In previews @ The Palace TheatreAn American in Paris

This happened on Friday night. And what a spectacular event it was!

Sure, it was only the opening of previews, but those are some of the absolute best, one of a kind performances on Broadway.

Officially, An American in Paris opens on April 12th; so, for the next month, the production honchos will fine-tune and edit the musical to prepare for what could be a very popular and prosperous run.

Haglund has been looking forward to this event for five years - ever since he heard Robert Fairchild utter a few lines on stage in an innovative but unsuccessful dance-theater piece by Melissa Barak at New York City Ballet:

"Robert Fairchild, as Bugsy, showed the most theatrical polish with his lines and God only knows how many Broadway stages he will dress when he’s finished at NYCB."

In the years after, there were other signs that Fairchild was destined for Broadway: his astonishing performances in Who Cares?, Balanchine's ballet set to George Gershwin's tunes, and a one-night return of the tap and tuxedo number, Not My Girl, choreographed by Peter Martins to a 1929 song by Fred Astaire and Van Phillips, for the NYCB Fall Gala in 2012. He's a rare performer who can bridge modern times with a bygone era and do it authentically with his natural style.

We see some of this in Director/Choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, too, who took thematic inspiration for this musical from the iconic 1951 film starring Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron. In recent years, Wheeldon has also given clear signs that he was bound for Broadway in many of his ballets that showed strong appreciation for sophisticated production elements like those used in big musicals: Estancia's wild horses, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Cinderella with their imaginative mix of video, puppetry, and choreography, and his brilliantly crafted The Winter's Tale which will finally land on an American stage in January 2016 when the National Ballet of Canada brings it to the Kennedy Center. Wheeldon previously used Gershwin's music in a ballet he made for NYCB entitled An American in Paris, and he has also has been drawn to Rodgers and Hammerstein's tunes from the 1945 Carousel for his choreography.

But let's get to the show which is far more dance-intensive than the 1951 movie. Everything dances. The scenery dances, the spoken dialogue dances, the tunes dance, and of course the feet dance.

The book for the show was written by Craig Lucas, and it is fantastic.

Jerry Mulligan, soldier turned artist, doesn't want to go home to face questions about what he did and saw in the war. He wants to stay in Paris and forge a career as an artist. He hooks up with two other guys, a composer and a performer, and all three end up falling for the same French girl. That's all you need to know about the plot before walking into the theater.

When Robert Fairchild as Mulligan rushed onto the stage and launched into lines and song, it was overwhelming to see this artist, formerly known to us exclusively as a premier ballet dancer, suddenly take over the stage with singing and acting talent that, up to now, we only suspected he had. All of the energy, conviction, and joy that he always brings to his performances at NYCB saturated every second that he was on stage in this nearly three hour performance.

Fairchild's strongest song and dance solo was his number that opened Act II, "Fidgety Feet" – what an explosion of Hugh Jackman-like charisma. And the audience ate it up.

Gene Kelly's voice was described as weak and wobbly, but it had an every man quality to it that made it unique among the voices of his day. Fairchild's voice is similarly light weight, possibly because he speaks and sings from the upper part of his vocal chords which depletes the volume and sometimes makes his voice sound apologetic. That was mostly noticeable when he sang with the other two leading men in the cast, Max von Essen and Brandon Uranowitz, who are very strong singers. In fact, one of the charms about this production was the uniqueness in the voices. Today's Broadway shows are so full of singers and songs that sound like they came out of the same mass manufacturing plant. But this show - these performers - these great songs - all one-of-a-kind from note one.

Now let's get to the female lead Leanne Cope who played Lise. OMG, OMG, OMG! OMG, again. Wait until you see this little ballet dancer from the Royal Ballet seize the stage and the spotlight and belt out number after number like she's been performing in musical theater her whole life. The first time she looked directly out at the audience, it was over. We were hooked. Wherever she wanted to take us, we were ready to follow that lovely and convincing French accent. Without any doubt, she was the standout of this performance - a true triple threat who probably just launched a major Broadway career. Producers are going to be lining up for this lady – just wait and watch.

Since the major artistic element of the show is Wheeldon's choreography, let's talk about it. It's very, very, very good for the most part. Inventive, showy where it should be showy, intimate where it should be intimate. It demonstrated yet another giant step up in versatility for this choreographer who in the last couple of years has bolted to the forefront among today's dancemakers. Only in one number in the last half of Act II did the choreography get somewhat long and boring. You know the poem, "When you don't know what to do, just pique soutenu." There was a lot of pique, pique soutenu, pique turn, pique battement fouette which we have seen a lot of in other work by Wheeldon. Call it pique-itis. Whenever it starts, it's time to stop and re-think. Hopefully, this long piece will get cut in half, because people in the audience started to get a little restless.

We hope that no one will be offended by the focus of this review on the ballet dancers in the cast. That's just our habit. Everyone else was superb as could be. In addition to Max von Essen and Brandon Uranowitz, this power cast included Jill Paice, Veanne Cox, Scott Willis, Victor Wiseheart, Rebecca Eichenberger and a composite ensemble of ballet and Broadway dancers who simply could not have been better.

