More like Mistakes, Mistakes. It’s always disappointing to walk out of a show knowing exactly what went wrong with good ingredients, much like I do when I screw up cooking. Optimal ingredients just don’t always go together. And sometimes the execution is off.
But, there is a bright spot. It’s a blond that was plucked from a rising Broadway career to play a divine supporting role in Bryan Fuller show with a devoted cult following.
But that blond is not the expected star, Kristin Chenoweth, but the scene stealing Katie Finneran. The show comes to jubilant life at the beginning of the second act when Finneran, as barfly Marge, delivers a truly stellar performance of a romantically inclined drunk. She gets in some great zingers, carries herself perfectly and sings on the nose. She’s hilarious, engaging, and steals the entire show. In fact, she got the biggest holler during her curtain call, despite being on stage for all of 15 minutes. Talk about prescient.
While I truly adore Kristin Chenoweth, she is terribly miscast in the revival of Promises, Promises. The musical is one of a host of 1960′s musical-izations of iconic movies, blending Billy Wilder’s Oscar-winning The Apartment, Burt Bacharach and Neil Simon into a confusing concoction that was delightful during its moment, but had zero business getting revived. Especially after a similar era show, Anyone Can Whistle, just sparkled despite a stinker of a book.
In fact, I couldn’t help but wonder how Sutton Foster would have faired in lieu of Chenoweth for Fran. Fran’s a downer – all despair, melancholy and sourness. While Chenoweth has proven herself to have some emotional range (see her Glee & Pushing Daisies delightfulness), she’s best suited to exploit her natural cherubic spriteliness. However, Fran has almost no joy as a character and Chenoweth is simply wasted. That, and the key her songs are in just do not match her voice.
The revival added in two of Bacharach’s iconic songs: Say a Little Prayer and A House is Not a Home, both for Chenoweth. However, Say a Little Prayer is one of the laziest executed numbers I’ve seen on the mainstage in quite some time. There’s a general lack of coordination, and director/choreographer Rob Ashford didn’t seem to give any notes to Chenoweth on her movements. And given that she’s an excellent stage presence, I was simply flabbergasted at the laziness and mess of a beautiful song that had no business being in the show. It didn’t fit the dramatic arc, wasn’t well executed and didn’t suit the star’s voice it was selected for. Just a mess all around.
As for A House is Not a Home, it was done much more elegantly and emotionally during Chenoweth’s recent return to Glee. While she did the song justice onstage, it simply lacked punch.
The show’s other star, Sean Hayes, at least is right for the role. He does a great job with the dramatic arc and the silly elements of the character, but his voice is noticeably shaky and wobbly from start to finish. I imagine that he’ll grow into his comfort level, but to start off, it’s a bit ambitious for him to take on a role that sings through about 40% of the show when he’s not entirely comfortable singing on stage. While I won’t go into it too much, he and Chenoweth had little or no chemistry.
And the male philanderers, well, didn’t exactly come across as skirt-chasers. More like suit-chasers. But, well, its Broadway. I guess that makes its OK, but Hayes did a better job as having a heterosexual agenda with Finneran than any of the other men (with the exception of Tony Goldwyn), and he’s not only gay, but is best known for playing gay. Goldwyn does fine, as does Dick Latessa, but neither were remarkable.
The rest of the show just comes off as tired. Ashford, having proven in the past to be an excellent choreographer, here doesn’t deliver tightly choreographed sequences. The dance during the overture stood out for its elegance, but the frenetic “Turkey Lurkey Time”, a highlight from the 1968 Tony’s, stood out as uncoordinated. Dancers were not moving as a unit, and occasionally not with the rhythm.
The other technical aspect of the show I had a problem with were the clothes. Sure, they went for a Mad Men look, but Chenoweth, already about fifteen to twenty years too old for the role, was dressed as an old maid. The lines of her clothes were all wrong, and she looked old – which is both uncomfortable and unfortunate.
Just like the show. Kristin, honey, stick with Glee. You own the episodes she’s on. Sean, darling, I expect you to keep hanging around Broadway for a while as you get comfortable on stage. And Katie, dear, I think its time to graduate from scene stealer to leading lady. But this show doesn’t do justice to any of you, or the audience.
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