ouch!
Mark Patterson
The College of American Pathologists
Ph:847-832-7481 fax:847-832-8481
[log in to unmask]
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Norman Levitt [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Friday, July 30, 1999 8:37 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Broadway Follies of 1999
>
> From today's NY Times
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>
> July 30, 1999
>
> THEATER REVIEW
>
> 'The Great Debate': Darwinian Monkeyshines Much Sung and Danced
> ______________________________________________________________
>
> By ANITA GATES
>
> There is no reason in the world that creationists shouldn't
> tap-dance. They may, however, want to look for a better vehicle
> than "The Great Debate," a well-intentioned but dreadful and
> self-congratulatory anti-evolution musical at the Lamb's Theater.
>
> Mona Johnian, a Massachusetts composer and lyricist, has written
> something that could have been a nicely done little church
> production, but it doesn't belong on a professional stage. When
> Adam (Tom Schmid) is feeling sick at heart at the end of Act I
> (he's confused by all this talk of apes and science and natural
> selection), Eva (Jamie Collins) says, sounding like the host of a
> television show for preschool children: "Then come with me. We need
> to make a house call to a very wise gentleman." In Act II, we see
> her take Adam to see Job (Benjamin Spierman), who will show him
> what sick at heart really is.
>
> As an actress, choreographer and dancer, Ms. Collins has great
> hair. She has choreographed as many dance styles as could possibly
> be crammed into a one-hour and 45-minute show, and they all look
> like parodies of themselves. Some of her work resembles a musical
> number from "The Brady Bunch Movie," which, as you'll recall, is
> already a parody; in one song, the cast seems to be doing the
> Supremes' hand gestures to "Stop in the Name of Love"; a couple of
> dances appear to be a 12-year-old's idea of Isadora Duncan modern,
> and at one point Satan (Danny Gilroy) tries to do a little slinky
> Bob Fosse. In all these variations, the dancers raise their arms a
> lot. And no one enjoys Ms. Collins's choreography more than Ms.
> Collins (take it down a notch, Cassie), especially when she appears
> to imitate a would-be child star auditioning her little heart out.
>
> There is one rousing number in which the dancing works beautifully.
> But then it's the hora, just as it's done at every Jewish wedding,
> and Ms. Collins can't take credit for that.
>
> The lyrics aren't much better, running to the treacly, like "Time
> is a beautiful gift of love." And despite the show's title, there
> isn't really any debate. Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin and
> Clarence Darrow are simply presented as arrogant idiots, laughing
> when asked if they believe in God and speaking and singing lines
> like "Several times a day I bow to the god of intellect." As
> Einstein, Joel Liestman manages a touching moment at the end of one
> song, musing quietly, "But I cannot say where love comes from -- or
> beauty -- or desire." This is quite a feat, since he has clearly
> been directed to behave like a doddering old fool. "The Great
> Debate" could have used many more thoughtful moments like that.
>
> Thank goodness there are a few bright spots. Ms. Collins has a good
> singing voice. Schmid has a nice voice, too, and a pleasant stage
> presence. And it's possible that Chaundra Cameron, the one black
> cast member (her character is called the Ethiopian and exists only
> to be saved by white missionaries), has a truly thrilling voice.
> But she only had a few solo lines, so it was hard to tell.
>
> "The Great Debate," directed by Patty Freeman, continues Thursdays
> through Sundays until Aug. 15.
> _________________________________________________________________
>
>
> Copyright 1999 The New York Times Company
|
