A Tale of Two Cities
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Cititour.com Review
Forget comparisons to Les Miserables. That's the least of the problems facing this ambitious but flavorless new musical. In fact, the success of Les Miz indicates that audiences are hungry for shows that are hearty steak-and-potatoes dinners, not mere sushi plates. That said, Jill Santoriello's adaptation of this weighty Charles Dickens novel, for which she wrote book, music and lyrics, is so plot-heavy — with the Revolution-era exploits of French aristocrat Charles Darnay, his wife Lucie and English barrister Sydney Carton — that even at two and a half hours, Dickens' powerful characters and story seem snuffed. It doesn't help that nothing is subtle. The standard-issue pop songs aren't memorable in part because characters say and sing exactly what heartfelt emotion is on their mind.
When surly, malcontent Sydney laments his unrequited love for Lucie ("You've been the finest dream a man could ever know"), you can't help thinking that if he'd just do something about that long, stringy mess of black hair she might give him a second look. Sydney is played by the divine James Barbour, who looks as if he could have stepped out of his breakthrough role — as the surly, malcontent Rochester in Jane Eyre — and right into this musical. When he's not singing, however, he often overplays Sydney's boorishness and delivers lines as if they're just that.
That could be because director Warren Carlyle takes the show's melodrama and comedy to extremes. At times you'd think these talented performers, who include Aaron Lazar and Brandi Burkhardt as Darnay and Lucie, were appearing in Hairspray. But it's very much Barbour's show. His rich, expressive voice breathes life into the ballads "If Dreams Came True" and, the show's most moving song, "Little One," a lullaby for Lucie’s daughter. Unfortunately, there aren't enough gentle and emotionally honest moments for this Tale to be worth telling.
By Diane Snyder
Visit the Site
http://www.talemusical.com
Cast
James Barbour, Craig Bennett, Brandi Burkhardt, Kevin Earley, Gregg Edelman, Michael Hayward-Jones, Aaron Lazar, Mackenzie Mauzy, Katherine McGrath, Les Minski, Natalie Toro, Nick Wyman
Open/Close Dates
Opening 8/19/2008
Closing 11/9/2008
Box Office
(212) 239-6200
Theatre Info
Al Hirschfeld Theatre
302 West 45th Street
New York, NY 10036
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