Big Musical On The PrairieLong before
Garrison Keillor's acclaimed "
Prairie Home Com-panion" radio program, the flat farmlands of
Minnesota were renowned for another prairie home:
Laura Ingalls Wilder's "
Little House On The Prairie" books.
Earlier this morning at Minneapolis'
Guthrie, I was among those catching a sneak peek at the theatre's upcoming musical adaptation of Ingalls Wilder's beloved tomes.
Directed by
Francesca Zambello (at podium),
Little House On The Prairie - The Musical will begin its world premiere journey via previews on July 26, prior to its official opening on August 15. Rehearsals start in June.
Now, before you even attempt a groan, let me just say that whatever you or the
critics (or
even I) have said about Zambello's
current Broadway work, she deserves enormous credit for assembling a first-rate team of three other accomplished women: noted opera librettist
Donna Dinovelli (far left), Academy Award-winning composer
Rachel Portman (middle) and Tony-winning writer
Rachel Sheinkin (right) of
25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee fame. Expect Sheinkin to inject this
Little House with plenty of humor, most likely through the comic foil identified by Zambello:
Nellie Oleson.
While even Zambello notes that it is "a rare thing for a musical" to truly enjoy the artistic vision of so many female collaborators, it certainly seems like a natural to me that this fundamentally feminine story centered on Minnesotan "
Manifest Destiny" shouldn't come alive any other way. Expect this to be focused more on Ingalls Wilder's series of
nine books rather than on the ten year run of the NBC
television series.
During the half hour preview, three songs from the musical were performed, including "I'll Be Your Eyes," "I'm Old Enough," and "Dance in the Wind." While it's rather difficult to judge any of the tunes without the appropriate context, the third certainly soared the highest as a lovely duet between the actors portraying Laura and her fiancé Almanzo.
Single tickets for
Little House On The Prairie - The Musical go
on sale Friday, June 27 and will be priced from $29 to $75. And imagine this, the musical will be performing straight through the
Republican National Convention being held in St. Paul. Guess for the GOP, it can't get any more wholesome that this.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: First Word On New Show, Francesca Zambello, Little House On The Prairie, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Musical, Television
Little Mermaid Finally Lands Opening NightNearly one month after it was originally scheduled to open on Broadway (those plans were jettisoned due to the Broadway stagehands strike),
Disney's stage adaptation of
The Little Mermaid finally opens this evening at the
Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.
Under
Francesca Zambello's direction, the tuner features a book by
Doug Wright, along with a score by
Alan Menken,
Howard Ashman and
Glenn Slater.
Sierra Boggess lands her first major Broadway lead as Ariel, while
Norm Lewis portrays her father King Triton.
Sherie René Scott takes on the role of King Triton's sister Ursula, and
Tituss Burgess plays Sebastian.
I caught the show last September during its out-of-town Denver tryout. While
I gave good marks to the cast, whom I believe did their best with the material they were given, I found that it lacked the requisite Disney magic.
Is it possible that all that has been turned around during its unusually lengthy period of 50 previews? Find out tomorrow as I provide my critics' capsule.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.
Related Stories:All Of Great White Way Gleams Tonight (November 29, 2007)
Little Mermaid Opening Delayed (November 20, 2007)
Riding In On A White...Mouse? (November 16, 2007)
The Little Mermaid (The SOB Review) (September 15, 2007)
Is Little Mermaid Major Disney Misstep?(August 31, 2007)
Updated: One Rocky Review For The Little Mermaid; One Favorable Post (August 24, 2007)
A Tale Of Two Tryout Cities (August 23, 2007)
Little Mermaid Begins Tonight (July 26, 2007)
Little Mermaid: No Treading Water Before The Boards (July 21, 2007)
Mermaid Casting Anything But Little (March 20, 2007)
Beauty Out On Broadway (January 17, 2007)
Disney Moves from Continent to Continent (May 22, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Denver, Disney, Film, Francesca Zambello, Musical, Opening Night, Sherie Rene Scott, The Little Mermaid, The SOB Review
The Little Mermaid (The SOB Review) - Ellie Caulkins Opera House, The Denver Center for Performing Arts, Denver, CO**1/2 (out of ****)When its entire considerable empire and reputation is built on
magic (heck, even
one of its cruise ships has been so christened), it's expected that everything bearing Disney's name will have a deft magic touch. But in
The Little Mermaid, Disney has allowed its good name to go adrift.
When
George Tsypin's set designs of everything from an underwater kingdom to ships sailing above to an earthly palace all resemble garishly cheap plastic pieces from a
My Little Pony revue, or when
Tatiana Noginova's costume designs look like
Julie Taymor rejects, or when
Alan Menken and
Glenn Slater's derivative tunes sound more like a bizarre hybrid of
Cabaret and
The Lion King,
The Little Mermaid swims into decidedly unenchanted waters.
Much has been made of director
Francesca Zambello's misguided decision to forego much of magic and for good reason. Instead of using either water or wires, she clearly chose to rely on the score, book and performances to capture the audiences' attention. But this
is Disney, isn't it?!
Here it must be noted that while the score was surprisingly lame (case in point: "Positoovity" comes off sounding more like a rip-off of "Hakuna Matata") with most of the high points coming directly from the original film score by Menken and
Howard Ashman,
Doug Wright's book at least propels the story into greater depths. He explores Ariel's choices and empowers her via a brave emancipation from her overprotective father. Yet there's not enough of the trademark Disney dual-edged wink and nod humor to keep it interesting for the adults. And I'm still baffled by how some of the sea creatures could be next of kin.
More importantly, the cast headed by a sweet
Sierra Boggess as Ariel the mermaid and a formidably fun
Sherie René Scott as the wicked Ursula is what provides the production its true iridescence. Thankfully, there's plenty of heart here.
Other standouts include a charming
Sean Palmer as Prince Eric, a chiseled
Norm Lewis as Ariel's father King Triton and audience favorite
Titus Burgess as Sebastian the crab. There's also a breakout star in the making as the young
J.J. Singleton steals key moments of the show as Flounder. But as Flotsam, Disney and
Altar Boyz fave
Tyler Maynard can't seem to shake the stereotypically fey roles he's perfected.
As much as most of those performances enhanced the show, along with
Stephen Mear's zippy choreography (courtesy of
Heelys),
The Little Mermaid is unfortunately bereft of one major essential element: Disney magic. When
Aida proves more interesting in the enchantment department, Zambello appears to be in over her head.
And while my Denver audience cheered enthusiastically once the would-be spectacle was over -- no doubt largely due to the top drawer cast, I can't help but believe New York audiences will leave disappointed unless Zambello seriously rethinks how to deliver the goods most Disney fans expect and demand. I know I did.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Is Little Mermaid Major Disney Misstep?(August 31, 2007)
Updated: One Rocky Review For The Little Mermaid; One Favorable Post (August 24, 2007)
A Tale Of Two Tryout Cities (August 23, 2007)
Little Mermaid Begins Tonight (July 26, 2007)
Little Mermaid: No Treading Water Before The Boards (July 21, 2007)
Mermaid Casting Anything But Little (March 20, 2007)
Beauty Out On Broadway (January 17, 2007)
Disney Moves from Continent to Continent (May 22, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Denver, Disney, Film, Francesca Zambello, Musical, Sherie Rene Scott, The Little Mermaid, The SOB Review
