Hunchback of Notre Dame The Musical (Papermill Playhouse, Millburn, NJ)

Papermill Playhouse launched their newest musical “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” Sunday, March 15^th.  The production is backed by Broadway legends Alan Menkin (Music) and Stephen Schwartz (Lyrics).  The two teamed previously on the Disney animated movie of “Hunchback” and “Pochohantas.” Yet this is the first on stage collaboration between the two.  And they offer a lush, emotionally rich score and searing songs which veer from liturgical, ballads, to dramatic.   

Alexander Dodge foreboding set places us squarely in the cathedral.  Framed on both sides of the stage, we see scaffolding, above are the famed bells, behind the famed stained glass windows.  A chessboard floor hints at the characters strategic survival moves.  On the scaffolding is the impressive Continuo Arts Symphonic Chorus whose 32 voices rouse the audience with a master class of oratorio in Latin and successfully – if a bit over-used – they sets the proceedings, comments, and cement the atmosphere.  Visually, the show is stunning, and Howell Binkley's lights against Dodge’s set works powerfully and reflect the gothic mode of Victor Hugo’s original novel.

Director Scott Schwartz's de-emphasizes the special effects and focuses on the performers. There are puffs of smoke and trap door exits but the most powerful theatrical moment is Quasimodo becoming a Hunchback by donning his hump and scars. Arden’s physicality and delicateness marks a delightful turn as the lead. While thespians change roles before our eyes and narrate the action in third-person direct address, forming a Greek chorus that largely only Quasimodo and the audience can hear.

There’s little in the way of Peter Parnell’s book, save for some exposition, he leaves the heavy lifting to the songs.  And there are some beautifully sung moments – though not enough for Arden who shines in “Top of the World” and leads with detailed, nuanced delivery, and outstanding vocal in “Made of Stone” While Page brings down the house with his wickedness-justifying anthem “Hellfire.”

Minister Claude Frollo (Patrick Page – icy perfection) watches his beloved brother dies and is left with a baby who he raises in the bell tower of the cathedral.  The baby grows up to be the famed Hunchback (Michael Arden).  Frollo is on a mission to cleanse Paris of lechery and foreigners – especially the gypsies who may have seduced his brother.  Quasimodo develops into a kind, yet isolated young man who yearns for a life outside the bell tower, but accepts Frollo’s perception that he is a “half-formed” monster who would be rejected by the outside world.  Esmeralda (Ciara Renée), the gypsy enchantress, emerges as the center of a love square which includes Quasimodo, Frollo, and the noble Captain Phoebus de Martin (Andrew Samonsky).  

There’s not much in the way of chemistry or for Samonsky and Renee to do.  She dances well in “Rhythm of the Tambourine.” Samonsky gets a few one liners but these characters are as static as the sculptures that adorn the cathedral.  

“Hunchback” deals with the complex shadings and backgrounds that shape who we are and who we should strive to be.  Quasimodo learns to embrace himself and grow into himself as a man, as he stands up to Frollo. And although Quasimodo may not be able to share his life with someone, as he deserves, the show ends with a hope that maybe the world will be better “one day, someday soon.”

New Jersey Symphony Orchestra - Bernstein & Mahler - at NJPAC

Leonard Bernstein's Symphony No. 2 The Age of Anxiety is a piece for orchestra and solo piano. It is titled and echoes thematically W. H. Auden's Pulitzer winning poem of the same name.  The poem is about man's quest to find substance, faith, connection and identity in a shifting and increasingly industrialized world. Bernstein creates a frantic and confused musical tapestry. One notable element of this work is Bernstein’s use of the piano throughout the score, both in the manner of a solo instrument and as a prominent orchestral member.

The composer, like the poet, breaks the symphony’s structure into six movements. Overall, if you’re unfamiliar with the piece, it does feel like a conversation in a bar one is overhearing.  There are snippets of Bernstein’s themes (Was that West Side Story?) but largely this is a unique, eclectic composition that allows flourishes from across the orchestra and piano soloist Kirill Gerstein who embraces the many moods of the piece with relish.

