Review Roundup: LEAP OF FAITH

"Leap of Faith" opened at the Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre at the Los Angeles Music Center on October 3. Four-time Tony Award-nominee Raúl Esparza and Golden Globe Award-nominee Brooke Shieldsstar in the world premiere of "Leap of Faith," which pairs Reverend Jonas Nightingale (Esparza), the consummate flim-flam man, and Marva (Shields), the beautiful small-town woman and single mother who challenges everything Jonas believes in.

Based on the Steve Martin movie and featuring a score by eight-time Academy Award-winner Alan Menken, book by Janus Cercone with Glenn Slater, and lyrics by Glenn Slater, "Leap of Faith" is directed and choreographed by Tony Award-winner Rob Ashford.

Jason Kehe, NeonTommy.com: Up until that point, "Leap of Faith" fails to make any impression. The plot, like the dancing, shlumps forward in feet-dragging fashion. The characters - single mom, sleazy con-man with a conscience, feisty kid sister, big black woman - might as well be cardboard cutouts. The dialogue exhausts every cliché in the book. The songs don't catch.
http://www.neontommy.com/news/2010/10/review-leap-faith-ahmanson 
 

Charles McNulty, LA Times: Too bad the score, conducted by Brent-Alan Huffman and under the musical supervision of Michael Kosarin, consists of so much imitative doodling. Second-hand gospel and generic musical theater rock occasionally give way to a copycat "Guys and Dolls" number or some other familiar retread. Menken is an esteemed veteran of stage and screen, but too often he settles here for mere competence.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2010/10/theater-review-leap-of-faith-at-the-ahmanson.html

Paul Hodgins, OC Register: From beginning to end, we've seen this story before. Despite their heroic efforts, Menken and the rest of his creative team (Janus Cercone wrote the book with Glenn Slater, who penned the lyrics to Menken's songs) never shake the feeling of familiarity and predictability that plagues every scene.
http://www.ocregister.com/entertainment/jonas-269461-menken-marva.html

 

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