VIEWPOINTS – Two Off-Broadway musicals push the limits of the form

After recently sitting through the backward-looking musicals Trip of Love and Rothschild & Sons, I am happy to report the opening of two new Off-Broadway tuners that are pushing the limits of the genre in exciting directions. They are Michael John LaChiusa’s haunting four-part chamber musical/opera First Daughter Suite at the Public Theater and Cesar Alvarez and the Lisps’ rollicking but flawed speculative song cycle Futurity, which is co-produced by Ars Nova and Soho Rep. at the Connelly Theater.

IMG_4542Mr. LaChiusa’s First Daughter Suite is a companion piece to his 1993 First Lady Suite, which was also originally presented at the Public. This latest suite is essentially comprised of musical character studies of the daughters, and wives, of five U.S. presidents: Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush. LaChiusa’s work eschews the conventional plot-driven book and instead strives for something more daring – a tone poem (or four tone poems, to be more precise). In doing so, his work feels more akin to classical music and opera than musical theater, and the results are deeply and hauntingly theatrical. Kirsten Sanderson’s understated direction smartly lets LaChiusa’s richly-textured score (beautifully orchestrated by Michael Starobin and Bruce Coughlin) and his cast speak for themselves. A what a divine cast he has at his disposal, I think perhaps the most extraordinary cast you’ll see assembled this fall – Alison Fraser, Rachel Bay Jones, Caissie Levy, Theresa McCarthy, Betsy Morgan, Isabel Santiago, Carly Tamer, Mary Testa and Barbara Walsh (all gloriously costumed by Toni-Leslie James). I’ve mentioned them all because I don’t think I’ve seen finer work from each of them. Their performances cut deep and allow LaChiusa’s score come to throbbing life.

IMG_4571Like First Daughter Suite, Mr. Alvarez and the Lisps’ Futurity also does away with the conventional musical theater book in order to give us something more suggestive than literal. But instead of having the advantage of the specificity inherent in historical figures and events (like Mr. LaChiusa did), Mr. Alvarez and director Sarah Benson struggle to bring the Lisps’ opaque concept album to life. The premise looks enticing on paper; Futurity is a free-wheeling steampunk musical fantasia about a Civil War soldier and an English mathematician’s dream of ending war through technology. Unfortunately, Mr. Alvarez – who also plays the central role of Julian – is no actor. His laidback, almost lazy approach, frustratingly contributes to the general vagueness of the piece. Only the excellent Karen Kandel, in the relatively small role of the General, gives a performance that thoroughly engaged me. Luckily, however, we have Mr. Alvarez and the Lisps’ rollicking score – played expertly and enthusiastically by the cast of 13 – which excited and moved me on a visceral level. This is one cast album I’d like to get my hands on.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED (FIRST DAUGHTER SUITE)

SOMEWHAT RECOMMENDED (FUTURITY)

 

FIRST DAUGHTER SUITE
Off-Broadway, Musical
The Public Theater
2 hours, 30 minutes (with one intermission)
Through November 15

FUTURITY
Off-Broadway, Musical
Co-produced by Ars Nova and Soho Rep at the Connelly Theater
1 hour, 45 minutes (with one intermission)
Through November 15

Categories: Off-Broadway, Opera, Theater

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