Conductor Jacques Lacombe led a taut performance at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark on Friday, March 13th, and the orchestra played this multi-hued music vividly. The piano line is jazz-tinged, poetic, and robust.  The orchestra builds Bernstein's climaxes with a palatable sense of relief.

Friday’s program concluded with Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 in D Major “Titan.”  The piece is lush and allows for flourishes from throughout the orchestra notably the violins, cellos, timpani, and brass. The most beautiful spun-out melodies are shared between the cellos and violins, with trumpet fanfares. Following Mahler's instructions, the seven horn players rise to their feet and play "as if to drown out the entire orchestra" in one of the most thrilling endings in the symphonic repertoire. Mahler gave the premise of the symphony broken down as: the first three movements with spring, happy dreams, and a wedding procession, the fourth is a funeral march representing the burial of illusions.

These pieces are dramatic and challenging.  Both the orchestra and audience embraced Mahler gloriously filling the hall with sweeping musicality and comfort. 

Performances continue in New Brunswick (March 14) and Morristown (March 15).

Next to Normal: Buzz Theater Productions at the Old Paramus Reformed Church - RIdgewood, NJ

Kazuo Ishiguro in his novel Never Let Me Go wrote:  “Memories, even your most precious ones, fade surprisingly quickly…. The memories I value most, I don’t ever see them fading.”  And therein lies the central premise of Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey’s 2009 Broadway Tony and Pulitzer winning musical “Next to Normal” which has been revived for the weekend by Buzz Theater Productions at the Old Paramus Reformed Church in Ridgewood, New Jersey.

Diana (Randi Seffinger) holds too tightly to her memories threatening the fiber of her family life – son Gabe (Anthony Crouchelli) and especially her largely ignored 16 year-old daughter Natalie (Anna Nicole Ventor) and her husband Dan (Matthew Haines).  Natalie flirts with stoner Henry (Robert Snyder) a biblical serpent – especially with his ability to render an ordinary apple into a bong.  While Dan whisks Diana to a series of Doctors (Brendan J. Bartlett) to free her from her past.  Heavy doses of pharmaceuticals and electro shock therapy –propel the family toward potential normalcy – despite Diana’s losing 19 years of memories.  This description really doesn’t do justice to Kitt and Yorkey’s original creation, which is ripe with intense musical numbers of longing, denial, memory, connection, and love.

The production on the whole is wonderfully sung especially in the duets (Act 1 closer “A Light in the Dark”) and Act 2’s “Maybe (Next to Normal)”.  The group numbers blend the amazing voices and bring down the house – notably the soaring finale “Light.”

Bartlett brings a welcome Mephistophelian verve to his performance – sending a firm warning sign to anyone in his care, deftly enlivening his songs and his quieter moments caring for Diana and Dan.

Director Reegan McKenzie slows the pace and tempo a bit from the Broadway production which is a nice touch that lets numbers like Diana’s fear of electroshock therapy (“Didn’t I See This Movie”) play cleanly and clearly. With minimal props, cleverly choreographed moments and a live band, McKenzie maintains the intensity and delivers solidly entertaining theatrics.

Each cast member has distinct moments.  Sellinger and Ventor in “Superboy & Invisible Girl” movingly convey the loss of the neglect.

Crouchelli’s Gabe is all menace and shadow to Diana – a little too Oedipal - but it pays off beautifully in “I am the One” his confrontation with Dan late in Act 2.

Haines renders quiet hope and determination to piece his and Diana’s life together while failing to see the potential for longer-term damage.  While Seffinger’s Diana offers a nuanced performance cleverly showing a kaleidoscope of anger, fear, yearning, sorrow, guilt and the memory of what must have once been love in every note she sings.

Backing the production is the hefty musical direction of Greg Paradis.  The seven-piece band is tight and energetic, nicely supporting the performers and rendering each song distinct and powerful.

Next to Normal is a wonderfully written and performed musical that acts as a prism into the lives of those dealing with mental illness and the effects it has on family. It’s adult themes – home, memory, relationships and the kaleidoscope of emotion touches the audience in a way few shows ever can.  Ultimately it is a show about the our willingness to rip off the band aid and move forward, past the memories that we’ve willingly allowed to fester.

