The Bridges of Madison County

It is almost two in the morning and I have just returned home. I have had some whiskey and have to cater for eight hours tomorrow. This is where my commitment to myself gets tested. I could be eating cheese puffs and watching Parks and Rec right now, but instead I am evaluating.

Saw The Bridges of Madison County tonight. And all I have to say is...

SHAME ON THEM! Shame on the producers who put so much money into it. Shame on Jason Robert Brown for thinking this beautiful story needs to be musicalized...shame on Marsha Norman for jumping on board. Shame on Bartlett Sher who brought me such beautiful things as The Light in the Piazza and the revival of South Pacific for thinking this was worth anyone's time. Shame on Kelli O'Hara for thinking this was worth her time. Or mine. It's not.

I don't know if you have seen the movie of The Bridges of Madison County (I have) or read the book (I haven't), but let me tell you this, it is a beautiful story. It is gorgeous, sexy, and heartbreaking.

Simply, this story doesn't sing. I have held the belief for many years that the reason you musicalize something is only if you can improve the source material. Legally Blonde as a movie sings. It cries out to be musicalized. Something like The Goodbye Girl is a perfect movie. If you haven't seen it...you should. Not the made-for-tv remake with Patricia Heaton and Jeff Daniels; rubbish. Watch the one from the 1970s with Marsha Mason and Richard Dreyfuss. BUT I DIGRESS...The Goodbye Girl is a terrible musical. TERRIBLE. I could make a long list...Carrie, Breakfast at Tiffany's, GHOST. So many.

And Kelli O'Hara is a genius in many ways. Clara Johnson...NELLIE! I mean come on! But I have now seen her twice in the past year and have been left wanting. Brantley said it best in his review of Far From Heaven:

"Playing layers has never been Ms. O’Hara’s strength. What makes her one of the best performers in musicals today is her direct, unconditionally sincere way with a song. Here, when she’s doing Cathy in superficial housewife mode, she’s convincing, but not compelling."

I believe the entire thing is miscast. They are too young. She is much to American. It takes place in Iowa and she is an Italian transplant. I woman who has lived in the states for eighteen years and woefully regrets it. She has two children and a husband and it isn't the life she imagined. But if I were deaf and went to see this show I would not see a woman that doesn't fit. Francesca is Genevieve in The Baker's Wife or Luisa in The Fantasticks; a flower among radishes. I imagine Laura Benanti in a way...someone you could believe to be Italian.

Meryl and Clint Eastwood star in the movie. And the moment you see them see each other for the first time you absolutely get it. Not here. I didn't see it at all. The language at times was very pedestrian. The score was not remotely cohesive.

And so much excess: a cast double the size of what it should be. Set pieces that we don't need. We can go on that journey without it. An ensemble that serves no function other than moving the unnecessary set pieces. And moments of comedy being played out like a musical comedy. The story is sparse. It is so much more about what you physically see and witness...not about what is being said. And they just say too much.

We all know that Jason Robert Brown is one of my favs. If you read my post about The Last Five Years...you know what he means to me. And Parade is one of the most beautiful pieces of musical theatre ever written.

And this just missed the mark. And what gets me the most is the money. So much money put into this that could have been spent on something more valid. But at the end of the day, I am me. I have no Tony Awards to my name...no money to my name. Maybe I know nothing.

And I hope this isn't a post that appears to just rip and is cynical about the American theatre. Because I so badly wanted it to be good. I want it to be great and for people to want to go see it and for actors and technicians to have jobs.

The entire time I was just screaming at "Whyyyyyyyyyy?!?!"

As I was saying last night...what I love about theatre is its ability to reveal myself to me. And this just didn't...