The Secret Life of Bees
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Cititour.com Review
Let me let you on a little secret about “The Secret Life of Bees.” Not since its 2006 production of “Spring Awakening,” has the Atlantic Theater Company presented a musical that looks so ready to make an immediate Broadway transfer. Yes, both shows share the same composer, Duncan Sheik, but it’s not just Sheik’s melodic, eclectic music (with lyrics by Susan Birkenhead) that scores big; there’s Sam Gold’s clever, quasi-minimalistic staging (reminiscent of his work in “Fun Home”), a cast full of Broadway veterans – young and old – singing and acting to perfection, and a story (based semi-faithfully on Sue Monk Kidd’s popular novel) that will appeal to audiences of different ages, genders and races – all of whom (as they did at a recent matinee) will likely quickly rise to their feet as soon as the show ends.
But here’s another “secret”: I think the show still needs some refining, especially in its second act, as it tries to juggle at least one too many storylines. Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage has clearly put great care into the script, often emphasizing the work’s themes on racism and civil rights (it’s set in the summer of 1964 in Tiburon, South Carolina) while also softening some of the book’s saddest elements. With so much on its plate, though, the show can feel like a meal where the side dishes begin to outshine the main course.
The piece’s primary tale concerns unhappy teen Lily Owens (an appealing Elizabeth Teeter) who runs away from her abusive father T-Ray (a menacing Manoel Feliciano) -- in part to protect the family’s outspoken African-American housekeeper Rosaleen (a steel-lunged Saycon Sengbloh), who has crossed a local white man, and, in larger part, to find out more about her mother, whose death Lily is supposedly responsible for. When she uncovers a photo of a “Black Madonna” labeled Tiburon, South Carolina on the back, the pair head there without knowing what they will find.
However, it doesn’t take long until a random stop in town leads the pair to discover the Black Madonna is owned by the honey-making Boatwright sisters: the optimistic and caring August (the superb LaChanze), the mostly sour June (a wonderful Eisa Davis), and the very dour May (an affecting Anastasia McCleskey), who, indeed, do have a connection to Lily’s late mother and take in the pair with little question. It’s fine not to reveal the why-and-how immediately, but the lengthy pattern of Lily getting ready to ask and then stop and August waiting for Lily to make the request does grow a bit tiresome.
Moreover, Lily’s friendship-cum-romance with co-worker Zachary (an excellent Brett Gray), an African-American teen whom August has taken under her wing, seems a tad superfluous (yes, it is in Kidd’s book) –although it admittedly leads to consequences that painfully underscore the racism prevalent at the time, and still feels eerlily prescient
Musically, Zachary’s jaunty ode to his car, “Fifty-Five Fairline” could easily be excised, as could the reprise of his and Lily’s sweet duet (“What Do You Love”). The score also has perhaps one too many anthems, especially for Rosaleen (even if I could listen to Sengbloh forever) and a song connected to the last time kind-hearted Neil (a fine Nathaniel Stempler) asks June to marry him, even if it adds some needed levity to the show, feels less-than-necessary.
The result of all this excess is that you start to forget why Lily ended up in Tiburon in the first place, and what she’s looking for. Fortunately, for all, closure does come (along with the brief return of T-Ray). But don’t expect the door to close on “The Secret Life of Bees” when it closes its run at the Atlantic! The buzz to move it should be deafening. >>
By Brian Scott Lipton
Visit the Site
https://atlantictheater.org/production/the-secret-life-of-bees
Cast
Eisa Davis, Manoel Felciano, Brett Gray, LaChanze, Anastacia McCleskey, Saycon Sengbloh, Elizabeth Teeter, Romelda Teron Benjamin, Joe Cassidy, Vita E. Cleveland, Matt DeAngelis, Jai'Len Christine Li Josey
Open/Close Dates
Opening 5/12/2019
Closing 7/21/2019
Box Office
866-811-4111
Theatre Info
Atlantic Theater Company/Linda Gross Theater
336 West 20th Street
New York, NY 10011
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