An American in Paris, and Ballet on Broadway

Robert Fairchild & Leanne Cope. Photo: Angela Sterling

Broadway has a new pair of ballet-bred stars: Robert Fairchild (Jerry) and Leanne Cope (Lise) in An American in Paris, opening today at the Palace. Both are superbly cast as the leads—one an optimistic American ex-GI roaming Paris as an artist, the other a blossoming ballet star tethered by moral debts and expectations. Ballet native Christopher Wheeldon's direction and choreography brings elegance and intelligence to this popular milieu. The book, adapted from the movie, is by Craig Lucas, and doesn't shy from acknowledging the all-consuming war, including the resistance and the persecution of Nazi sympathizers.  

Those of us fortunate enough to have followed Fairchild's starry career at New York City Ballet have seen his athleticism, his jazzy approach, his irresistible enthusiasm and generosity in performances. A natural in Jerome Robbins' work—a stepping stone between ballet and musical theater—it seems perfectly logical to move to Broadway. He can sing as well, and if not his strongest suit, certainly as well as other famous dancers-with-other-skills such as Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, his role model. Fairchild's ballet training is his secret superpower; his leaps on the relatively small stage appear even more heroic and weightless than at the Koch; his turns top-like. And as a chatty viewer behind me exclaimed every time he began a solo, he is so smooth. Smoothsmoothsmooth!

Cope, a Brit of Royal Ballet pedigree, possesses an intangible magnetism that, in the show, quite understandably makes her the object of three men's affections. A petite gamine with a million-dollar bob, she has gorgeous lines and feet. She also manages to convey humility and a secretiveness so essential to contrast with Jerry's American openness. The supporting roles are deftly cast as well, including Max von Essen (Henri), Brandon Uranowitz (Adam), and Jill Paice (Milo). 

Fairchild in flight. Photo: Angela Sterling

The production should appeal to Broadway audiences seeking the Gershwins' sturdy romantic pop standards (music is overseen by Rob Fisher) sprinkled with old favorites such as "I Got Rhythm," "The Man I Love," and "'S Wonderful." But for those of us who don't care for the shrill, unsubtle performances so often seen on Broadway, the good news is that Wheeldon's production is tasteful and smart. His choreography, not surprisingly, tends toward the balletic, with jazzy angular arms and a low center of gravity. There's little of the abject need for attention so often felt in Broadway production numbers.

Bob Crowley's sets are compact mobile pieces, some with picture frames or modern art motifs onto which imagery is cast (by 59 Projections). Large-scale projections in an Impressionist style grow and shimmer on the backdrop, including some of Paris' iconic sights. Key production numbers include one set in Galeries Lafayette, in which Jerry hops from showcase to showcase, his extended leg skimming the countertop. "Stairway to Paradise" moves from a jazz speakeasy to Radio City and back, and includes the requisite kickline done by both showgirls and tux-clad guys (the natty costumes are also by Crowley). 

An avant-garde, salon style ballet presentation features dancers making hilarious moves that manage to be just one notch to the left of real. And the beginning and end of the grand finale ballet cleverly situate us behind the stage, looking out past the performers (in Mondrian-esque costumes) into the "audience." Jerry and Lise are clad in sleek black outfits for the dream sequence—a snazzy, captivating duet in which the white set is reduced to simple geometric shapes, better to feature the couple. And as with the best dreams, we want them to keep dancing forever. 

Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark—Flying Above the Ruckus, 6/23/11

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Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark on Broadway

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Reeve Carney as Spider-Man.

It’s become bloodsport to pick on Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. But the question is, how is the show? The flying sequences are amazing, and it’s certainly entertaining, if with few plot surprises if you’ve seen the first movie. An army of muscular stunt doubles backs up the durable Reeve Carney as Peter Parker, who  pretty much carries the show on his slender shoulders, with his pleasing, caramel-pop voice and charming demeanor. He is supported by Patrick Page in a scenery-chewing turn as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin (plus a team of genetically mutated bad guys), whose gregarious personality shines even through a green plastic suit of armor. His voice is a force of nature, alternately rumbling like Barry White or wheedling his antagonists. Jennifer Damiano is sweet as MJ, although she sounds best in soft ballads rather than a higher range. And the added character of Arachne, a sort of spider-spirit, is played by TV Carpio, who possesses a voice with huge pop potential.

The Pitmen Painters, 12/9/10

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The Pitmen Painters on Broadway

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The Pitmen Painters. Photo by Joan Marcus.

