On A Clear Day

[edjames]

SPOILER ALERT!!! DO NOT READ THIS POST IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN SEEING THE SHOW..

 

Opens Thursday evening. The original was not a Broadway sucess and the movie version with Streisand didn't light up the box office either.

 

This show is doomed. They've re-written the script but thankfully did not touch the beautiful score. The music is perhaps the only reason to see this show.

 

The original script had a wacky young woman (the fabulous but troubled actress Barbara Harris) in the lead role who in an attempt to stop smoking goes to a psychiatrist to be hypnotized, with strange results. While under hypnosis her former life in 18th century England as Melinda Twelvetrees begins to unfold....yada, yada, yada...

 

In this version the wacky young woman is a young gay man, David, who also tries to stop smoking, but while under hypnosis reveals the identity of a 1940's showgirl/singer, with whom the psychiatrist falls in love with.

 

Harry Connick plays the psychiatrist and he looks awfully uncomfortable in the role. His singing is great but he fails to light up the stage in this role and perhaps his uneasiness is that while his character is psycho sexually involved with the showgirl/singer, her spirit resides in the body of a gay young man. The first act ends with Harry in a fake lip lock with David.

 

It all pretty much goes downhill from there on. The second act has the truly great numbers - Come Back To Me, What Did I Have, and On A Clear Day. There has been a considerable amount of reqrite on the script o tone down all the psycho babble that was losing audiecne interest. Some say the show won’t make it through January. Box office is weak. Also of interest is that Harry is the only above title star and the cast, while good, isn’t exactly Broadway star names, so if poor Harry gets the flu, we can only hope that Hugh Jackman can run across the street and fill in for him otherwise the line for refunds will be very long.

 

ED

[edjames]

NY Post today:

 

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/clear_catastrophe_AH6ODMslz7CSC5rnFTnSJM

[+ Lucky]

Ed, thanks for the link. I loved the closing line:

When shows go as wrong as this one, everything goes wrong, and from the first minute. Watching the simpering florist flouncing limp-wristedly around the stage at the beginning serenading his flowers with the words “hey buds below, up is where to grow” might, in another context, cause ACT-UP to reconstitute itself, storm the theater and throw blood on him.

 

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/clear_catastrophe_AH6ODMslz7CSC5rnFTnSJM#ixzz1g9OPPbBS

[+ WilliamM]

John Podhoretz

 

The reviewer, John Podhoretz, is a neocon who was a speech writer for Reagan and also worked for Bill Bennett when he was drug czar. Having said that, his opinion of "On A Clear Day...", which opens tonight (Sunday) is in line with word of mouth about this revival. I mention his neocon status only because he may, or may not, be someone to trust about gay characters.

 

Finally, I saw the original Broadway cast "On A Clear Day..." in 1965. To the extent the musical connected, it was because of Barbara Harris, the show's star. In fact, the original is famous because of Harris and the songs. Maybe I should go back and read Podhoretz again, because it's pretty hard to write about "On A Clear Day..." without mentioning Barbars Harris. But, Podhoretz seems to have ignored her...interesting.

[adriano46]

I remember the original Broadway score and so when I heard the ad about the show and Harry C singing the signiture line, I thought -- they've really changed the story, but I aklso remember, aside from a few memorable songs, the story was wacky and limp. Not what I would fork over nearly $100 or more to see.

[+ Lucky]

The NY Times allows reader reviews of shows that are in previews, and the ones for Clear Day are not good, bar one five star review:

http://theater.nytimes.com/show/26363/On-A-Clear-Day-You-Can-See-Forever/overview

[+ Lucky]

The LA Times summarizes some of the reviews for On A Clear Day: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2011/12/harry-connick-jr-on-a-clear-day.html

[edjames]

Closes jan 29

 

Closing notice has been posted. Should have closed earlier! Poor Harry. He's so depressed by this failure he's started eating and they've had to refit his costumes to adjust for his bulging waist line.

 

Next up into the St. James theater is Leap Of Faith, a musical based on the Steve Martin movie with a score by hit maker Alan Menken and starring Raul Esparza...Brooke Sheilds, who played in the LA version, is not transitioning from her recent run in The Addams Family into this production.

http://www.centertheatregroup.org/tickets/productiondetail.aspx?id=13732

 

ED

[adriano46]

Thanks for this information EdJ

 

I was not suprised at the early closing. I like very much hearing Harry Connick's voice in anything, but this musical play was quirky, fun and bright back in 1965 when it came out (sort of an extended musical sketch a la later TV show, Laugh In), a great behicle for both stars of the original cast, Barbara Harris and John Cullum. I would have enjoyed seeing Tammy Grimes in it too (she was in the road show). Never cared for the film version, though, even with Barbra Streisand.

 

Thanks for the head's up on what will follow, LEAP OF FAITH.

 

It seems like ages since I last planned and enjoyed a night out at the theatre. These days, with the cost for good seats, a nice dinner and having the righ guy along for the ride, well -- it takes a lot of planning and it has become harder and harder to find the right guy to enjoy it all with. (same goes with treating an escort to a night at the MET). I am sure there are still some really good escorts who enjoy both the musical theatre and opera, but I have not found them (recommendations are welcome ;-) )