Review: Theater Schmeater's THE CROSSING : Great Singing, Wrong Focus

Rose-of-the-air Amelia Earhart is a very elusive historical figure. I'm even named after her, and I don't know that much about her. So when I heard that Theater Schmeater was not only putting on their very first musical, but it was a musical about Amelia Earhart, I was very excited to learn more about the person behind the legend. As it turns out, "The Crossing" is not a musical about Amelia Earhart, like it advertises, but rather a musical about Ray Spencer, the weatherman that may have killed Amelia Earhart. In a musical where nobody can stop talking about the woman crazy enough to fly across the Atlantic Ocean (and by herself, to boot!), that very woman is bafflingly under-represented. The Schmee's first musical had outstanding vocal performances by the cast, but it is inaccurate to even pretend that this musical is about Amelia Earhart.

"The Crossing" focuses on Ray Spencer (Brian Lange), a troubled meteorologist struggling to cope with the death of his daughter as well as his own incompetence. Earhart's billionaire husband George Putnam seeks out Spencer to be Earhart's expert meteorologist and guide her safely across the Atlantic Ocean. Spencer struggles to accept the job with a clear conscience because he has made fatal errors with weather predicting in the past. We watch as he continues to flip-flop between wanting to take the risk and help, or to turn them away. Meanwhile, reporter Danny Riggins (Olivia Lee) tries her best to get a decent story about Earhart, but her bulldoggish editor (Michael Ramquist) is indecisive and Riggins is stonewalled at every turn.

After an opening ensemble number, Earhart (Tori Spero) does not make a stage appearance for 40 minutes. When Earhart is on stage, it's to sing a lighthearted song about hopes and dreams, and then she disappears again while everyone else talks about her. I would guess that Earhart was on stage for maybe ten collective minutes in the entire production. And even in the moments where she gets to tell her side of the story, it's a one-dimensional Disney princess version that feels like nothing but hope and kindness.

I want to give "The Crossing" credit where credit is due, but there were several glaring issues. First of all, the stakes of this production really have nothing to do with whether or not Earhart dies, but whether or not Spencer's reputation is tarnished. Really, this show does not give Earhart any credit. Second of all, Earhart's story needs to be unpacked and told from her perspective in a way that does her justice. It's not as though Earhart's story has been told a million different times. She's still elusive, and Ray Spencer's story isn't that interesting. This brings me to my third point, which is that the person that "The Crossing" decided to focus on instead of Earhart is, unfortunately, not that interesting. Literally, all this character talks about is the weather; plus 'man-haunted-by-his-past' is a tired archetype. And although throwing in a feather-clad, Aztec bird demon (played by Kendra Pierce) gave his peril a little zest, this brightly colored manifestation was completely out of place in the 1930's Manhattan landscape.

Putting on a musical is a lot of work, and the vocal work put in is obvious. The cast's singing voices were all so beautiful and robust, doing a great job with a pretty redundant score. Maren Comendant's voice in particular elevated the production, singing songs of woe as Ray Spencer's wife, Mary.

In general, the actors did a good job working with the material. The real stars of the show were Olivia Lee and Michael Ramquist in their hilarious portrayal of reporter and editor. The back and forth between these two with their Gatsby-era, "ring-a-ding-ding"-y accents was an absolute joy to watch. Tori Spero as Earhart was spunky and cute. Brian Lange's Ray Spencer was believably torn up throughout the play. I also loved the costumes-costume designer Kelsey Murphy-Duford did an excellent job capturing the 1930's aesthetic.

Listen, it's not like my expectations about the musical are unfair. In the playbill, the show is advertised as being "A musical about Amelia Earhart." I give Theater Schmeater's "The Crossing" 2/5 stars. Despite the show's outstanding vocal performances and really fun comedic moments, giving the spotlight to Ray Spencer was the wrong choice.

"The Crossing" performs at Theater Schmeater through August 13, 2016. For tickets and information, visit them online at www.schmeater.org.

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