Original musicals have long been tortured and mistreated on Broadway.  Kitt and Yorkey’s current show “If/Then” closes in two weeks.  These two productions are adventurous thematic bookends that equally deserve longer runs.

Pretty, Pretty Good: Fish in the Dark on Broadway

For a solid decade or two Neil Simon was the reigning comedic playwright on Broadway.  His crown must now be passed to, of all people, Larry David who makes his debut as playwright and actor in “Fish in the Dark.”  The critics will label it “pretty, pretty good” a classic line from David’s largely improvised HBO show “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

Surrounding himself with a top-notch cast including Jayne Houdyshell, Ben Shenkman, Jerry Adler, Marylouise Burke and Lewis J. Stalden, David can’t help but fare well.  The plot is typical David – misunderstanding of a father’s death bed intentions lead to brotherly and marital strife, bruised feelings and ego, and biting funny one-liners. 

David brings an everyman’s misanthropy to common thoughts, expressing that which we all may think but would never dare to utter.  And utter it he does, fearlessly, while also protecting himself and foisting responsibility for his actions on others.  This formula worked wonders on “Seinfeld” and continued on “Curb” and last year’s HBO movie “Clear History.”

Now with a strong advance ticket sale, David is the hottest comedic ticket in town.  And deservedly so.  Anyone who can make Rosie Perez intelligible and funny deserves a Tony Award.

The show works.  For a Broadway newbie, David acquits himself well.  He told “60 Minutes” this past Sunday; he’s wearing his own clothes because it takes him a long time to work clothes in.  The pacing, lines, plot move quickly and fearlessly. 

Now the question arises to who has the guts to take over for David after the proposed 14 week run.  Jason Alexander?  Jerry Seinfeld?  Find your way over to the Cort Theater for “Fish in the Dark” – it’s worth whatever they force you to pay.

An Evening with Jessie & Jarrod: The Stars of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical Review at NJPAC

 There are solid odds that Aerosmith’s “Dream On” has never been played in the New Jersey Performing Arts Center – except maybe by construction workers.  And yet, there is Broadway actor and one-time Princeton economist student, Jarrod Spector blazing new trails as part of “An Evening with Jessie & Jarrod:  The Stars of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.”

The evening – which continues tonight at NJPAC – consists of Jessie Mueller and Jarrod Spector – doing some mash-ups, personal anecdotes, lavishing in their easy rapport, and hitting high notes (his Jersey Boy falsetto, her sultry intimacy with “Being Alive.”)

Their banter has the feel of 70’s Donny & Marie Osmond – she’s a “Lutheran who plays Jews”; he’s a “Jew who plays Italians”; to which she replies, “So you’re a pizza bagel.”  And yet, when they sing they each draw the audience in the Victoria Theater into an intimacy leaving one feeling like they are singing just to you.

They open with King’s “I Feel The Earth Move” and “Lost That Loving Feeling.”  Taking turning Jessie talked about her upbringing in Evanston Illinois and her audition process for her Broadway debut in “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever “booking the Super Shuttle” before breaking into Rogers & Hammerstein’s “It Might as Well Be Spring” from “State Fair.”  She was the break out star of that revisical, quickly getting cast in the Public’s “Into The Woods” for Shakespeare in the Park, Roundabout’s “Edwin Drood” and then her Tony-winning portrayal of Carole King in “Beautiful.”  Mueller brings a lush, vibrant personality and voice to all her songs.

Spector talks of not having Broadway roots despite a turn in “Les Miserables” as Gavroche.  He fares best on The Righteous Brothers, Aerosmith, and Little Jimmy Scott as his “Bring Him Home” – well acted and nicely sung – is belied by the treacle of the lyrics.  Known for six years, 1,500 performances on Broadway of Frankie Valli – Jarrod knocks the cover off tunes that highlight his searing falsetto, is a bit over-powered by the band in “Can’t Take My Eyes off of You.”

Together their duets, which include a mash up with Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind”, graceful, loving rapport, and cap off with “Go Your Own Way” make for a compelling evening.  While “Beautiful” nicely showcases both their voices, their concert provides a glimpse of who these amazing performers are through song choice, banter, and wonderful performances.  Catch them this evening at NJPAC and together through Friday in “Beautiful.”