It truly boggles the mind and is also very sad to see how the creators and songsmiths of Hamilton and Chicago could have concocted such a boring and needless musical for this or any other season as New York, New York. It’s a sad ending for the legendary Broadway duo of John Kander and Fred Ebb. You really don’t know whom to blame for the dreary, sappy and cliché-ridden book written by both David Thompson and Sharon Washington. It’s monumentally bad, very loosely based on the 1977 movie of the same name starring Robert DeNiro and Liza Minnelli. What they attempted to do was to combine the epic grandeur of the musical Ragtime with the pizzazz of On the Town, and they failed miserably in both cases. The characters of Ragtime were heroic people and the pizzazz of On the Town was genuine.

In a musical, the songs and the choreography have to be organic, they have to be fluid and come naturally, and no one would know that better than director/choreographer Susan Stroman. After all, Ms. Stroman was the force behind the legendary musicals The Producers and Crazy for You, both for which she won Tonys. Here the songs are squeezed in by force and the dancers come out from anywhere, at any time for no apparent reason other than the fact that this is a musical. It’s a sad, sad day when one has to write that Susan Stroman, a leading Broadway director/choreographer, has run out of original ideas.

As I stated earlier, it is loosely based on the movie, it is summer of 1946 in New York City, the troops are back and among them is Jimmy Doyle (Colton Ryan), a hot-tempered Irish singer and musician. Also coming to the city from Pennsylvania is singer, Francine Evans (Anna Uzele). The story centers around the ups and downs of their relationship and marriage which is fraught with problems because Francine in this version is African American, and they both know the problems that will ensue. There is a myriad of supporting players that comprise different ethnic backgrounds: Black, Cuban, Irish, Italian, Polish, etc. They are all here because America is the land of opportunity and they are all waiting for their big break. All of this isn’t germane to the plot, other than filler and to say the cast is culturally diverse.

Another problem that arises is the lack of chemistry between the two leads, especially from Colton Ryan. Instead of being a charismatic but flawed and broken anti-hero who has to mend himself, Mr. Ryan is a stereotype of the blustering, whiny, ambling aimlessly tortured soul with the emotions that run from A to B and contorting his face to express emotions. (Didn’t any of the creators or Ms. Stroman watch his performance?) Ms. Uzele fares slightly better because she gets to belt out “Let’s Hear It for Me” from Barbra Streisand’s 1975 movie Funny Lady, also by Kander and Ebb, and you’ll ask yourself why is it in this musical? She also gets a crack at Liza Minnelli’s “But the World Goes ‘Round.” I must admit both songs are legendary, thanks in part to their original singers. However, Ms. Uzele tries valiantly.

By the way, let me caution you that you will hear the first five notes of the song “New York, New York” endlessly as a teaser throughout the entire show. You will ultimately hear the entire song. That is saved for the rousing finale sung in a Big Band-era style that has the audience at its feet, forgetting the previous dismal two hours and 45 minutes. Also be prepared that every time NYC is mentioned in a flattering way, the audience cheers on cue.

Finally, I have to send my sincere apologies to Andrew Lloyd Webber and his musical Bad Cinderella for calling it “the worst musical of the year.”

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 29, 2023
Reviewed at April 28, 2023 press performance.

‘NEW YORK, NEW YORK’: Jim Borstelmann. Photo: Paul Kolnik.

‘NEW YORK, NEW YORK’: The cast. Photo: Paul Kolnik.

‘NEW YORK, NEW YORK’: The cast. Photo: Paul Kolnik.

‘NEW YORK, NEW YORK’: Colton Ryan & Anna Uzele. Photo: Paul Kolnik.

‘NEW YORK, NEW YORK’: The cast. Photo: Paul Kolnik.

The post ‘New York, NY’: This Apple’s rotten to the core appeared first on StageZine.

‘POTUS’: Vanessa Williams & Julie White. Photo: Paul Kolnik.

POTUS: OR, BEHIND EVERY GREAT DUMBASS ARE SEVEN WOMEN TRYING TO KEEP HIM ALIVE
Written by Selina Fillinger
Directed by Susan Stroman
Through August 14, 2022
Shubert Theatre
225 West 44th Street
(212-239-6200), https://potusbway.com

By David NouNou

Did you ever wish you could go to the theatre to see a ludicrous farce that will leave you at times laughing hysterically? No hidden messages here, no agendas, a minimal plot that is so absurd that you don’t care; you just want to laugh because the times we live in are so stressful. Such a play exists. It’s called POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive.

