Broadway tour of "Water for Elephants" at the Orpheum Theatre

The 7-time Tony-nominated 2024 Broadway musical Water for Elephants brings the circus to town for one week only at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, and it's pretty thrilling! The circus elements, puppetry, and great score by the indie folk band PigPen Theater Co. combine for a show that has both spectacle and substance. I've not read the book upon which it is based nor seen the 2011 movie adaptation, but I really enjoyed the touching, if not particularly unique, memory play about a man looking back on his life in the circus in the 1930s. Click here for info and tickets, including student, educator, and performing arts industry rush tickets.

"Jersey Boys" at the Orpheum Theatre

The jukebox musical Jersey Boys is a crowd-pleaser. The story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons will celebrate 10 years on Broadway this fall and the tour is making its third stop in Minneapolis this week (at least that's how many times I've seen it). At times during last night's opening night, the crowd reacted like this was a Four Seasons tribute concert. But it's so much more than that. This jukebox musical is not just hit after hit strung together with some loose threads we're supposed to accept as a plot. Rather this beloved and familiar music is woven into the true life story of the rise and fall of these Hall of Fame rock-and-rollers. It's like an episode of VH1's Behind the Music, revealing that all was not rosy behind those crisp harmonies and sharp dance moves. Fame and celebrity at a young age rarely lead to a smooth road in life. Any show that featured a string of hits from the '60s would be sure to sell out to a population dominated by baby boomers, but it's the clever book that weaves the hits together and tells a story worth hearing that is responsible for Jersey Boys' critical success and staying power.

Book writers Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice used the title of the group as inspiration for the structure of the musical. The Four Seasons' story is told in four chapters by each of the group's original members. Founder Tommy DeVito narrates the "spring" of the group's life, in which he and his friends are in and out of jail, working with the mob on the streets of New Jersey. He tries several different band arrangements, all centered around the sweet falsetto of young Frankie Valli. Eventually he hits upon a winning combination, adding bass player Nick Massi, songwriter Bob Gaudio, and producer Bob Crewe (Gaudio and Crewe are credited with writing the music and lyrics for the show). "Sherry" is their first number one hit, and the group's fame skyrockets as Bob Gaudio takes over the narration in the "summer" chapter. More hits, television appearances, adoring fans - their dream has come true. But things begin to "fall" apart as tensions within the group rise and Tommy's large debt is revealed. In the second act Nick takes us through this stage of the journey that leaves only Frankie and Bob left in the group. Finally, Frankie narrates the group's poignant final chapter, "winter," that sees much loss but eventual reconciliation as the group reunites for their 1990 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. It's a roller coaster ride through fame, success, and their aftermath.

The Four Seasons had dozens of hit songs in the '60s, and many of them are included in the musical. "Big Girls Don't Cry," "Walk Like a Man," " My Eyes Adored You," " Beggin'," and "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" to name just a few. With a few exceptions, the songs are not sung in that musical theater "I'm breaking out in song in the middle of a conversation and singing my thoughts and feelings" sort of way, but rather within the context of a concert, rehearsal, or recording session, so that it falls more towards the "play with music" end of the Cherry and Spoon music-theater spectrum.* This musical isn't structured in the typical scene-song-applause kind of way; the music is woven organically into the story, and sometimes we just hear snippets of songs interspersed with narration. The audience isn't given a chance to applaud at the end of every song, so when the first big number came towards the end of the first act, as the boys sang "Sherry" and paused after that final note, the audience burst into enthusiastic applause we'd been holding in for the first part of the show.

Keith Hines, Hayden Milanes, Drew Seeley,
and Matthew Dailey (photo by Jeremy Daniel)

This touring cast is quite awesome; the four leads are sharp and funny and sound fantastic delivering that trademark Four Seasons sounds. Hayden Milanes takes Frankie from a naive kid to a weary man at the end of his career, who never stops working on the dream. And that voice! Frankie Valli's distinctive voice is hard to imitate, and Hayden doesn't just do that, but brings his own smooth sound (he shares the role with alternate Miguel Jarquin-Moreland, who performs one of the two shows on Saturdays and Sundays, because no human voice should be asked to accomplish this feat twice a day!). Matthew Dailey is a lovable rogue as Tommy, imbuing the role with enough charm that we overlook Tommy's shortcomings. Keith Hines's Nick is the strong silent type, with a deep voice and distinctive way of clipping his words when he does speak. Drew Seeley has a sweet voice (singing my favorite song "Cry For Me") and innocent charm as the young Bob, who matures over the course of the show into the brains behind the group.

The entire ensemble is fantastic, playing multiple roles (and sometimes instruments). It's worth noting that only three women (Jaycie Dotin, Marlana Dunn, and Leslie Rochette) play all of the women in boys' lives, and they had a lot of women in their lives - wives, lovers, daughters, singers. You'd think there were a dozen women in the cast as these three don a new personality with every new wig and fabulous '60s outfit, making each a full character in a limited amount of time. Last but not least is Barry Anderson as Bob Crewe, stealing scenes as the flamboyant (in a somewhat restrained '60s sort of way) producer.

