#TBT: OBCR: Finding Neverland

The Peter Pan story resonates with me much like Harry Potter resonates with the generations after mine (for the record, I love Harry Potter). And the Peter Pan story has come in many forms, from Disney to Hook to Peter and the Star Catcher to the sweet film Finding Neverland. So, when the stage version came to be, I was very excited to see it. Early reports were negative - plus a lot of grousing over the recasting of Jeremy Jordan to Matthew Morrison - but that didn't squash my enthusiasm. I have long since gotten past letting public sentiment determine how much I will like a show. And I saw the show during late previews, so I assume it was close to, if not already, set.

Well, I loved it. As much, if not more than the film. The creative staging by Diane Paulus and the fanciful Broadway meets modern/jazz choreography by Mia Michaels activated my imagination as any good spin on Peter Pan should. I remember vividly the theatricality "Circus In Your Mind" and the delightfully crazy dancing and sliding around the floor during "We Own the Night." Nothing prepared me for the visually stunning/emotionally devastating final scene. I gasped and sobbed. I was not alone.

So how is the cast recording? I love it as much as I do the show itself. The score, by Gary Barlow and Eliot Kennedy, is delightful from start to finish. I particularly enjoy the homage to the Broadway musical version of Peter Pan in the tarantella-esque style of the songs for Frohman/Captain Hook (Kelsey Grammer, in fine, bellowing voice), and the playful tones for the songs for the children. The ballads of both hope and despair for Sylvia (sung beautifully by Laura Michelle Kelly) are designed perfectly for full emotional impact, even by just listening to them. And the songs for J.M. Barrie run the gamut from emotional ballads to jaunty tunes of fancy mirroring the character's evolution. Matthew Morrison is ideally suited to the score - he has the pipes for such range. That said, I wish I had had the opportunity to hear what Jeremy Jordan sounded like. (Here, as in the theater, I wish Carolee Carmello had more to do.) My favorite numbers include "Believe," "We Own the Night," "Sylvia's Lullaby," "Circus of Your Mind," (great effects!), and "Stronger." Those are all in act one. I love pretty much every single track from act two.

The CD booklet is also first rate. Includes liner notes from Diane Paulus, Gary Barlow and Eliot Kennedy, and a full synopsis. There are full credits and lyrics, and more than a dozen full color production photos. I suggest giving this another listen. There is a lot to take in; the more you hear it, the richer the experience.

Grade: A+

Fun Facts about Finding Neverland...

• The original production played 33 previews and 565 performances, opening April 15, 2015 and closing on August 21, 2016 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.
• Actor Bryan Cranston was a principal producer of both the Broadway production and the National Tour.
• Kelsey Grammer fulfilled his six month contract in two parts: opening the show and staying for three and a half months, then returning for an additional two and a half months later in the run.
• One of Carolee Carmello's replacements, legendary star Sandy Duncan, was with the show for four days. Days.
• The show's original "Peter Pan" was played by So You Think You Can Dance champion Melanie Moore. Her replacement was Amy Yakima, another SYTYCD champion.
• On Broadway, Porthos was played by a real dog named Jack. Pre-Broadway, Porthos was played by a human named by Thayne Jasperson. You may remember him from Newsies and Hamilton...
• The score was the first (and to date the only) for Brits Gary Barlow and Eliot Kennedy. Barlow was one the lead singer of the pop group Take That, while Kennedy has written songs with/for such pop stars as Bryan Adams and The Spice Girls.
• Finding Neverland received 0 Tony Award nominations.

📸: C. Rosegg
#2189

Glee: Best Revival of a Musical?

THE FOLLOWING BLOG CONTAINS PLOT SPOILERS ABOUT THE OCTOBER 26TH EPISODE OF GLEE.

What an interesting two weeks for Glee, the nation's hottest TV show.  In the two weeks since an original episode aired, the show has been all over the news. 

