I saw Baby, it's You! starring Beth Leavel last month, and I figured I should probably post a review of the show before the show closed! Beth Leavel is really the only reason to see this show, unless you really have a hankering for doo-wop and girl-group music along with some early R&B. This show really seems to be counting on the nostalgia factor to bring people in. At the performance I attended, the baby boomers seemed to be eating it up, but it struck me as a very good regional show which was not yet ready for Broadway, as the libretto was quite clunky and slap-dash, not giving much in the way of character development. Many, many songs are crammed into the show for reasons that are not always made apparent.
Beth Leavel stars as Florence Greenberg, the neophyte music producer from Passaic, New Jersey who turns four of her daughter's high school classmates into the girl group The Shirelles. The girls attain a modicum of fame in the 1950's and 60's until they are superseded by other groups, such as the Supremes, and later on, their style of music goes out of fashion entirely, as artists like Dionne Warwick become popular. Ms. Leavel gives the best performance in the show, and elevates the foolish material she is given. Her character's journey is the backbone of the play, rising from being a Jewish housewife to achieving her potential as a powerful and innovative music business mogul who brought her original thoughts and left a lasting impression.
Allan Louis has the second largest role, as Luther Dixon, Florence's songwriter, co-producer/business partner, and African-American love interest. He brings a quiet dignity in the role, which is also underwritten and a bit reliant on cliche. I look forward to seeing him in future productions, as he is a great actor with easy charm and a good singing voice. Geno Henderson plays several small roles of a radio DJ and contemporary entertainers such as Ronald Isley and Gene Chandler. His singing and dancing works works well to conjure up the vintage styles of the period. He is also saddled with some expositionary dialogue to induce nostalgia in baby boomers, but that's not his fault. And some of the dialogue is interesting.
The four Shirelles are estimably played by Erica Ash, Kyra Da Costa, Christina Sajous, and Crystal Starr, who warble a catalog of hits and change costumes an throughout the evening. As the lead singer of the Shirelles, Ms. Sajous makes the strongest impression. After her appearances in Rent and American Idiot, it's a surprise to find her a show taking place a half-century earlier. Kyra Da Costa is the best dancer of the foursome, and also has the most Broadway credits, dating back to the original cast of Aida. Considering that these characters start the play as teenagers, the casting seems a bit off, as the foursome don't all appear young enough to play that age, and they don't fully appear to be contemporaries of each other either, so the casting could be tightened in that respect. Most of them has a moment in the spotlight, with varying degrees of success. Erica Ash is particularly striking and bears a resemblance to Heather Headley.
Other standouts in the cast include Barry Pearl in a dual role as Florence's disapproving, chauvinistic husband and a competing record producer, making the most of his limited stage time. Many of the cast members play multiple roles actually: Brandon Uranowitz plays Florence's son and her business manager, and Kelli Barrett is underutilized as Florence's daughter and Lesley Gore.
The show could be improved by tightening the character relationships and giving them more dimensions, but at the moment it's the epitome of a jukebox musical that seems more suited to Las Vegas than Broadway. The cast shows promise, but most of them have few Broadway or national tours and as a result are ill-equipped to overcome a lack of direction and a weak book. If you are looking for a nostalgia kick, then check it out in the two weeks left, but otherwise you are not missing much.
No comments:
Post a Comment