Hayden Milanes, Drew Seeley, Matthew Dailey,
and Keith Hines (photo by Jeremy Daniel)

Of course these great songs wouldn't amount to much without a band behind them, and this Jersey Boys has a great one. Some of the band members are seen on stage throughout the show, particularly Mark Papazian on drums, who must get dizzy as he's wheeled on and off stage in different configurations. The horn section has their moment too, but after the curtain call is when the band really gets to rock out as they all come out on stage and play the audience out. They are some fierce musicians, and it's a shame most of them are hidden backstage somewhere for most of the show.

The story takes place in a variety of locations represented on a mostly sparse two-level set. For their TV appearances, we're watching the guys sing into the camera on the side of the stage while the video is projected on a screen at the back of the stage. The configuration then shifts so that they're singing out from the stage, as we willingly play the role of the audience. The entire thing is really smartly structured. Another nice touch are pop art illustrations on the video screen that are used sparingly to convey scene or tone.

Jersey Boys is a delightfully fun and entertaining night at the theater due to familiar great songs sharply delivered by the cast and band. But it's more than that - it's a human story told through music, which is what musical theater is about, jukebox** or no (continuing through this weekend only at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Minneapolis).


*The Cherry and Spoon Music-Theater Spectrum (TM pending): in a musical, characters sing in character, expressing their emotions and moving the plot forward. In a play with music, the music takes place in context, with characters singing in a way that would make sense in real life, and don't sing as the character. If you take the music out of a play with music, it still makes sense, although some of the impact is lost. If you take the music out of a musical, the story no longer makes sense.
**I'm looking forward to seeing what sounds like another well-done jukebox musical, Beautiful, featuring the music and life story of Four Seasons contemporary Carole King, at the Orpheum next season.


This article also appears on Broadway World Minneapolis.

"Peter and the Starcatcher" at the Orpheum Theatre

The Broadway tour of Peter and the Starcatcher,* which recently landed at Hennepin Theatre Trust's Orpheum Theatre, is not your typical Broadway show. And that's why I love it. Not that I don't love typical Broadway shows, but Broadway is not usually the place to see innovations in theater and storytelling, especially lately with the increasing trend of turning every movie into a musical. Peter and the Starcatcher, despite being based on a book and a prequel to the well-know and much-adapted story of Peter Pan, is completely original and refreshingly innovative. Incorporating music (a few songs accompanied by keyboard and percussion, which also provide a soundtrack to the action), elements of physical theater (similar to Minnesota's Live Action Set and Transatlantic Love Affair), low-tech stage illusions, and good old-fashioned storytelling, it's a delightfully successful theatrical experiment.

Peter and the Starcatcher is based on the 2004 novel Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, a prequel to the Peter Pan story we're all familiar with. The play was written by Rick Elice and is directed by Roger Rees and Alex Timbers (who, along with several members of the creative team, was also responsible for the wacky and fun satire Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, which can be seen this summer in a production by Minneapolis Musical Theatre). Much of the story is explained to us in narration by the twelve-person ensemble. The title character is an unnamed and unloved orphan who's sold into slavery along with two other boys. They're being transported on the ship Neverland, captained by Slank and his rough and rowdy crew. Also on board are 13-year-old Molly and her nurse. Molly's father, the well-to-do and important Lord Aster, has entrusted her to the captain while he travels on a more dangerous route aboard the Wasp, on a mission for the queen. He's transporting a trunk of the mysterious "starstuff" that unbeknownst to him has been swapped with a similar trunk of worthless sand by the devious Captain Slank. Aster's ship is overtaken by pirates, namely the dastardly Black Stache, and much hijinks and hilarity ensue as the pirates try to get the treasure and Molly and the boys try to save it and her father. The action continues in the second act as they all land on a colorful tropical island. All of the trunk-swapping and devious machinations are a little convoluted and at times difficult to follow, but it's a sweet and engaging story with a heroine and a hero to root for. Through it all runs the theme of home and friendship and belonging, as the unnamed boy becomes the legend that is Peter Pan.

This is a true ensemble piece; each member of the twelve-person cast has many roles to play and is fully committed to the storytelling. They form walls and doors, provide sound effects, and create a window or the waves of the ocean from a simple rope, a friendly bird from a rubber glove, and a bright fairy from a spot of light. In a crowd-pleasing scene to open Act Two, this mostly male cast dons costumes and sings about how "starstuff" turned them into mermaids. As Peter and Molly, Joey DeBettencourt and Megan Stern (the sole woman in the cast) are strong and charismatic, and Benjamin Schrader is a delight as Molly's nurse. Black Stache (aka Captain Hook) is a scene-stealing scenery-chewing kind of role (it won Christian Borle a Tony), and John Sanders is up to the task, stretching out every word and gesture to its most hilarious effect, culminating in a several minute long rant in which he repeats "oh my God" what seems like hundreds of times, conveying a range of emotions with just those three words.

What I appreciate most about Peter and the Starcatcher is that it's a really creative and fresh form of storytelling. When children's entertainment is done well, and doesn't talk down to them and spoon feed them easily digestible morsels, but rather engages their brains and imaginations as participants in the storytelling experience, it's something that children of all ages, including the hated grown ups, can appreciate. Peter and Molly and the boys are only in Minneapolis through the weekend, so get there soon to experience another side of Broadway.


