Brooklyn: A Positive Review

Okay, here's the thing...

Every critic walking into the Plymouth Theatre for Friday night's second performance of Brooklyn, the Musical knew of the journalistic blood bath the show received when the first wave of reviews hit the web the night before. I'm quite certain everyone reading these words right now knows you'd get friendlier treatment if you stumbled into a West Village piano bar and yelled "Sondheim sucks!"

But wait, this is not going to be one of those "It's really not that bad" reviews. Cause really, it is. What you've got is a first effort by two collaborators who have never written anything for the stage before and someone thought "Hey, let's bring this to Broadway and see what Ben Brantley and John Simon think of it!"

There are good new musicals being written. Really, there are. My colleagues and I see readings and workshops of interesting projects all the time, written by people who have learned the craft of musical theatre. And although Mark Schoenfeld and Barri McPherson, who co-authored Brooklyn's book, music and lyrics, have certainly put a lot of heart into their show, the basic tenements of musical theatre writing just aren't there. No, every musical doesn't have to be My Fair Lady, but empathy must be justified, songs must be integrated and a certain variety of tone is always welcome.

My point is there's really no sense in me writing up another negative review of Brooklyn. The damage has been done. Instead, let me just list all the positives about this show for the benefit of those who are capable of enjoying a musical despite its writing.

First off, you have a very strong, likable and talented cast. Much has been made of the pop score of this musical that many have compared to what you hear on the TV show American Idol. (I think I saw ten minutes of that show once. I turned it off when a judge complained that a singer sounded "too Broadway".) It's the kind of singing I normally can't stand because the performers' vocal acrobatics tend to have nothing to do with the songs they're supposed to be interpreting. It's too much about them at the expense of the material. But although the score of Brooklyn is sung almost exclusively in this style, these five actors, under the direction of Jeff Calhoun, manage to riff in character. Sure, there's lots of high belting and tonal improvisation, but every lyric is clearly heard and nobody ever strays away from their character for the sake of hitting a money note. Many have complained that the sound comes at you at an ear-shattering level, but perhaps some adjustments have been made because on Friday night I found the sound levels (sound design by Jonathan Deans and Peter Hylenski) very comfortable.

Cleavant Derricks, a Tony winner for Dreamgirls making his first appearance on Broadway since starring in Bob Fosse's Big Deal in '86, seems absolutely delighted to be back on the boards. As Brooklyn's street-singing narrator, Derricks plays the leader of a theatre troupe so grass roots they call themselves city weeds. It's not clear if these actors live on the streets (their clothes and props seem way too clean for them to be homeless) but nevertheless they're performing their own little fairy tale of a musical, somewhere in D.U.M.B.O. it seems from the look of Ray Klausen's set, for the sake of collecting spare change from anyone who passes by. As our host and storyteller, Derricks assumes a gospel oratorio style to match his charismatic bluesy belt in a performance that's unabashedly joyous.

The story concerns a young French woman who was named Brooklyn after her father's home borough. Having never met the man (He went off to war shortly after she was conceived and through a series of circumstances her parents lost contact.) she ventures out to New York in search of her long-lost parent. But first her mom commits suicide and Brooklyn becomes a famous singer who makes her American debut at Carnegie Hall. Playing this central character is Eden Espinosa, giving a thoughtful, restrained performance in a role that could easily become annoying in lesser hands. She has a fine stage maturity about her and seems amazingly at ease when belting high emotional riffs. It would be nice to see some 21st Century Jule Styne write a score suitable for her talents.

But Brooklyn is blessed with two fine leading ladies. Ramona Keller, displaying sassy poise and gutsy vocal brass, plays the superstar singer named Paradice who finds herself being harassed by the press for committing the sin of becoming old. (Young cast members play older characters, but thankfully there's no effort to age their appearance or manner. Besides, if the role were cast more age appropriately it would emphasize how ageist the material was and probably swing audience sentiment significantly in favor of the character the authors keep telling us is supposed to be the villain.) Brooklyn, championed by the media for her youth, talent and unfortunate childhood (which bears little difference to Paradice's unfortunate childhood) receives a challenge from the old pro to partake in a sorta vocal one-on-one to be held in Madison Square Square Garden (I supposed BAM was already booked.) to see who really represents the people of Brooklyn. Along with her exceptional vocals, Keller also displays a crackling comic delivery, especially when her character is called on to deliver one-liners to the audience, which she does with a strong, confident presence.

Rounding out the cast in smaller roles are Kevin Anderson and Karen Olivo. Anderson, as Brooklyn's father, is given perhaps the most impossible musical theatre acting assignment since Debra Monk played a stroke victim who tried to communicate through Scrabble tiles in Thou Shalt Not. But when he's not shooting up or reliving Vietnam nightmares (The embarrassment of these scenes have nothing to do with his performance.), Anderson is fun to watch as a charming, hunky musical comedy homeless guy. Karen Olivo is a bundle of adorable energy that sparkles in her smaller bits. Both get their share of high pop belting, of course, and do it nicely.

The curtain-less production greets the audience with a realistic set depicting a crumbling warehouse in a filthy, graffiti-covered section of Brooklyn. But once the play within the play begins, set designer Ray Klausen and costume designer Tobin Ost come up with an amusing assortment of pieces made to look like garbage recycled by street performers; the type of clever stuff created from trash that you commonly see in New York's downtown and/or outdoor theatre productions, but here with a much larger budget. Through preview buzz, both Ms. Keller's gown made up of trash bags, duct tape and yellow police barricade ribbon and Ms. Espinosa's ensemble created from white plastic shopping bags have earned their fans, but only time will tell if Brooklyn will inspire the folks at Bloomingdale's to hunt through the city's trash bins for material.

So there you have it. I've just written every positive thing I can say about Brooklyn, the Musical. And if what you've just read seems worthy of your time and money, then go out and have a blast. I'll be at Joe Allen helping them clear a space on the wall.

For more information visit brooklynthemusical.com

 

For more from Michael Dale visit dry2olives.com

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