It is difficult to discuss the plot because it is so convoluted. You have to go see it for yourself to make sense of it. No need to tell you any more than what the title of the show states. Now, there’s no particular president or first lady in this show. Loosely based on our recent American history, the characters are really amalgams and composites of presidents and first ladies and West Wing staff. Playwright Selina Fillinger cleverly lets you decide for yourself who you want them to be, and that makes the show all the more enjoyable.

As you know, no president can run the country by himself; it’s the women behind the scenes that keep him alive. In this instance there are seven women working very hard to accomplish their mission. There is the president’s wife, Margaret (Vanessa Williams); Chief of Staff, Harriet (Julie White); Press Secretary, Jean (Suzy Nakamura); White House Correspondent, Chris (Lilli Cooper); the president’s out-there, outrageous sister, Bernadette (Lea Delaria); office assistant, Stephanie (Rachel Dratch). Of course, there is always a beautiful mistress, Dusty (Julianne Hough). These women really work very hard at their jobs and the fun of the play is how they interact with each other. By the end of Act I, you are exhausted from the machinations and laughter.

I will admit Act II kind of meanders and loses a bit of footing because how can you sustain an absurdist farce after your hand has been revealed? Act II plays more of a clean-up for the mess that was created in Act I. I’m not trying to be evasive, elusive or mysterious. In a farce the less you know, the surprise element becomes extremely funnier.

There’s not one but seven funny ladies up on the stage working their butts off to make us laugh. Also let me caution you that you will be hearing a lot of coarse language, so prepare your ears. This isn’t a show to get offended by—just go with it and enjoy it.

Vanessa Williams is still gorgeous; she has elevated her status from the quintessential real-life Miss America to the fictitious Mrs. America, and can still deliver dialogue with aplomb like she did for years on TV’s “Ugly Betty.” Julie White is the consummate pro,  and so good at what she does, she could be the next president. Julianne Hough is a real talent. Forget her stint on TV’s “Dancing with the Stars” because Ms. Hough is both a beauty and can truly act. Rachel Dratch of “Saturday Night Live” fame and Lea DeLaria— their characters are so over-the-top, they are hysterical, and in lesser hands they would be ridiculous. Lilli Cooper and Suzy Nakamura have the hardest parts, for they are the serious women, but they do manage to get their share of laughs. They are deftly directed by the ever-ingenious Susan Stroman. Kudos to all the ladies who make us laugh, and to Beowulf Boritt for the clever revolving set that represents the different rooms in the White House.

On another note to leave you with, in these days of alternate truths and facts and alternate universes, such an event might not be so improbable. As an alternative, it can’t be any worse than what we went through in the past few years with the previous administration. Sit back and enjoy an alternative reality, written and directed by women and acted by a very funny all-star ensemble of smart and sassy women.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published May 2, 2022
Reviewed at April 30, 2022 press performance.

‘POTUS’: Vanessa Williams & Rachel Dratch. Photo: Paul Kolnik.

‘POUTS’: Julie White & Suzy Nakamura. Photo: Paul Kolnik.

‘POTUS’: Julianne Hough, Lea Delaria & Suzy Nakamura. Photo: Paul Kolnik.

‘POTUS’: The cast. Photo: Paul Kolnik.

‘POTUS’: Lilli Cooper. Photo: Paul Kolnik.

‘POTUS’: Rachel Dratch & Julie White. Photo: Paul Kolnik.

‘POTUS’: Lilli Cooper, Rachel Dratch & Vanessa Williams. Photo: Paul Kolnik.

‘POTUS’: Julie White. Photo: Paul Kolnik.

‘POTUS’: Suzy Nakamura. Photo: Paul Kolnik.

‘POTUS’: Vanessa Williams. Photo: Paul Kolnik.

The post ‘POTUS’: Funny girls unleashed appeared first on StageZine.

‘PRINCE OF BROADWAY’: Emily Skinner in a scene from ‘Follies.’ Photo: Matthew Murphy

PRINCE OF BROADWAY
Written by David Thompson
New Songs, Arrangements, Orchestration & Music Supervision by Robert Jason Brown
Co-Directed & Choreographed by Susan Stroman
Directed by Hal Prince
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
261 West 47th Street
(212) 239-6200, www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com

By David NouNou

Any theatergoer knows that Harold S. Prince is a world-renowned producer/director and has had his hand in theatrical productions for almost 65 years. He has worked with the greatest of creative talents from Stephen Sondheim, Leonard Bernstein, Kander & Ebb to Andrew Lloyd Webber; from Jerome Robbins, Bob Fosse to Susan Stroman, and the actors he’s brought to the stage are endless: Gwen Verdon, Chita Rivera, Angela Lansbury, Patti LuPone, Liza Minnelli, Barbara Cook, Elaine Stritch, Zero Mostel, Joel Grey, Mandy Patinkin, Michael Crawford, and on and on.

