'The Little Prince': A confusing adaptation

‘THE LITTLE PRINCE’: The cast. Photo: Joan Marcus.

THE LITTLE PRINCE
Based on the book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Music by Terry Truck
Librettist & co-direction by Chris Mouron
Direction & choreography by Anne Tournié
Video programming by Étienne Beaussart
Through August 14, 2022
Broadway Theatre
1681 Broadway at 53rd Street
(212-239-6200), www.TheLittlePrinceBroadway.com

By David NouNou

Not to be confused with the 1982 musical The Little Prince and The Aviator, starring Michael York as the aviator, Ellen Greene as Rose, and Anthony Rapp as the Little Prince—it had a book by Hugh Wheeler, music by John Barry and lyrics by Don Black. That production ran for 20 previews and never opened. This Little Prince is not a revision or a revival of that. This is also not a musical. It’s The Little Prince set to music and performed as variations of interpretive dance and using aerial fabric acrobatics to have the characters fly and swirl around the stage.

The novella by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry has a narrator (Chris Mouron who is also the librettist) and tells the tale of an aviator who has crash-landed in the Sahara and meets the young Little Prince from another planet. The boy is most inquisitive and insists on answers. The boy travels to various planets, including Earth, and addresses issues such as love, friendship, loneliness and loss. In the process he has to disseminate life, adults and human nature.

In his travels, besides the aviator, he comes across a vain rose who deceives him, a king who has no subjects, a conceited man who loves applause, a tippler who drinks because he is ashamed of drinking, a businessman who wants to own the stars, a lamplighter, a snake who speaks in riddles, and a fox who wants to get tamed, among other characters.

The music by Terry Truck is exciting and at times exhilarating, but if you are not familiar with the novella, it is very hard to follow the narrative as spoken by the narrator. She has a delightful French accent, heavy at times, but there are TV monitors to interpret what she is saying. Since she has all the lines of all the characters from the Prince, to the rose, to the snake, it is very difficult to decipher just who is asking the questions and who is answering. It becomes a jumble at times, especially when dealing with the philosophical questions and answers of life through the free-wheeling interpretive dance numbers and aerial spinnings. It becomes less of a show and more of a convoluted, head-spinning Cirque Du Soleil.

All the elements of the novella are here, but in the most incohesive manner. Because every incident is interpreted through dance, and there is no other way to propel the story forward, the dances begin to bleed into each other and look alike.

Unfortunately, this is not a show that can pass as a musical or belongs in a Broadway musical theatre. It was sad to see how many people didn’t return to their seats after intermission. It’s meant for aficionados of dance and belongs at the Joyce Theatre or at City Center where their audiences would appreciate it more.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 17, 2022
Reviewed at April 16, 2022 press performance.