BULL FROM BROADWAY
In keeping with the never-ending trend of turning films into Broadway musicals, Douglas McGrath and Woody Allen’s 1994 comedy, Bullets Over Broadway, has been turned into a jukebox musical. It may have flopped on Broadway but, as with the disastrous If/Then before it, producers must know that tickets will be bought for this disappointing dreck, regardless of reviews or word of mouth. So now its on its National Tour.
Director and choreographer Susan Stroman takes Allen’s book and uses songs from the 20s and 30s with additional new lyrics by Glen Kelly. “Up a Lazy River,” “I’m Sitting on Top of the World,” and “Tain’t Nobody’s Biz-ness if I Do” certainly suit the time period, but some of the songs don’t suit the action (the last number, “Yes! We Have No Bananas,” simply comes out of nowhere).
Michael Williams stars as David Shayne, a frustrated playwright who finally gets produced only to find out he’s become involved with a bunch of mobsters. David faces many problems in his quest for success. In order to keep the backing from his producer, the gangster Nick Valenti (Michael Corvino), David has to give a part to the mobster’s girlfriend, the talentless Olive Neal (Jemma Jane).
The lead actress, a seductive alcoholic named Helen Sinclair (Emma Stratton), lures David away from his girlfriend, Ellen (Hannah Rose DeFlumeri). And worst of all, thanks to his limited writing skills, David becomes dependent on Olive’s bodyguard Cheech (Jeff Brooks), who turns out to have a real flair for crafting a play.
Despite its promising plot, Bullets Over Broadway is fairly lackluster and surprisingly unfunny. The glitter of William Ivey Long’s costumes remains but Jason Ardizzone-West’s scenery is a dumbed-down version of Santo Loquasto’s Broadway design. The actors never rise above their stereotypical roles, and director Jeff Whiting (who is recreating Stroman’s work) never bothered to give them something like Vaudevillian shtick, such as slow burns or other comic timing.
The greatest asset is Stroman’s inventive and exuberant choreography which gives Bullets a shot in the arm whenever the action lags (although there are less dancing girls here than Broadway). Perhaps the dancing (“recreated” here by Clare Cooke) works so well because it is independent of the movie: Allen made sure his reworking is fairly close to the original. Still, the plot isn’t the problem here; it’s lazy theatermaking which assumes correctly that nostalgia and familiarity is all that’s needed to bring ’em in.
photos by Matthew Murphy
Bullets Over Broadway The Musical
reviewed at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre
national tour continues through July, 2016
for cities and dates,
visit Bullets Over Broadway Tour