However, trying to musicalize a producer/director’s career is much more difficult to present on stage than, let’s say, the musicals Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, based on recreating Jerome Robbins’ choreography from On The Town, West Side Story and Fiddler on the Roof or Fosse, based on Bob Fosse’s choreography for Damn Yankees, Sweet Charity and Pippin. Those are tangible works of artists recreating their creations. Dances are intrinsically more satisfying than actors trotting on stage, singing songs from a particular producer’s shows.

The nine actors consisting of Chuck Cooper, Janet Dacal, Bryonha Marie Parham, Emily Skinner, Brandon Uranowitz, Kaley Ann Voorhees, Michael Xavier, Tony Yasbeck and Karen Ziemba succeed to various degrees. They all come out on stage as Hal Prince at various times, with his signature glasses on their forehead, narrating his career. Honestly, I would have preferred having Mr. Prince narrate his own life, introducing his own productions at various stages in his career projected on a screen. This would have been more productive; it would have given us an introduction to the man himself, been less lame and more effective.

The major problem here is how do you connect all these phenomenal shows? Damn Yankees, West Side Story, Fiddler On the Roof, Cabaret, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, Evita, The Phantom of the Opera as well as A Family Affair, Flora the Red Menace, A Doll’s Life, Zorba, Roza, Merrily We Roll Along (mostly hits and a fair number of flops)? It’s very difficult to chose the songs and scenes from all these shows to fit cohesively in an entertaining manner. Some are extremely entertaining standing alone, as the scenes from West Side Story, Cabaret and Company. Some are visually entertaining like Follies and Phantom of the Opera, The songs from She Loves Me, It’s a Bird, It’s A Plane, It’s Superman, Parade, Kiss of the Spider Woman and Sweeney Todd, although good, make no sense. What helps make the scenes work better is mostly due to set designer Beowulf Boritt, costume designer William Ivey Long, and lighting designer Howell Binkley. They try to capture the essences of the original productions and that helps the visualization process immensely. They attempt to recapture that particular moment of each show and it does envelop us for the most part.

Two standout performers for me were Tony Yazbeck for his great phraseology of the songs from West Side Story and “The Right Girl” from Follies. His tap dancing in that song is phenomenal. The other standout is Chuck Cooper. His rendition of “If I Were a Rich Man” from Fiddler is better than what I’ve seen in recent years. He also does a superb “Ol’ Man River” from Showboat. Both these men get better and better with each successive show.

It’s great to see Brandon Uranowitz’s career blossoming. His “Willkommen” from Cabaret was chilling, and teaming up with the wonderful Karen Ziemba in “If You Could See Her ” and her solo “So What” is memorable. A treat to see Emily Skinner back on Broadway doing “Ladies Who Lunch” from Company and “Send in the Clowns” from A Little Night Music.

All in all, it is an entertaining, if not wholly satisfying or fulfilling evening. If you were fortunate enough to have seen some of the original versions, most of the scenes will evoke a fond memory or at least give you a taste of the past experience.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published August 27, 2017
Reviewed at August 26, 2017 press performance.

‘PRINCE OF BROADWAY’: Michael Xavier & cast perform a number from ‘Company.’ Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘PRINCE OF BROADWAY’: Brandon Uranowitz sings a song from ‘Cabaret.’ Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘PRINCE OF BROADWAY’: Janet Dacal in ‘Evita’ scene. Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘PRINCE OF BROADWAY’: Bryonha Marie Parham & Kaley Ann Voorhees sing a classic from ‘Showboat.’ Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘PRINCE OF BROADWAY’: Tony Yazbeck performs a number from ‘Follies.’ Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘PRINCE OF BROADWAY’: Tony Yazbeck & Kaley Ann Voorhees perform a scene from ‘West Side Story.’ Photo: Matthew Murphy

‘PRINCE OF BROADWAY’: Chuck Cooper performs a classic song from ‘Fiddler on the Roof.’ Photo: Matthew Murphy

The post ‘Prince of Broadway’: Hal’s greatest hits appeared first on StageZine.

TAP-DANCING DUDES: The men of ‘Bullets Over Broadway.’ Photo: Paul Kolnik

BULLETS OVER BROADWAY
Written by Woody Allen
Based on the screenplay of the film by Woody Allen & Douglas McGrath
Direction & choreography by Susan Stroman
St. James Theatre
246 West 44th Street
(212-239-6200), www.BulletsOverBroadway.com

By David NouNou

It is a sad, sad day when one has to write that Susan Stroman, a leading Broadway director/choreographer, has run out of original ideas. In 1994, Woody Allen wrote a magnificent, tightly written movie about Broadway, actors and gangsters. It was a delicious movie with an ensemble cast that had a wonderful sense of the absurd with no superfluous scenes. In its current incarnation as a Broadway musical, the whole show is superfluous. Mr. Allen’s films are written compactly and purposefully. However, there are times when he doesn’t know when to edit himself, so there is no room for taking his movies and expanding them. There is no way of inserting musical numbers or lame choreography in any of his scenes. That’s how tight his scenes are written.

