THE HANGOVER REPORT – The busy new musical EMPIRE chronicles the erection of New York’s most iconic skyscraper

The company of “Empire” at New World Stages (photo by Matthew Murphy).

This summer, you’ll be able to find the new musical Empire enjoying an extended commercial Off-Broadway run at New World Stages. Featuring a score and book by Caroline Sherman and Robert Hull, the work chronicles the financial, political, and personal circumstances surrounding the construction of New York’s iconic Empire State Building (upon its completion, the instantly recognizable landmark claimed the coveted title of tallest building in the world, a record it maintained for quite some time).

Like recent musicals of its ilk — the sprawling Paradise Square quickly comes to mind — Empire attempts to cover an ambitious amount of narrative ground over the course of its meaty two-and-a-half hours. And very much like Paradise Square, the musical’s numerous intersecting plot threads ultimately amount to a busy final product that comes across on the bloated and unruly side. Unfortunately, the book doesn’t help matters much, making the complicated story murkier than it should be. Empire works best broadly as a celebration of the human spirit, particularly with respect to the invaluable — and life-endangering — contributions of immigrant and indigenous populations to the skyscraper’s erection. In its sweeping historical view of one of humanity’s notable achievements, the piece also draws parallels to Maury Yeston and Peter Stone’s Titanic, albeit without that Tony-winning musical’s focus and stylistic unity. This is most apparent in the show’s score, which on the whole registers as a haphazard patchwork of various musical theater styles despite some pleasantly diverting individual numbers sprinkled throughout.

The production has been  competently directed by Cady Huffman (a Tony-winner for her turn as Ulla in The Producers), whose staging makes good use of the suggestive, strikingly expansive set by veteran scenic designer Walt Spangler. The choreography by Lorna Ventura is lively — there’s more than a touch of Newsies in her work — even if the occasional dance breaks don’t quite necessarily lend themselves to serious historical storytelling. By and large, the performances by the relatively young company veer from serviceable to very good. They’re led by the terrific Kaitlyn Davidson, who almost single handedly keeps things afloat in the pivotal role of Wally.

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EMPIRE
Off-Broadway, Musical
New World Stages
2 hours, 30 minutes (with one intermission)
Through September 22

Categories: Off-Broadway, Theater

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