The New York chronicles

It’s a consequential joy and heartbreak to take a trip to the Big Apple. Joy, for starters, because it’s the cradle of Broadway and the mecca of the performing arts. Oftentimes, I find myself at my absolute best, witnessing world-class material performed onstage. The appeal of an astounding overture is intoxicating, as well as an amazing storyline, precision savvy choreography, breathtaking costumes and scenography borne out of a designer’s profound imagination or re-imagination of a particular world.

New York is definitely a source of profound joy but oftentimes heartbreak at the prospect or onset of leaving. It’s like when you experience temporary nirvana and then you enter into a vivifying trance, and you know that things are just never going to be the same. Where “amazing,” or “sh*t show” or having brunch just won’t have the same bearings back home as it does in the Big Apple. Where taking the subway, riding a taxicab, or even just having a slice of pizza is not as enchanting.

So while I write this column a few hours before I head for home, I’d like to take this moment to recall the best and worst of my recent New York trip and the best and worst of Broadway 2011 (told in two parts because of the breadth of the subject matter).

Top Of The Class

The primary reason for this particular trip was to attend my brother Ipe’s graduation from his master’s program at the New York University. He graduated top of his batch with a GPA of 3.95 and the Award for Excellence in Magazine Publishing as given by the prestigious Conde Nast. After being a columnist for STAR’s YStyle section among other publications, a model, a party boy, and ultimately a business development head for ABS-CBN Publishing, he found his true calling in print and has channeled both artistry and passion in a field that he enjoys and excels in. I am ever so proud of him, as well as my friends Harvey Alumisin, Maki Cruz and EJ Garcia who recently graduated from Fordham. Congrats, guys! You make Filipinos all over proud.

Bottom Of The Heap

There were a lot of shows I had planned to catch in the Big Apple and it was to unfold with a tight itinerary, managed alongside family obligations. But unfortunately, I was thrown off with fever and had to stay in the hotel for a good three days. For a short two weeks in NYC, three days seemed like a lifetime. It must’ve been from all the exhaustion of traveling, coupled with a series of inescapable family engagements and the terrible and erratic weather changes that ultimately placed me on hotel arrest.

And just as the weather gods had been awful to this weary traveler, making getting around New York’s concrete jungle seemingly impossible, so were a bunch of shows that just didn’t make the grade vis-à-vis what it had promised to deliver.

Mary Jane (Jennifer Damiano) in that famous upside down kiss in Spider-Man the Musical. Photo by Bruce Glikas of Broadway.com

Wonderland, a retelling of the classic Alice in Wonderland story set in Manhattan, bombed big time in the box-office with terrible acting, a laughable plot, lackluster musical numbers, and a production design that neither masked its shortcomings nor solicited any artistic pedigree to the show. A supposedly out-of-the-box idea was materialized with inside-the-box execution, especially when Alice was transported into the supposedly whimsical but flimsy-looking Wonderland — a reason perhaps why the show closed on Broadway after a pitiful three months. And the fact that I had jetlag, I couldn’t help but doze off and save myself from this two hour-long Broadway oblivion.

RATING: 1 / 5

Unfortunately, the same can be said of Baby It’s You, the untold story of The Shirelles, a popular girl group in the ’50s who stumbled upon fame with the help of New Jersey housewife turned producer Florence Greenberg and her African-American songwriter lover Luther Dixon. The premise of a group or a producer trying to make it big in the era of Motown is old, what with the Tony Award winning Memphis currently in Broadway and Jersey Boys having a similar feel. The songs (Dedicated to the One I Love, Twist and Shout), while familiar, didn’t do much to salvage the great efforts of lead star Beth Leveal who, in all fairness, added honesty and bravado to the role of Florence Greenberg.

RATING: 1.5 / 5

But perhaps, nothing was most disappointing than the multi-million dollar flop of a musical called Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark that has been causing quite a stir in the Great White Way. Because of all the accidents and controversies it had suffered on the way to the elusive opening night, the production has had to shut down several times and undergo artistic overhaul, including getting a new director to replace Tony Award winner Julie Taymor who hit the wall on this sh*t show. For the music, while a previous pop star by the name of Duncan Sheik scored a homerun for his coming-of-age score in Spring Awakening, U2’s Bono and The Edge just couldn’t create a judicious enough rock score to complement Spiderman’s contemporary plot. The song performed on the recent American Idol finale is perhaps the only decent tune in the show. The costumes were pretty neat, and the flying between Spidey and the Green Goblin was unbelievable, but overall, it left me utterly confused and disappointed, especially since this is the one material that combines my two greatest passions — musical theater and comic books.

RATING: 0.5 / 5

On Better Days

There were horrors but ultimately triumphs in the Great White Way. I was privileged enough to catch two shows with my fellow bourg Nikki Guevara who is herself studying and hoping to pursue a career as an actress on in the Big Apple – two of which are Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles and Sister Act. Both shows were a huge success for two distinct reasons.

Rain, though not your typical Broadway show, was everything it promised to be: a concert-type tribute to the legendary Beatles, laced with impersonators who hold an uncanny resemblance to the Beatles in both their features and note-for-note vocal abilities. The show traces the journey of the British sensations from their stint with The Ed Sullivan Show to their years in Abbey Road, interspersed with historical film footage and visuals that really capture the feel of the decade and just how monumental the band was in their heyday. It was an incredible experience to be able to sing and dance to classic songs you heard growing up and one that summons a wallop of nostalgia and packs a lot of fun for young and old alike.

RATING: 3.5/5

And while Rain was a great opener to my Broadway sojourn, Sister Act became the fondest farewell. Produced by Whoopi Goldberg who played the lead role of Deloris Von Cartier in the film, the show was deliciously divine, painting an indelible smile on this Broadway Baby from start to finish. The premise is amazing. Disco diva Deloris accidentally witnesses a murder and is made to don the habit in a convent while she awaits to testify in court. Here she encounters the rigid Mother Superior and a choir of nuns who sing in utter discord, brought about by un-harnessed passion and their lackluster way of life. It becomes Deloris’ task to unleash the nuns’ inner disco divas and ultimately help save the convent from closing. Why the show succeeded, in my opinion, was the infectious power and charisma of Patina Miller who plays Deloris in the stage version and was mentored by Whoopi herself. The staging is ridden with disco elements, from the sequined costumes, the choreography, the attitude, and even the shimmy-shimmy Mary statue. And really, how can you not smile with dancing nuns who have a damned good time singing and praising the Lord.

RATING: 4/5

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