In honor of the start of the new Broadway season (I'm not counting "Burn the Floor" because it's really better that way), I'm back from my unintentional hiatus (aka long bout of laziness). Yay?
Last month I waited more hours then I care to admit for $10 tickets to the first preview of the Roundabout's new production of "Bye Bye Birdie." Not because I like the show, but because I really wanted a free lunchbox. And to see the first public performance at the new Henry Miller's Theatre. As it turned out, I ended up just missing the cut off for the lunchboxes, but I instead got a reproduction of the original "Birdie" Playbill, which was signed by the Charles Strouse and Lee Adams, and which is so much cooler than a lunchbox. And considering the size and clutter level of my apartment, much more space efficient as well. Anyway, today was the day for the first preview, and so off I went.
The theatre itself is about on par with the other newly built Broadway theatres - the Minskoff, Marquis and Gershwin: comfortable seats, good sightlines, and utterly lacking in personality. So it's appropriate I guess that this production of "Bye Bye Birdie" should re-open in this new space: a classic show mounted in a modern, slick, and extremely bland new production. Pretty much everything wrong with the production could be summed up in the first two scenes. First we have Gina Gershon sing "An English Teacher." And she's off-key (a problem she continues having at random times throughout the show, as do other members of the cast). Her onstage companion is the bland John Stamos who try as he might, was really unable to convincingly make Albert the shy pushover he needs to be in the early scenes (this proves a problem in the dreary second act, when he finally stands up for himself, and the audience is not shocked at all). Then we move on to "The Telephone Hour" which was ruined... or rather, restaged by director/choreographer Robert Longbottom, I guess becuase he wanted to remove himself from the original as much as possible? It just seems like certain scenes are iconic, and if you can't improve on them - and here they most certainly do not - well, why not just go with the ol' if it ain't broke don't fix it adage.
The show continues in the dull path set by the first two scenes. Allie Trimm's Kim is so forgettable I can't remember anything that she did to complain about. Memorably bad however, is Nolan Gerard Funk (Birdie), who quite frankly can't sing, can't dance, can't act, and has absolutely no sex appeal. Pathetic.
The supporting cast is at least decent. Highlights were Matt Doyle's charming Hugo, and Jayne Houdyshell as Albert's mother. Houdyshell seemed to be holding back, but I think if she could really camp up her part and start doing some serious scenery chewing (though it's a lot of metal and projections, so maybe it would hurt her teeth), I think she could steal the show. Right now she's a little blah. But I think she at least shows room for improvement.
I'll cap my criticism there, because this was a first preview, and I am going back later in the run to see how the performances improve. More than other first nights I've been to, this very much felt like an unfinished product up on stage. Whether it can be pulled together in time for opening remains to be seen, but I have to say I'm a bit skeptical just because so much of it seems miscast, and unimaginatively directed/choreographed. And really, is it possible to make that second act entertaining? It takes soooo long for nothing to happen. Uch.
Oh one last thought, a spoiler I guess - the show did make me shed a few tears: when Stamos and Gershon sing "Rosie" at the end (a song with many references to roses), the panels at the back of the stage slowly started moving away and I said to myself 'if they project roses onto the screen on the back wall I'm going to cry.' They did. I did. Is it so much to ask the designers to show some self control?
