Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Duncan Sheik’s musical adaptation of BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE is a dreamy tone poem that resuscitates an era

• By drediman
• February 5, 2020
• No Comments

Michael Zegen, Jennifer Damiano, Joél Pérez, and Ana Nogueira in the New Group’s production of “Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice” by Duncan Sheik, Jonathan Marc Sherman, and Amanda Green at the Pershing Square Signature Center. Photo by Monique Carboni.

Last night, Duncan Sheik, Jonathan Marc Sherman, and Amanda Green’s Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice opened Off-Broadway at the Pershing Square Signature Center via the New Group. If you haven’t already gathered, the show is the musical adaptation of Paul Mazursky’s notable 1969 film of the same name. Both film and this stage version aim to serve as a social satire of the sexual revolution of the 1960s, particularly from the impressionable perspectives of its titular four characters.

Ever since striking gold with the 2006 Tony-winning Spring Awakening, it’s been an uneven ride for Duncan Sheik as a musical theater composer, at least on this side of the pond (both Alice By Heart and American Psycho were better received in their original London incarnations). His songs for Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice are strong; they effortlessly channel the work of easy listening masters like Burt Bacharach, yet maintain the unaffected, mellow coolness that distinguishes much of Mr. Sheik’s output. The dreamy score (which feature lyrics co-written by Ms. Green and is played fabulously by an onstage band) provides an intoxicating, pot-infused haze that permeates the already loose, relatively uneventful plot. Although my friends tell me that much of Mr. Sherman’s book is lifted straight from the film (which I admittedly haven’t seen), I found that much of it worked for the stage. Together, the writers have created a show that’s more tone poem than traditional book musical (or even compelling character study) — which may not be to everyone’s liking — and have successfully resuscitated a bygone era with inviting affection and gentle parody.

Also contributing to the lax atmosphere of Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice is the laid-back work of director Scott Elliott, the New Group’s artistic director, and his attractive cast of five (who once in a while also double as backup singers and musicians). As the first, more adventuresome couple – Bob and Carol – Joél Pérez (of Fun Home) and Jennifer Damiano (notably of Next to Normal and Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark) have graduated to completely adult roles. Happily, both have made the transition gracefully without having to try too hard to reinvent themselves. To boot, they have great chemistry and sing awfully prettily. As the more prickly and anxious pairing – Ted and Alice – Michael Zegen and Ana Nogueira refreshingly contrast the cooler yet more vaguely-realized aforementioned couple via amusingly neurotic portrayals. Bringing it all together as the narrator (and the show’s miscellaneous characters), smooth-voiced pop star Suzanne Vega oozes a detached cool befitting the modus operandi of this musical adaptation.

RECOMMENDED

BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE
Off-Broadway, Musical
The New Group / Pershing Square Signature Center
1 hour, 45 minutes (without an intermission)
Through March 15