*I saw the Broadway production of Peter and the Starcatcher the last time I was in NYC, and borrowed much of this post from what I wrote then.

"Peter and the Starcatcher" at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on Broadway

Usually when I go to NYC, I see as many Broadway shows as I can fit in, sometimes as many as four or five in a long weekend. On this most recent trip, I spent most of the time visiting friends in and out of the city, but I couldn't possibly go to NYC and not see a Broadway show! Most of what is currently playing I've either seen already (Once, Book of Mormon), was not available at the half-price TKTS line (ditto), or I had no interest in seeing (Rock of Ages, Annie, Mary Poppins and the like). The two exceptions are the revival of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater, and the five-time Tony-winning Peter and the Starcatcher, which falls in the slightly odd category of "play with music." We chose the latter, and I found it to be delightful, innovative, creative, and totally different from what you usually see on Broadway (which is a good thing in my book). Incorporating music (a few songs accompanied by keyboard and percussion, which also provide a soundtrack to the action), elements of physical theater (similar to Minnesota's Live Action Set and Transatlantic Love Affair), low-tech stage illusions, and good old-fashioned storytelling, it's a delightfully successful theatrical experiment.

Peter and the Starcatcher is based on the 2004 novel Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, a prequel to the Peter Pan story we're all familiar with. The play was written by Rick Elice and is directed by Roger Rees and Alex Timbers (who, along with several members of the creative team, was also responsible for the wacky and fun satire Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson). The title character is an unnamed and unloved orphan who's sold into slavery along with two other boys. They're being transported on the ship Neverland, captained by Slank and his rough and rowdy crew. Also on board are 13-year-old Molly and her nurse. Molly's father, the well-to-do and important Lord Aster, has entrusted her to the captain while he travels on a more dangerous route aboard the Wasp, on a mission for the queen.  He's transporting a trunk that unbeknownst to him has been swapped with a similar trunk of worthless sand by the devious Captain Slank. This set-up is explained to us largely in narration by various characters.

Aster's ship is overtaken by pirates, namely the dastardly Black Stache (Matthew Saldivar in a delightfully over-the-top hammy performance). He gets the key for the treasure-filled trunk from Aster, only to find sand and deduce that the trunk with the queen's treasure is on the other ship. He orders the crew to turn around and attack the Neverland. Meanwhile, back on that same ship, Molly has befriended the orphans and told them that her father is really transporting "star stuff," that must be destroyed because of its great power to turn anyone who comes in contact with it into whatever they want to be, whether good or evil. She has a secret means of communicating with her father (they're "starcatchers!"), so she and the boys help the Neverland get caught. The ship splits in two and Peter and some of the others are cast overboard!

So ends the first act. The second act takes place on an island, whose unfriendly native people speak a foreign tongue that seems to be mostly comprised of the names of Italian foods. Other dangers include crocodiles and sweet talking mermaids. Everyone is eventually reunited and must make some difficult decisions about what and whom to save. Molly and the orphan, now named Peter, save the day, but Peter realizes that he must stay on the island and remain a boy. He comes in contact with the star stuff and since what he wants most in the world is to be a normal boy, a boy he must be forever. The plot is wrapped up a little too neatly to make it fit into the Peter Pan story (Molly grows up to have children named Wendy and Michael, Black Stache loses his hand and becomes Captain Hook in a hilarious prolonged bit). But it's a sweet and engaging story with a heroine and a hero to root for.

the cast of Peter and the Starcatcher

Each member of the twelve-person cast has many roles to play and is fully committed to the story-telling. This is the fourth time I've seen the actor playing Peter - Adam Chanler-Berat (twice in the original cast of Next to Normal and in the Off-Broadway production of RENT last year). He's such an expressive and present actor, he makes Peter someone to believe in and root for. Celia Keenan-Bolger as Molly (the lone woman in the cast) is also wonderful, believably and joyfully playing a precocious British teenager despite being a grown up American woman. Other standouts, besides the aforementioned Matthew Saldivar as Black Stache, are Arnie Burton as Molly's ever-supportive Nurse and Rick Holmes as her father.

While the whole show is delightful, I enjoyed the first act more than the second. Most of the 12 actors are on stage for the entire act, playing many different roles or providing the backdrop for the scene. The ship set is nice and close in, providing an appropriate sense of claustrophobia and darkness of a sea voyage. In contrast, the island is all openness and light, and the characters are more scattered in separate groups.

What I appreciate most about Peter and the Starcatcher is that it's a really creative and fresh form of storytelling. It was easy to get tickets to this show, as opposed to the blockbuster Newsies, which is more accessible and familiar, and therefore, sold out. I wish more people would give this show a try, it's delightful for kids and adults alike. When children's entertainment is done well, and doesn't talk down to them and spoon feed them easily digestible morsels, but rather engages their brains and imaginations as participants in the storytelling experience, it's something that children of all ages, including the hated grown ups, can appreciate.