« Thrills and laughs at the Grand Hyatt | Main | Doing things your own way »
July 15, 2008
The little show that could
A war has been raging in the chat room of the Talkin Broadway Web site over the musical “(title of show)” that has been previewing at the Lyceum Theatre since July 5 in preparation for Thursday night’s official opening.
The piece has been a cult favorite for the past four years — ever since it debuted at the 2004 New York Musical Theater Festival.
Written by and starring Jeff Bowen and Hunter Bell, it’s a show about two struggling actor/writers and their two actress/singer friends who desperately want to be in a musical worthy of being accepted by the NYMTF.
Drawing together elements of “Seinfeld” and reality television, the musical is totally self-referential and this is driving some members of the Broadway theater community nuts. The critics believe this tiny show doesn’t deserve to be on Broadway and that it will close as soon as the Manhattan cult audience — and the friends and family of the four creator/stars — have seen it.
“(title of show)” has no large production numbers, no special effects, no blaring orchestra, no chorus line — just four performers and a guy named Larry Pressgrove who sits at the back of the barren apartment set playing a keyboard. Larry’s stylings are the only accompaniment to the singing of Hunter and Jeff and their pals/co-stars Heidi Blickenstaff and Susan Blackwell.
I was charmed by the show when it ran at the Vineyard Theatre during the summer of 2006. The yearning of the four cast members to make it in the theatre powered a very small but funny show about New York City actors and writers.
The fact that Bell and Bowen were able to make a show out of their wanting to make a show was enough for an amusing 90 minutes in the small space. The intimacy of the Vineyard and the energy of the acting quartet made “(title of show)” a winning experience.
Seeing it for the second time at a Sunday night Broadway press preview — with one of the most jacked-up audiences in recent memory — “(title of show)” seemed forced and out of its natural element.
Like so many other behind-the-scenes show biz tales, the musical assumes we are vitally interested in the struggles and career prospects of the performers we are watching. Rather than find “roles” that could showcase their talent, Jeff and Hunter and Heidi and Susan present a stage version of themselves that we are supposed to embrace in some sort of theatrical group hug.
The story of the making of the show IS the show. Our role as the audience at the Broadway production is to pretend we are friends and family of the cast and to scream our heads off frequently simply because the spunky quartet has indeed made it to the Great White Way.
It’s a “what is theatre?” conceit in the spirit of Eugene Ionesco or Samuel Beckett, but the mult-million dollar question of the moment is whether or not there is an audience for a Broadway musical featuring four very talented people who, on some level, still think of themselves as needy cases.
(For “(title of show)” performance and ticket information call 212-239-6200 or visit Telecharge.com)
Posted by Joe on July 15, 2008 5:31 PM