In typical fashion, the media can't let a good thing go on without stirring up ugly.  Not that the Glee kids didn't have a part in it.  I'm talking, of course, about the racy and controversial photo shoot for GQ which had the three principal stars (Cory Monteith, Lea Michele and Diana Agron) in "hyped-up" - read sexualized - versions of their characters.  Parents cried, "Foul!"  How would they ever explain this to their 9 year old daughters who are rabid gleeks?  Easy.  It is an adult magazine that your 9 year old has no business even knowing about, let alone seeing.  And never mind that all of the cast is actually adult, a fact that the show even plays up occasionally.  Sure, the pictures are a risque, and maybe keeping an image of wholesomeness would have been wiser.  But, really folks.  If you want your kids to be completely sanitized, stick to the Disney Channel.  Oh, wait... Britney, Christina, Justin and now little Miley all started there.  And look what became of them.

How interesting that this real life issue of Glee pushing boundaries comes just before an episode where the boundaries of art in education are pushed and questioned.  Yes, this is the week where the kids do The Rocky Horror (Glee) Show.  And boy, was it a winner!  Let me preface what follows with the this:  I appreciate Rocky Horror and I enjoyed the Broadway revival, once, but I am not a huge fan, nor fan enough to understand some of the references I am sure the show made.  That said...

Managing to legitimately work in 7 songs from the stage show/film, many in context of the actual script, the show really managed to give us the fullest flavor allowable by 8PM TV on broadcast television.  Purists, I'm sure will take issue with lyrics changes, but they are perhaps the most realistic part of the episode.  After all, schools are frequently censored in regards to the plays and musicals they produce.  Kurt (Chris Colfer) even mentions the Texas production of RENT that got shut down.  I won't go on a self-righteous diatribe about how I feel about that, but I am glad that the show recognizes the realities of putting on any show, let alone Rocky Horror.

Each number, even out of context of the show, was wonderfully staged, endlessly clever with camera angles and just edgy enough to keep everyone interested.  I knew it was going to be cool with the opening number done just like the film - red lips and nothing else - and a cast list of credits that featured only the character names!  Of course, "The Time Warp" stands out as the most well known song, and they pretty much gave the audience what it expected.  But there were 3 excellent surprises that really made the episode extra fun for this viewer.  First, John Stamos' number was absolutely thrilling.  Man, can he sing and dance!  Why the hell didn't this guy show up in Bye Bye Birdie?  Second was Amber Riley's amazing "Sweet Transvestite".  How great that they worked in some non-traditional casting and recognition that she rarely gets to be a "lead."  And most/best of all...Jayma Mays finally gets to really sing!  And be HOT!  Her "Toucha Toucha Touch Me!" was sublimely funny, sexy and right on given the context of the scene.  GIVE HER MORE TO DO!

Also nice, though, was that the show gave equal time to issues that would definitely come up and need to be addressed.  The constant barrage in the media of the female form and body image is well known, documented and addressed, even as it continues.  But finally someone has taken the other side of the coin and recognized that body image is a serious issue for guys, too.  The show played it mostly for laughs (and more sightings of Chord Overstreet's fabulous body) but the truth is even the most confident male has issues with how he is perceived.  Being cool and not being perceived as gay are addressed frequently in the show, but it was nice to see the two guys watching out for each other, helping each other, and most importantly confiding in each other that they worry about how they look.  I bet a kid made to wear the "traditional" Rocky costume, no matter how terrific he is in shape, would be embarrassed.  And any kid (in this case Monteith's character) who feels he is "big" would agonize over doing a scene in his underwear.

Then there is the parental issue, succinctly but pointedly addressed by Harry Crum's character, whose parents had an issue with him wearing a bustier and playing a transvestite.  And the utter lack of support from a school administrator, leaving the teacher and the kids out to dry should any trouble come up was shamefully true.  In another surprise, for once, even though her intentions were characteristically self-centered, Sue Sylvester's (the always wonderful Jane Lynch) indignant speech of the week was spot on and well-stated, whether you agree with her point or not (I can agree and disagree with what she said, depending upon the given situation about arts in public schools).  Of course, in typical (in the best possible way) Glee fashion, the real points being made turn everything on its ear.

Will (Matthew Morrison) did the show for all the wrong reasons, and he got called on it.  The result?  A private for glee club members only performance, and an important character growth scene for he and Emma, one that will likely bear fruit in the long run.  And Sue said exactly the right thing for all the wrong reasons.  The result?  She got another one over on the glee club, but also lost her personal goal, a local Emmy.  Such is the life on Glee.

