Passing Strange

Fascinating, frustrating, exciting, problematic, Passing Strange is the kind of flawed but wildy exhilarating show that leaves you jazzed about theatre and its possibilities. It’s uncategorizable, and - for anyone who is serious about the art form of musical theatre - unmissable. Oft-narrated in song by its composer and co-author Stew, this autobiographical portrait of the artist as a middle-class young black man moves beyond the anachronism of Spring Awakening and more boldly melds concert and narrative musical theatre. The show is too long, and it nosedives in the second act, but when it flies it’s a blazing arrow that lights up a new way that musicals might go. The score is flat-out phenomenal: credible and varied with lyrics that put this year’s Tony-nominated ones to shame.

Gaslight

photo: Carol Rosegg

Even if you don't know the story and you've never seen the Charles Boyer-Ingrid Bergman movie, Irish Rep's production of Gaslight is low on suspense and mystery, mainly because it doesn't exploit the room in the play to keep us guessing. From the very first scene, everything is telegraphed and painfully obvious: when the villain needlessly starts off figuratively twirling a moustache, our journey's been narrowed. In a good production, the play's final scene - in which our heroine scrambles for a razor - should have us on the edge of our seats wondering what she's going to do with it. In this production, there's no doubt at all.

Sherie Rene Scott: A Work In Progress

Just about everything in the first fifteen minutes of Sherie Rene Scott's solo performance piece, up to and including a revised "You Made Me Love You" sung to a framed eight by ten of Jesus, falls flat and needs to be rethought. And the show's treacly finish, in which Scott tries to enlarge a cute story about her two year old into a meaningful metaphor for her life philosophy, doesn't feel earned by what's come before. But most of what stands between those bookends is pretty wonderful: her tribute to the songstack of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood is played with a wink, but Scott also manages to mine the earnest simplicity of those songs for something unexpectedly lovely and poignant. A section in which she performs magic tricks, while recalling the New York street magician who was her first meaningful love affair, is well written and smartly performed; the simple, theatrical trick of making a bit of fabric disappear takes on emotionally loaded meaning. The show's biggest crowd-pleaser is an extended sketch in which Scott reaches out to a fan (played by Tyler Maynard) who lip-syncs to her version of "My Strongest Suit" on youtube: that's funny stuff, as fan and performer engage via emails. Scott is charming onstage throughout, and when she sings (accompanied here by a tight band led by Tom Kitt) she makes me bliss out on her full, smooth sound and her seemingly effortless ability. Most of A Work In Progress is delightful enough as it is for those of us who are fans - funny, revealing and full of Scott's warmth and humor - but with a little more work and a stronger throughline it could evolve into something wonderful for everyone.

Crazy Mary/10 Million Miles

Playwrights Horizons/Atlantic

These two productions, so early in previews that I cannot find publicity stills, are definitely worth recommending but are not ready for one of ShowShowdown's good ole' opinionated, brilliantly worded, guerrilla reviews. So in lieu I will say one good thing about both productions: Matthew Morrison is stunningly charming in 10 Million Miles, the new country/folk musical at the Atlantic and Kristine Nielsen is stunningly charming as the title character in A.R Gurney's Crazy Mary at Playwrights Horizons.

The Secret War

Singing, dancing, and Satan. An epic 75-minute-long adventure, produced in the cavernous Milagro Theater. Evil Imams, devout but demon-possessed Muslims, and the unstoppable evil of Ahriman. And the one thing that can save the day? A mystical DJ. Darius Safavi's The Secret War ("Episode 1: The Desecrated Ziggurat") is absurd but enjoyable, sloppy but creative. Don't expect to have any idea what's going on, but in the third chapter, "Gemini," the action switches to a modern-day land that rules with an admixture of technology and magic and lets loose language like "Let air-conditioned stars swallow the souls of prophets!" Sure, I'm game for that.

[Read on]

Stairway To Paradise

photo: Joan Marcus

The final Encores! this season, a song-heavy revue newly culled from revue shows, never gathers any momentum: it's hit and miss from start to finish. Some of what hits is thrilling - Kendrick Jones' two tap numbers, one done solo and the other done in syncopation with a chorus of army boys, are dazzling and exciting. Too much of the rest is bland and mild - only one of the evening's two non-musical comedy bits scores and even it, a fluffy goof involving a dimwitted starlet making a movie with a gorilla, lacks a good, capping punchline. Kristin Chenoweth was an obvious choice for this show - she's one of the few current Broadway performers with a personality strong enough for revue material - but she's the only one-of-a-kind up there. The show is packed with talent, but that's not the same thing as personality.