Haglund loved this show and is going to go back again and again. He may even stop by the stage door and wait for Leanne Cope to appear to present her with her first H.H. Pump Bump Award, a Christian Louboutin sleek stiletto with supporting Eiffel Tower.

 

Comments

[SZ]

I saw the preview last Saturday (3/14/15) and absolutely loved it. I so enjoyed how Chris Wheeldon transformed the movie into a full-out dance tells the story show with lots of Gershwin tunes. Robbie Fairchild ought to receive the other Eiffel Tower stiletto shown above. He is the star of the show and at his best ever.

[Haglund]

Hi, SZ.

I'd gotten so tired of the Broadway formula in recent years that I hardly went to any shows. An American in Paris is so good that it may bring others back, too.

Yes, Fairchild is excellent in this. What a startling talent. Even sounds a bit like Matthew Broderick.

[SZ]

Hi Haglund,
Is there a male equivalent for the Eiffel Tower stiletto shown above that could be given to Robbie?! Didn't mean to put him in a female shoe...

I agree with you that this show may bring new audiences and old ones back to Broadway and ballet.

[Dreamer]

Hi Haglund,

Thank for your as always very entertaining and informative review. Do you know if Garen Scribner and Shannon Rugani are performing in this run? Garen is a former SFB dancer who spent last year at NDT and Shannon is a current corps de ballet member. I believe that during Paris run Garen performed the role of Jerry on certain days. I always enjoyed seeing Garen on stage and hope he gets to do a major part. I still can't get over the fact that he quit the classical ballet.

[SZ]

Garen Scribner was listed in the program as the understudy to Robbie Fairchild. He was also listed as being part of the ensemble the night I went. Shannon Rugani was also listed as part of the ensemble. Sara Esty from Miami City Ballet was also a part of the ensemble.

[Haglund]

Here's the Ensemble list from the first night of Previews:

Will Burton, Attila Joey Csiki, Michael Cusumano, Taeler Cyrus, Rebecca Eichenberger, Sara Esty, Laura Feig, Heather Lang, Dustin Layton, Nathan Madden, Candy Olsen, Rebecca Riker, Shannon Rugani, Garen Scribner, Sarrah Strimel, Charlie Sutton, Allison Walsh, Scott Willis, Victor J. Wisehart.

Kurt Froman is the Dance Captain and a swing. The rest of the swings are Caitlin Abraham, Ashlee Dupre, Jennie Ford, Gia Mongell, Adam Rogers, Sam Rogers, Sam Strasfeld.

[Dreamer]

Thanks for the cast info, Haglund. I do have one more question: who is the understudy for Leanne Cope as she appears to be irreplaceable. It's so exciting to read about this new musical. I think The American in Paris alone will be worth a trip to NYC this summer.

[Haglund]

Sara Esty and Allison Walsh are the understudies for Leanne Cope's character, Lise.

For anyone who attends a preview performance: note that even though the Playbill said that there would be one 15-minute intermission, it actually ended up being a 45 minute intermission for the first night. This is typical of preview performances.

[melponeme_k]

I'm on the fence about this, basically because it is a remake. It doesn't matter that it is on the stage instead of screen. This production is depending on the nostalgia and the talents of Vincente Minnelli, Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron to make money.

However I suppose it is useless to complain. The business, as it is structured now, doesn't want to take chances. So no new librettos will be written, no new musical theater stars will emerge outside the system and certainly no one of Fosse's caliber will emerge again during our lifetimes on Broadway/Off-Broadway. Hopefully my pessimism is wrong.

[Haglund]

See it first.

It's not a remake of the movie and is not dependent on nostalgia although that certainly doesn't hurt. It is dependent on the great songs of George and Ira Gershwin. No reason to complain about that.

[cat]

I haven't checked in for a while. It's interesting to hear your thoughts as a dance fan. Among theatre fans opinions have been mixed to negative with some criticism of the singing and a lot of criticism for the book and story.

I believe that if a show is going to compete on Broadway it has to have strong singing and a strong story. It can't just be a dance show. Otherwise, it should just be staged as a ballet. I'm not a big fan of the movie so I won't be going in too attached to the original. I'm waiting until after previews to see this.

[Haglund]

Hi, Cat.

I don't count myself as a Broadway musical theater fan anymore. Most of what has landed on Broadway in recent years is the same dreck with the same manufactured style of songs and voices with the sound systems manipulated to make everyone sound like they came out of the same can. So if there are fans out there who like that sort of thing, I can understand why they might not care for An American in Paris. While I expect there will be those who complain about Robert Fairchild's singing (just as people complained about Gene Kelly's and Fred Astaire's voices), I see no reason to complain about any other cast member's voice. They are good singers and handle these great songs with respect. As I said, if there are those who admire the overall condition of Broadway musicals these days, they may not care for AAiP.

[cat]

I respectfully disagree. There are plenty of talented and unique singers working on Broadway and good work being done. Though of course there are many missteps as well. I should have perhaps phrased things better. That's what I get for writing comments late at night. I think a good portion of complaints about the singing have been about the choices in which characters are given songs, the length of songs to accommodate dance numbers, etc. It's not that people have trashed the performers' ability to sing.