Let's hope next year they tackle another musical.  But for now, this might just be the Best Revival of a Musical in 2010.

(Photos from FoxTV.com and TVGuide online, and all are copyrighted by 20th Century Fox Television and Ryan Murphy Productions.)

Comments?  Leave one here, email me at jkstheatrescene@yahoo.com or Tweet me!
Jeff
2.57

As the Stage Turns

OK, so I know I said I was done with Broadway actors on TV. But then came the announcement earlier this week that a soap actress that I really like, from the only soap I follow religiously - As the World Turns - is going to be a replacement in Hair! And that got me to thinking about just how many folks from that soap have or are treading the boards in the Great White Way.

First, the girl that started this blog: Vanessa Ray (above). On the soap, she plays Teri, a relatively new character, who is the sister of Janet, who is married to Jack, played by another Broadway actor, Michael Park (below), who starred in Smokey Joe's Cafe. Miss Ray will be in Hair through January 2010.

Eric William Morris, who plays Oakdale bad boy Matt O'Connor, recently took over the role of Sky in Mamma Mia!

Then there is Scott Holmes (above) who plays lawyer Tom Hughes on the soap. He starred in one of my pet flops, The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public, and sings one of my favorite duets, "It's Been A While." And he was in the original cast of The Rink!

Resident hottie (and gay role model character, Luke Snyder) Van Hansis (above) hasn't starred on Broadway yet, but has done some off-Broadway work, and is a staple at all of the BC/EFA events. For that, he gets a mention!

And, of course, I'd be remiss not to mention that current Glee star, Matthew Morrison, who once played good/bad guy Adam Munson. Morrison starred in a couple of little shows called Hairspray, The Light in the Piazza, and South Pacific.

Vanessa and Eric, break a leg! Matthew, Scott and Michael get back on stage soon!

Jeff

Glee Club

Well, it is Wednesday night and there is finally something decent to watch - Glee on FOX. It is a natural, of course, that someone into theatre would be drawn to what is basically a weekly musical. And I admit I LOVE the dancing and cool vocal arrangements, and the fact that - so far - I haven't had an unintended cringe at what they are doing. I mean I think that as an audience we were supposed to cringe at the ballsy/awkward/dirty/in-over-their-heads routine to "Push It" last week. And cringe I did.

To be completely honest, I thought that I'd be cringing more, but sticking with it to support some of my favorite Broadway actors. I thought we'd see much more of that weird choral group thing - show choir - that gets put up on YouTube to be laughed at rather than admired. But so far so good.

I think Lea Michele is doing a fantastic job of being annoying and pushy and Prima Donna-ish without annoying me, and her voice is great; her "Take a Bow" last week was better than the Rhianna version if you ask me. And natch, I enjoy the so far under used Jenna Ushkowitz (a Spring Awakening replacement/co-star). Who doesn't love the belty sassy Jennifer Hudson to be Amber Riley, either? And the kid in the wheelchair is also very good.

Full disclosure: in my book, Matthew Morrison can do no wrong. I find him charming, charismatic and sweet. Just fey enough to buy that he wouldn't work as a soccer coach, but manly enough to buy that he is a doting husband that still makes the girls swoon. And it goes without saying that uber-bitch cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester, aka Jane Lynch is supreme!

I wish that the jock (well acted and sung by Cory Monteith) and prissy queen (but well acted by Chris Colfer) weren't SO stereotypical, but judging by the mostly terrific writing so far, I bet we drift farther from these types and flesh out some interesting characters.

Still, the story with Morrison and his wife (Jessalyn Gilsig) has to go. It drags down the rest of the show, and it is an ugly storyline that feels extremely out of place with the rest of it. (I won't spoil it for those who might not have seen the show yet.) But definitely keep the story between Morrison and Jayma Mays , who plays the woeful and subtly funny (great counterpoint to Lynch) guidance counselor with a crush on the glee coach.

I am really looking forward to the cavalcade of Broadway talent coming to Glee as well - Victor Garber (Sweeney Todd), Debra Monk (Curtains), John Lloyd Young (Jersey Boys), Stephen Toboloski (Morning's at Seven)and Josh Groban (Chess) are on tonight and there are more to come!

Well, as I write this, episode three is getting ready to start. Let me know what you think about Glee!

Jeff