The Pitmen Painters tells the true tale of a group of Northumberland miners who took up painting and distinguished themselves enough to found a small movement, the Ashington School. The play, a production from London’s National Theatre presented by Manhattan Theatre Club, was written by Lee Hall after a book by William Feaver and directed by Max Roberts. Hall wrote the screenplay for Billy Elliot, and the two stories follow regular guys becoming artists against the odds. In Pitmen, set in the 1930s and 40s, it’s not simply circumstance that leads these men to art. Dilettantes in all but the mines, their intellectual curiosity and union bonds conspire, leading them to hire an art teacher for their next “project,” to learn about art, which they’ve never actually seen in life. Ironically, perhaps the physical restrictions and the mental strains of having to be ever-vigilant in the mines about the potential for death fed their insatiability for knowledge, their openness to experiment and question things.

American Idiot, at Home on Broadway, 4/28/10

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Green Day's American Idiot, at Home on Broadway

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Green Day’s American Idiot absolutely belongs on Broadway. The punk label always seemed somewhat disingenuous for this band, now 23 years old, that is cleaner, shinier, and more sentimental than punk would ever want to be. And Green Day’s songs, with Billie Joe Armstrong’s lyrics, have unnervingly infectious hooks, harmonies, and major chords to match the best of recent Broadway scores. It doesn’t hurt that a good number of songs in the show are very familiar already. And the cast can first and foremost belt the songs loud and clear, with none of the dreaded distortion of the Broadway vibrato.

But the major supporting element is the set, by Christine Jones. The St. James Theatre has a very high proscenium. The walls, which define a pretty shallow stage area and climb upward ad infinitum, are covered with newspapers and propaganda, and pale enough to receive projections and lighting effects. About 40 TV screens of various sizes punch through the wall or hang; they not only display video (live and recorded), they occasionally become lighting fixtures as well. The sum effect of the set is a never-ending vertical chute, the bottom of which collects the angsty teen detritus of society. Every time they climb up the clever “ready-made” rolling ladder and staircase, they tumble right back down—onto the floor, a mattress, or the hospital gurneys that wait to catch them once more. Panels open to become windows and doors, revealing a world beyond to escape to, but they always slam shut like a trap.

Come Fly Away, 3/30/10

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Twyla Tharp's Sinatra Paean, Come Fly Away, on Broadway

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Come Fly Away is an enjoyable evening jam-packed with Twyla Tharp’s jazzy mix of ballroom, ballet, and modern dance. The cast of 15 dancers is accompanied by recordings of Frank Sinatra, plus strategic live renditions of songs by Hilary Gardner (including a duet with Sinatra), backed by a band led by Russ Kassoff. If you’re looking for profound moral tales or searing character depictions, you won’t find them here. But you will get no-holds-barred performances by some of the finest technically-trained dancers working on Broadway, many vets from prior Tharp shows. Like Sinatra’s song list, the show’s mood is heavily romantic, but occasionally veers to the resigned, bitter, and hopeful.

The club setting (by James Youmans) essentially doesn’t change for the duration, and yet time flies surprisingly quick. Four lead couples make their entrances down a compact staircase and sketch out their relationships. Karine Plantadit and Keith Roberts are on again/off again, with her voracious appetites and strong-headedness providing the drama, and her wattage ranging from brilliant to nuclear. Roberts is velvety and solid. Holley Farmer and John Selya are still in the fresh, beguiled stage of love. Farmer, late of the Merce Cunningham Company, possesses a brilliant smile and stage presence that continually draw the eye. Selya looks like a really talented everyman, but his heart and work ethic sell his appeal.

West Side Story, 3/19/09

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New York audiences are most familiar with West Side Story from choreographer Jerome Robbins’ same-titled suite for New York City Ballet, from the 1961 film directed by Robbins and Robert Wise, and the essential story from myriad renditions of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. But it is on Broadway now after nearly 30 years (!), and a chance for a new generation or two to become acquainted with a wonderful show.

Leonard Bernstein wrote the score for the show, which premiered in 1957. Arthur Laurents, who wrote the original book and is now in his 90s, directed the new production. Most notably, it incorporates Spanish dialogue and lyrics to give the ethnic divide some real bite, but refrains from using technological wizardry. Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote In the Heights, was charged with the translating some of Stephen Sondheim’s lyrics into Spanish, although the songs are so familiar that it’s almost irrelevant what language they’re sung in. In some of the conversations, the actors elide from Spanish into English, as Nuyoricans might. All in all, if you don’t speak Spanish, don’t worry.

While the Sharks (Puerto Ricans) are still depicted as the interlopers in this turf battle, they come across as more balanced and better dressed than their foes. Much of this depth comes from the females—Maria (Josefina Scaglione) and Anita (Karen Olivo), two sides of a coin—and their friends. They wear purple flared dresses with flouncy skirts (designed by David Woolard) that the women swish around. The Jets guys are mostly thuggish or limited somehow, and the gals—who get pushed around a lot—wear narrow cut, skimpy outfits that don’t seem to have anything to do with the rest of the costumes.