Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The Boss once again reveals his soul in SPRINGSTEEN ON BROADWAY, intimately and poetically

• By drediman
• August 26, 2021
• No Comments

Last night at the St. James Theatre, I attended a performance of Springsteen on Broadway, which has returned to the Great White Way after having played a celebrated sold-out run at the Walter Kerr Theatre during the 2017-2018 theater season. The show – essentially Mr. Springsteen’s memoir in the guise of an acoustic concert – has been running since late June and has the distinction of being the first show to play Broadway since lockdown ensued last March. Long story short, the show is just as muscular and ravishing at its new home. Indeed, it’s a testament to Mr. Springsteen’s skill as a soul-revealing poet and performer that his show plays just as intimately and powerfully in the much larger St. James as it did at the Kerr.

The Boss draws you in as much with his poetically rambling monologues as with his iconic songbook. I suspect this is because of the fluid interplay between dialogue and song – the show’s spoken sections possess a kind of innate musicality, and his song renditions have an organic, conversational quality to them. There’s also an expansive sense of expression in the show – from the most personal of whispers to thunderous, earth-shaking cries – which contributes to the visceral wallop of the overall experience. Despite Mr. Springsteen’s agelessly rugged and traditionally masculine (albeit charming) persona, he’s a keenly sensitive observer and documenter of the human experience. I’d even claim that Springsteen on Broadway comes as close to capturing the essence of life’s journey as anything in performance I can think of off the top of my head. Running a meaty 2 hours and 20 minutes (note that the show runs straight through without an intermission break), audiences members are treated to a generous helping of the Boss, which unfortunately translates to the show’s notoriously hefty price tag.

In the act of recounting his time on earth so far, Springsteen on Broadway is also by default a moving, clear-eyed tribute to the glory days of key figures in Mr. Springsteen’s life who have passed on, including his alcoholic father, former bandmates, local rock and roll inspirations, and his dear mother (who is currently battling advanced Alzheimer’s). In his self-professed “magic trick” of a show, their presence during the performance is profoundly felt as if conjured by a forceful musical séance (Heather Christian performs the same kind of astonishing act in her Animal Wisdom). Which isn’t to say that Mr. Springsteen is all about apparitions of the past. Patti Scialfa – a smokey-voiced songstress who also happens to be Mr. Springsteen’s wife – makes a cameo well into the show, performing a pair of songs with her husband. It was magical to see them perform with such love and ease (particularly given that Ms. Scialfa was indisposed when I saw the show at the Kerr); it’s an altogether touching testament to celebrating and basking in the temporal blessings of the here and now.

As before, the show literally plays out on an empty, bare stage. But with Mr. Springsteen’s masterful and emotionally naked storytelling, his show candidly paints a world rich with color and light, love and hope. Fundamentally, it’s exactly what we all need right now.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

SPRINGSTEEN ON BROADWAY
Broadway, Concert/Play / In-person
St. James Theatre
2 hours, 20 minutes (without an intermission)
Through September 4