SITE GUIDE
SEARCH
REVIEWS
REVIEW ARCHIVES
ADVERTISING AT CURTAINUP
FEATURES
NEWS
Etcetera and
Short Term Listings
LISTINGS
Broadway
Off-Broadway
NYC Restaurants
BOOKS and CDs
OTHER PLACES
Berkshires
London
California
New Jersey
Connecticut
DC
Philadelphia
Elsewhere
QUOTES
On TKTS
PLAYWRIGHTS' ALBUMS
LETTERS TO EDITOR
FILM
LINKS
MISCELLANEOUS
Free Updates
Masthead
A CurtainUp New Jersey Review
Take Flight
|
All of the experts out studying flight Except orville and wilbur nobody right In a bug-ridden sandpit in north carolina are wrong And we're right? — Orville I'm not saying we're right I'm just saying they're wrong. We're probably wrong too — Wilbur Wilbur? — Orville What? — Wilburn How can we be wrong? We're the Wright brothers — Orville |
Stanton Nash,as Wilbur Wright and Benjamin Schrader as Orville Wright
(Photo: Charles T. Erickson)
|
What a novelty it is after an upswing in new musicals this past season (certainly on Broadway) that, no matter how cleverly conceived or constructed, relied on a previously released concept album (American Idiot), the classic rockin' roll song book (The Million Dollar Quartet), and a composer's legacy (Sondheim on Sondheim).
The question remains whether we are sent soaring into the wild blue yonder or are just left sitting in the hanger waiting to be lifted up courtesy of a team of musical theater pros. Weidman, whose past collaborations with Stephen Sondheim — Pacific Overtures, Assassins, and Road Show nee Bounce — seems ideally suited to a show that not only reflects his affection for historical subject material, but also his inclination for non-traditional, unrestrictive narratives. But neither he nor Maltby and Shire have really succeeded in instilling any real dramatic urgency into any of the fragmented episodes that comprise their show.
We are grateful for the bright and lively characterizations of Stanton Nash, as Wilbur Wright and Benjamin Schrader as Orville Wright. Together they offer some diverting moments, even a degree of daffiness as they relentlessly attempt to secure (in their defining song) a sense of "Equilibrium." It was nice to be reminded that the Wright Brothers were poor students, high school dropouts who nevertheless had a vision and a plan to defy gravity.
A little turbulence is to be expected in a show that jumps between three separate stories and links them only fitfully. Because of our familiarity with the principal characters, we are obliged to wait (in vain) for a surprise or a twist that will keep us from drifting back into the clouds that embrace designer David Farley's simple unit set. Within Farley's minimalist creation and amongst various ladders and boxes that serve their various purposes, is the marvelously whimsical dangling or hovering contraptions that serve as planes. We probably should give director Buntrock at least partial credit for the musical's most impressive imagery that is the appearance in 1900 of their flying machine at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
Perhaps I expected Buntrock to favor us with his flair for animation, used most impressively in his London/New York staging of Sunday in the Park With George. For the most part, I found his staging of Take Flight just perfunctory. This is especially disappointing considering the theme of aviation pioneering. After we get the picture that flight is a metaphor for life, we are still left wondering why we should care whether the tentative marital relationship between egoist non-pareil aviatrix Amelia Earhart (Jenn Colella) and publisher/partner George (Michael Cumpsty) succeeds or fails. Of course, she flies and it fails.
Colella asserts herself vocally and dramatically as the ambitious Earhart and that about says it all. Whether he is playing Hamlet or Henry Higgins, Cumpsty brings a dramatic heft to even a role as one dimensional as this one. And what kind of empathy is generated for the most famous flyer of all time Charles Lindbergh (Claybourne Eldere), otherwise a famously anti-social, insufferable, unpleasant Nazi sympathizer? Charles, who was lauded for his solo trip to Paris in 1927, and Amelia, who tried and failed to fly around the world ten year later, may have been obsessive compulsive trail blazers of the skies, but they are unfortunately duds in their cockpits.
For those of us who have been generally delighted if not particularly awed by the scores composed by Maltby and Shire, Take Flight once again reflects the team's genial but rarely assertive scoring. I was more than willing to let Maltby, Shire, Weidman, and director Buntrock serve as air traffic controllers and to determine the best route by which we might see aspects of these extraordinary lives go musically up, up and away. But it just never happens, especially disappointing for one who would like to see life as a flight and as a musical.
|
Take Flight Book by John Weidman Music by David Shire Lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr. Directed by Sam Buntrock Cast: Jenn Colella (Amelia Earhart), Claybourne Elder (Charles Lindbergh), Stanton Nash (Wilbur Wright), Benjamin Schrader (Orville Wright), William Youmans (Don Hall and others), Michael Cumpsty (George Putnam), Price Waldman (Burke and others), Bobby Daye (Ray Page and others), Todd A. Horman (Banker and others), Marya Grandy (Brenda and others), Linda Gabler (Gladys and others), Carey Rebecca Brown (Myra and others). Music Director: Kevin Stiles Musical Staging: Lisa Shriver Set & Costume Design: David Farley Lighting Design: Ken Billington Sound Design: Ken Gravis Orchestrations: David Shire Running Time: 2 hours 20 minutes including intermission Berlind Theatre, McCarter Theatre Center, 91 University Place, Princeton, N.J. (609) 258 – 2787 Tickets: $15 - $60 Performances: Tuesdays through Thursdays at 7:30 PM; Fridays at 8 PM; Saturdays at 3 and 8 PM; Sundays at 2 and 7:30 PM. Press Opening 05/13/10 Ends 06/06/10 Review by Simon Saltzman based on performance 05/13/10 |
|
Musical Numbers
| |
Act One
|
Act Two
|
|
Subscribe to our FREE email updates with a note from editor Elyse Sommer about additions to the website -- with main page hot links to the latest features posted at our numerous locations. To subscribe,
E-mail: esommer@curtainup.comesommer@curtainup.com put SUBSCRIBE CURTAINUP EMAIL UPDATE in the subject line and your full name and email address in the body of the message -- if you can spare a minute, tell us how you came to CurtainUp and from what part of the country. Visit Curtainup's Blog Annex You can also contact us at Curtainup at Facebook . . . Curtainup at Twitter |
|
REVIEW FEEDBACK Highlight one of the responses below and click "copy" or"CTRL+C"
Paste the highlighted text into the subject line (CTRL+ V): >Feel free to add detailed comments in the body of the email and state if you'd like your comments published in our letters section. . .also the names and emails of any friends to whom you'd like us to forward a copy of this review. You can also contact us at Curtainup at Facebook or Curtainup at Twitter and Curtainup's Blog Annex |
South Pacific
In the Heights
Playbill Broadway Yearbook
