BWW Reviews: Bucks County Playhouse Presents an Aspiring New Musical: NATIONAL PASTIME

Bucks County Playhouse opens their 2015 season with a new musical about baseball, NATIONAL PASTIME. This musical is a show that takes audiences back to the 1930s. It is a musical about baseball, but it also a show about the 1930s culture and radio in small town America. Under the direction of Hunter Foster, NATIONAL PASTIME is a lighthearted production that takes the audience back to 1933 and pays homage to days gone by.

The plot for NATIONAL PASTIME sounds right out of the 1930s. It is 1933 in Baker City, Iowa and hometown radio station WZBQ is succumbing to the depression along with most of main street. A scheme is hatched and a fictional baseball team is created to save the local radio station and by extension the entire town. This show is complete with commercials that are presented by singing and dancing onstage; the feel is very similar to past productions at Bucks County Playhouse like IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A RADIO PLAY. With a book by Tony Sportiello and music and lyrics by Albert M. Tapper, this show hopes to be a throwback to the musicals of the 30s. However, the plot for this show is tenuous at best, and it really needs some tightening in order to be a successful musical. Some of the major problems of the show are with the historical context of the show. This show seems to be written by people who love baseball, although there are pieces of the show that feel out of place for the time period and the show would benefit from further background research into the historical context for this to be a full blown success. The musical wants to be a "throwback" to the musicals of the period, but using terminology from the Whig Party's Presidential Campaign from 1840, and a joke about Nazis does not quite fit into the American lexicon for this time period. There are also areas of the show that felt a bit off putting. In the aptly named number "Queasy" a number of cultural and ethnic stereotypes are literally paraded upon the stage to represent a "small town American" impression of foreigners. Where the intent of this may have been to poke fun at an American concept of the foreigner, a number of the gags in the scene are presented in such a way as to leave one a bit queasy for the experience. In addition, this show missed the mark on comedy, and although there were some moments that added humor, overall, the comedy aspect of this production engendered more of a chuckle than a guffaw.

Despite my issue with the actual show, the production at Bucks County Playhouse is full of wonderful performances. Playing the two leads are Spencer Plachy and Janine DiVita. Plachy plays Barry the radio station owner and he gives this role heart and a sense of sentimentality. DiVita plays the no-nonsense "big city" Chicago lawyer, Karen, who is intent on selling the radio station after the death of her father. DiVita brings an underlying sensitivity and human touch to the role that helps to make this character a bit more three-dimensional especially as she appears to grow emotionally throughout the show. The tale of these characters is rather predictable, but these two actors are strong and have a nice chemistry on stage that help to keep the audience interested in their storyline. In addition, their vocals were strong in "Suddenly, Somehow." Stephanie Gibson portrays Betty Lou, the secretary of the radio station who dreams of being a Hollywood actress. Although I liked Gibson's antics in most of the show, by the end of the show she became too over the top and her character became more of a caricature than the representation of a real person. Will Blum plays Marty, who is a radio announcer for the baseball games, but who has no clue about baseball. I enjoyed his performance, he really encompassed the idea of a local small town radio personality and was facially expressive throughout the show, which added to the humor of his role. Kelli MaGuire lovingly plays Mary, a staff member at the radio station. MaGuire brings to light this character's bright and good natured personality. Lastly, there is a strong company number "Cougar Fight Song," this number is full of energy, and it draws the audience into the sports fueled excitement of the fictionalized town of Baker City, Iowa.

NATIONAL PASTIME runs at the Bucks County Playhouse through April 19, 2015. For more information and tickets visit their website at www.bcptheater.org or call the box office at (215) 862-2121.

Photos courtesy of Bucks County Playhouse

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