In any Woody Allen movie, there is always some nostalgic 1920s song playing in the background or over the credits. There is no score here; just random classic songs given to the main characters to sing: David Shayne, playwright, (Zach Braff) “I’m Sitting on Top of the World” when his play is having a read through; Helen Sinclair, the over-the-top actress brilliantly played by Dianne Wiest in the movie, is abysmally overplayed and with no conviction by Marin Mazzie. Her entrance song is “They Go Wild, Simply Wild Over Me?”and the question here is why? At the end of Act One, the ensemble is singing “Running Wild,” a senseless rendition as chorines dance in usher uniforms on top of a train. It goes like this throughout the show until the end. The finale song is “Yes, We Have No Bananas.” If anyone can give me a reasonable explanation behind this asinine move, maybe I can understand what the creators of this show were trying to accomplish

In addition, every time Ms. Stroman feels there should be a dance number, she inserts the same now-old tap-dance routines that she first brilliantly introduced in Crazy For You in 1992, The Producers in 2001, The Scottsboro Boys in 2010, and her last show, Big Fish in 2013. What seemed fresh and energetic all those other times, now just seems tired and overused. As a matter of fact, the whole show seems tired and underused. She has even pilfered two instances from Guys and Dolls. She has separated the male and female dancers. The women are another version of the Hot Box Revue pussycats, with the opening song “Tiger Rag” or “Hold That Tiger”, and the men have their thing as in the sewer scene with Sky Masterson singing “Luck Be A Lady”, but in this case it is Cheech and the gangsters singing and tap-dancing to “Tain’t Nobody’s Biz-ness If I Do”. The direction is equally unimaginative, listless and accomplishes nothing, just enough for the actors to keep from bumping into each other. Although some of the dialogue and jokes came directly from the movie as spoken by this cast, they land with a thud and a snicker.

And then there is the issue of casting; all the major roles are played by great character actors, but they don’t work as an ensemble. They all seem to have seen the movie and are trying to replicate that magic of their screen counterparts, but not even the best of directors can bring them together cohesively, because mostly each one of them is working on his or her shtick.

Zach Braff (from TVs “Scrubs”) as David Shayne, the intellectual playwright who doesn’t want to sell out and have his play compromised, is rather ineffectual and spineless. There is no way that the man-eating Helen Sinclair would ever be attracted to such a milquetoast sans personality. Helen Sinclair, the aging actress and probably my favorite Woody Allen character, has the narcissistic fears of every actress over 40 but she knows she is still “A Star”. Marin Mazzie does the unthinkable by making Helen appear as a character a la Carol Burnett from her 1970s show in one of her skits. Helen, in her own words from a song she sings, is now not only a dipsomaniac, but a sex maniac and a kleptomaniac as well. Admirable traits indeed; I guess she possesses these traits because they rhyme. Ms. Mazzie has taken one of the screen’s most iconic roles and turned her into a buffoon.

Vincent Pastore as Nick Valenti, the mob boss, is given unspeakably clichéd thug lines, but does the best he can with them. Helene Yorke captures the essence of Olive Neal, the no-talent, screechy-voiced actress; a little of her goes a long way. Lenny Wolpe as the producer, Julian Marx, God bless, if only all producers were as nice as him. Brooks Ashmanskas is featured in yet another flouncing role as the overeating actor, Warner Purcell. Karen Ziemba is wasted as Eden, the older actress in the show.

I have saved the two best for last. They are the two people that make the evening tolerable. Betsy Wolfe and her glorious voice as Ellen, David’s girlfriend, is pure delight; and as Cheech, the thug henchman who is really an artist and genius at heart, Nick Cordero is a crooner, a hoofer and a looker. They rise to the occasion with their performances.

The sad part about all this is the show came with such pedigree. However, some movies are just not meant to be expanded as musicals as in so many cases this particular season, with the exception of Aladdin. Unfortunately, the St. James, once the home of many glorious musicals has been the venue for several recent Broadway mediocrities, and now we can add Bullets Over Broadway to this dubious list.

RAZZLE-DAZZLE OR FILLER?: One of many forgettable production numbers in ‘Bullets Over Broadway.’ Photo: Paul Kolnik

Six 2014 Tony Nominations: Book of a Musical; Woody Allen, Musical Supporting Actor; Nick Cordero, Set Design, Costumes, Choreography; Susan Stroman and Orchestrations.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 11, 2014

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