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‘Harold and Maude’ falls flat as a musical
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Reviewed by: Fran Heller Contributing Writer
First it was a book n then a film n followed by a straight play n and now a musical.
That’s a tall order for “Harold and Maude,” Colin Higgins’s story of a May-December romance.
Although the 1971 film was dissed by critics, it became a popular cult classic for the youthful counterculture with its satiric indictment of war.
The Cain Park production of “Harold and Maude: An Intimate Musical,” is directed by Victoria Bussert. Cleveland is the musical’s last stop before being released for optioning rights by major producers. According to the press release, its creators, Tom Jones (book and lyrics) and Joseph Thalken (music) were still tinkering with the script in Cleveland prior to opening. It runs through Aug. 17.
Harold is a lonely, death-obsessed 19-year-old, who attends funerals and demolition sites for fun. He meets the wacky septuagenarian Maude, who also frequents funerals, and the two outsiders become fast friends. Maude awakens Harold to life, to love, and to the courage to be his own person.
Unfortunately, this is an instance where a charming and funny film does not translate into a successful musical.
While the movie, which I watched before seeing the show, kept me laughing, the musical left me lukewarm; a black comedy more black than comic.
Whereas Cat Stevens’s catchy score was a large part of the movie’s appeal, composer Thalken’s lackluster melodies largely fall flat. Music director Jodie Ricci and orchestra do what they can with the bland songs.
Jones’s script, like the film, is written as a series of short, cinematic scenes. While this approach works seamlessly in the movie, it flops on stage, with clumsy scene changes that take the viewer out of the moment each and every time. In one instance, a presumably dead girl suddenly springs to life to make way for the next segment.
One of the film’s greatest charms was the inimitable Ruth Gordon, whose loveable eccentricities were pivotal to the role. In this adaptation, a sadder, more serious Maude is less of an oddball and not quite as funny.
The mix of humor and high-toned seriousness is problematic. Harold’s self-revelatory song “The Real Thing,” in which he confides in Maude a serious intent about taking his life, is disturbing and scary.
The competent cast does what it can with the material. Tall, gangly Corey Mach captures the moody, morbid Harold in ways that are hilarious and heartbreaking. Mach makes Harold’s budding relationship with Maude touching and believable.
The story’s anti-war message is personified by Harold’s uncle (Patrick Janson), a one-armed, trigger-happy army man. In the militaristic number “Rata-ta-Tat!” he describes war as the most exciting thing in the world. As the Man, Janson also plays a Germanic psychiatrist, a priest, a gravedigger and a furniture mover.
Jacqueline Cummins is too shrill and over the top as Harold’s self-absorbed mother Mrs. Chasen. Cummins’s strange dialect, a cross between highborn English and the Bronx, was grating to my ear.
Dressed like a bag lady in Terry Pieritz’s spot-on costume, Maryann Nagel endears as the free-spirited Maude, whose life-affirming bons mots pepper the script. In “The Road Less Traveled,” one of the show’s better songs, Maude encourages Harold to “enjoy the ride.”
A passing reference to the tattooed number on Maude’s arm summons memories of a painful past in “Maude’s Waltz.” Maude keeps empty picture frames to remind her of the people she lost, a poignant touch.
Russ Borski’s set is on the very cheap, robbing the fantasy of some much-needed magic. Borski’s trick lighting and Stan Kozak’s sound effects studiously fill in the blanks. Borski’s rendition of Maude’s junk-filled living quarters works better, but it remains dwarfed by an empty stage on both sides.
According to printed sources, Jones said he always wanted to make a musical of the subject matter, but his longtime collaborative partner Harvey Schmidt (the two created “The Fantasticks”) remained skeptical.
Schmidt was right.
First it was a book n then a film n followed by a straight play n and now a musical.
That’s a tall order for “Harold and Maude,” Colin Higgins’s story of a May-December romance.
Although the 1971 film was dissed by critics, it became a popular cult classic for the youthful counterculture with its satiric indictment of war.
The Cain Park production of “Harold and Maude: An Intimate Musical,” is directed by Victoria Bussert. Cleveland is the musical’s last stop before being released for optioning rights by major producers. According to the press release, its creators, Tom Jones (book and lyrics) and Joseph Thalken (music) were still tinkering with the script in Cleveland prior to opening. It runs through Aug. 17.
Harold is a lonely, death-obsessed 19-year-old, who attends funerals and demolition sites for fun. He meets the wacky septuagenarian Maude, who also frequents funerals, and the two outsiders become fast friends. Maude awakens Harold to life, to love, and to the courage to be his own person.
Unfortunately, this is an instance where a charming and funny film does not translate into a successful musical.
While the movie, which I watched before seeing the show, kept me laughing, the musical left me lukewarm; a black comedy more black than comic.
Whereas Cat Stevens’s catchy score was a large part of the movie’s appeal, composer Thalken’s lackluster melodies largely fall flat. Music director Jodie Ricci and orchestra do what they can with the bland songs.
Jones’s script, like the film, is written as a series of short, cinematic scenes. While this approach works seamlessly in the movie, it flops on stage, with clumsy scene changes that take the viewer out of the moment each and every time. In one instance, a presumably dead girl suddenly springs to life to make way for the next segment.
One of the film’s greatest charms was the inimitable Ruth Gordon, whose loveable eccentricities were pivotal to the role. In this adaptation, a sadder, more serious Maude is less of an oddball and not quite as funny.
The mix of humor and high-toned seriousness is problematic. Harold’s self-revelatory song “The Real Thing,” in which he confides in Maude a serious intent about taking his life, is disturbing and scary.
The competent cast does what it can with the material. Tall, gangly Corey Mach captures the moody, morbid Harold in ways that are hilarious and heartbreaking. Mach makes Harold’s budding relationship with Maude touching and believable.
The story’s anti-war message is personified by Harold’s uncle (Patrick Janson), a one-armed, trigger-happy army man. In the militaristic number “Rata-ta-Tat!” he describes war as the most exciting thing in the world. As the Man, Janson also plays a Germanic psychiatrist, a priest, a gravedigger and a furniture mover.
Jacqueline Cummins is too shrill and over the top as Harold’s self-absorbed mother Mrs. Chasen. Cummins’s strange dialect, a cross between highborn English and the Bronx, was grating to my ear.
Dressed like a bag lady in Terry Pieritz’s spot-on costume, Maryann Nagel endears as the free-spirited Maude, whose life-affirming bons mots pepper the script. In “The Road Less Traveled,” one of the show’s better songs, Maude encourages Harold to “enjoy the ride.”
A passing reference to the tattooed number on Maude’s arm summons memories of a painful past in “Maude’s Waltz.” Maude keeps empty picture frames to remind her of the people she lost, a poignant touch.
Russ Borski’s set is on the very cheap, robbing the fantasy of some much-needed magic. Borski’s trick lighting and Stan Kozak’s sound effects studiously fill in the blanks. Borski’s rendition of Maude’s junk-filled living quarters works better, but it remains dwarfed by an empty stage on both sides.
According to printed sources, Jones said he always wanted to make a musical of the subject matter, but his longtime collaborative partner Harvey Schmidt (the two created “The Fantasticks”) remained skeptical.
Schmidt was right.
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| Timely political satire packs a wallop |
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