Bring It On!!

By Jonathan Jones

Monday, July 30, 2012

I LOVE this show.

I’ve said it. 

I first saw Bring It On during its premiere engagement at The Alliance Theatre in Atlanta in January 2011 (yes, I traveled there specifically to see the show). Here’s what I had to say then:

The first 40 minutes were a snore and made me think that High School Musical had forever ruined my favorite art form, but then came the hip hop and the dance crew and two amazing talents and I loved every subsequent minute - until the closing number (which is hideous cheese). With some tweaking, this could sit nicely next to Hairspray as a personal favorite.

I was deeply concerned at first, but then the joy began to shine through. Jon Rua (who played Sonny when in In the Heights on Broadway) is one of the stars - he's incredible - look him up - he's really great. And then this woman was just in the Dreamgirls tour (which I never saw=shame) - Adrienne Warren - she is a STAR - amazing!

Further, any show that mentions that Madonna used to be a cheerleader in order to convince a hip-hopping basketball player boy to join a cheerleading squad has to be a success.

What I’d add now:

The audience contributes so much to this show. The subscribers in Atlanta were mainly old ladies and they appreciated the acrobatics but showed nothing of the pleasure and enjoyment that the young crowd on Broadway did. They laugh at the jokes, cheer on the performers, and are clearly not Broadway regulars as they didn’t all stand up at the end – it was like being in London = LOVELY.

As for the first 40 minutes that I loathed the first time around, I had no idea what to expect going into that show t and I was terrified that the un-amusing drek would carry on for the rest of the show. It's 40 minutes of exposition that moved quite quickly tonight and I didn't mind it nearly as much as I now understood what purpose it served. That said, I still nearly exploded with joy when we moved from Truman High to Jackson High. From that moment on, the smile never left my face.

The casting has changed somewhat and I knew Jon Rua left after the Atlanta engagement. His replacement, Nicolas Womack, is good, but pales in comparison as his performance is more imitation than making the role his own, as Jon did.

Adrienne Warren is still amazing. I adore her and I will see her in anything she does. She is incredible and I look forward to where her career will take her.

After suffering through LysistrataJones last season, I was worried that I would now hate this show too, but there really is something special in Jeff Whitty’s book that is completely endearing and really gets the audience going. The young women about me in the mezzanine kept commenting, “I had no idea this would be so funny.” I imagine the movies are a poor-man’s Clueless or Legally Blonde, but the book here really stands its own against those films and would make a powerhouse movie musical.

The score has some fine moments. “It’s All Happening” derives much from “Blackout” in “In the Heights” but I’ll take it. The ballad “Enjoythe Trip” is stirring and the finale “I Got You” is still cheesy as can be, but pure joy nonetheless.

I adore this show and I hope that you will too.

Bring It On is on Broadway at The St. James Theatre. Tickets can be purchased here.

Memphis: A Jukebox Musical Without Any Hits

By Jonathan Jones
Thursday, July 26, 2012

It took me two years to see Memphis because I was convinced that it was a stinker. Tony night surprised me, but did not shift me view so I stayed away. However, with the addition of Adam Pascal, my interest was piqued, but it was only the posting of their closing notice and the emergence of tickets on TDF that got me into the theatre. 


Unfortunately, my suspicions were accurate - Memphis is a stinker. I can't recall what initially made me think it would be a stinker, but I now know that like Sister Act, the music is the problem. The emergence of the jukebox musical has had an indellible impact on the Broadway musical, largely in the proliferation of the form. Memphis, like Sister Act and Once, relies heavily on performance numbers that are thematically related to the story but fail to tell the story with any necessity. The songs could be cut, reduced, or removed and the plot wouldn't really change. Jukebox musicals often have to be structured this way because pop music rarely tells a story on its own, and when it does and is then put into a larger narrative as was seen in Julie Taymour's visually brilliant Across the Universe, the audience recoils in the requisite schmaltz. The form is what it is, and audiences seem to like it, so I will not judge the form - the problem with Memphis (like Sister Act) is that it doesn't use pop hits - so now the audience is left with irrelevant, derivative music that is far from compelling. Worse, because of the running undercurrent of race relations, the lyrics sound like they should be in an Avenue Q style parody rather than a serious telling of musical history - but sadly lacking all humor and wit. "Everybody Wants to be Black on a Saturday Night"? You've got to be kidding me. And then of course, there is the fact that a parallel story was told with wit, humor, and unforgettable musical moments in Hairspray (the original film and the Broadway version; the 2007 movie is unfortunate at best).


That is not to say that Montego Glovers' "Someday" is charming, as is she. Adam Pascal was awkward at best and none of his costumes seemed to fit him. I desperately searched the stage to see if any of the other men were having this issue - perhaps it was a stylistic choice - but no - only he looked like he traded in one potato sack for another as the show progresses. 


The only musical moment of the show that really uplifted the production was the 11 O'clock number, "Memphis Lives in Me," which really was incredible. The rest - well - Broadway isn't losing anything when this show closes next week.


Adam Pascal sings "Memphis Lives in Me":

Memphis will end its three-year run at the Shubert Theatre on August 5, 2012.