Last night I went to a preview of the new musical Leap of Faith now playing at The Ahmanson Theatre through October 24th, 2010.
The first act, is awful.
Not awful, like BAD, awful like: WHO CARES!? It's got the SAME color scheme of the musical Oklahoma, the SAME backdrop of the 'Kansas' scenes from a tour of The Wizard of Oz, the SAME costuming from a High School production of West Side Story during 'Dance at the Gym', the SAME plot of 'Ya Got Trouble' from The Music Man...the list goes on and on. Showing here:
And it's apparent I wasn't the only one who thought that, because the people next to us walked out half way through the first act...when, if I had attended this performance alone, I would have walked out too.
But I didn't. Which is a choice I am very happy with, looking back.
The second act was strong. Like REALLY strong.
And good.
As a matter of fact, the finale received a standing ovation which I was PROUDLY a part of.
...Now then, before I get ahead of myself, for those of you who DON'T know here's a short and sweet synopsis c/o Wikipedia of the musical based on the 1992 film starring Steve Martin:
"When his traveling ministry breaks down in a small Kansas town, part-time reverend and full-time con artist (Jonas Nightingale played by Raúl Esparza) quickly pitches a tent and invites the locals to a revival. The sheriff is determined to stop Jonas from separating the townspeople from their money, but Jonas’ real challenge arises when he meets a pretty waitress (Marva McGowan played by Brooke Shields) and her son, whose love forces an ultimate cynic to take a real leap of faith."
Fine, okay, good.
The first act opens with a VERY interesting dance piece. It was interesting to me because I felt that you, as an audience member, had to stop watching the dancing itself, which was fantastic, and instead step back and see what the dancing actually meant. What they were trying to convey. I liked it. I liked it a lot. I liked it the way I loved the opening of Spring Awakening with the blue light bulbs, et al...WONDERFUL, but MUCH like Spring Awakening, it wasn't enough and it didn't set the piece up right and I wanted to walk out two musical numbers in.
Which, by the way, for Spring Awakening: I did. (Stupid, piece of shit musical...)
Speaking of musical numbers, there are WAY too many in the first act. Cut some shit, people. We get it, you've got a Gospel Choir and they can sing. We don't need eighty-two 45 minute sets from everyone. We got it with the first one, we endured the third one and after that it's overkill. Also, there are these useless ballet/dream sequence transitions thingys that happen between almost every scene change. But it's not like they are PART of the scene change, they are in addition to. A scene ends, then they come in and dance, they exit, THEN the set changes. It's like the four-time Tony Award nominee, five-time Olivier Award nominee, Emmy Award winner, Drama Desk winner, and Outer Critics Circle Award winner director/choreographer just wanted to say: LOOK WHAT I CAN DO!
We got it...WITH THE OPENING... and just like a guy at a bathhouse with no mouth, this isn't servicing anybody.
Raúl Esparza, frankly, I hated. WAY too cocky, nothing likable about him (which to me translates into BAD actor with worse direction), he sings WAY too hard because he's aware the audience is bored by his performance and I just kept thinking 'You're NOT Jonathan Price, this isn't The Engineer from Miss Saigon. Relax. It'll be okay." He was GREAT in one scene opposite Brooke Shields, but I think that's because Brooke Shields was acting her face off. So with THAT said, it could be just a boring script that SHE knows how to work around and he doesn't.
Which leads me to Brooke Shields.The critics are gonna tear her apart because "She can't sing". It's not that she can't sing, it's that the music is ALL wrong for her. I thought she was great. That bitch was ACTING! She was funny, she was heartfelt, she was sincere...again, I thought she was GREAT. They just need to get someone in there that can sing THIS music or change it so it fits HER vocal range.
I mean if Glenn Close can 'sing' Sunset Boulevard, Brooke Shields can sing Leap of Faith.
Nicholas Barasch, who plays her son Boyd McGowan, was wonderful. He's stealing the show. "A" because he's good. "B" because the vocal score is PERFECT for him and "C" because he's not trying. (ARE YOU LISTENING RAÚL ESPARZA!?!?) Jarrod Emick (Sheriff Will Braverman) was LOVELY. I wish they would have made his solo MORE of a solo. Kecia Lewis-Evans was fabulous as Ida Mae. I don't get the ensemble girl dressed up like she walked in off a production of The Life, but whatever: the show needed tits and legs, and she had 'em both. Kendra Kassebaum was an interesting choice for the role of Sam, Jonas' sister. Kassebaum is REALLY funny and genuinely brilliant, which if you saw her as Glinda in Wicked you would know what I mean, but I felt that she was trying to make more out of her role than there actually was. (Which I give her props for.) Maybe she knows the show IS a comedy, or at least is SUPPOSED to be and no one else knows that. Frankly though, that doesn't make her STAND out, it makes her STICK out. I don't know. It's all very confusing. Hopefully it will all come together as the show runs.
One of the kick-ass Act Two numbers.All in all, if you have ANY interest in seeing this show, I WOULD take a leap of faith to see if you can make it through to the second act and then onto the finale. They just need to cut a bunch of shit from the first half, move some of the act two showstoppers to the top and tell Raúl Esparza that he can't be jealous of the little boy stealing the show and that he's NOT carrying the show because Brooke Shields 'can't sing'. If you make it the entire way, I think you'll be very glad you did...as you stand there in your ovation celebrating a FANTASTIC ending to a REALLY crappy beginning.
Have some Faith. I'm glad I did.
