THE HANGOVER REPORT – A glorious mini-ballet fails to lift the otherwise generic TUCK EVERLASTING

tuck-everlastingTonight marks the Broadway opening of Tuck Everlasting, a new musical based on the young adult novel by Natalie Babbitt about a girl’s encounter with a never-aging family. The musical, which enjoyed a pre-Broadway tryout last year at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre, lands on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre as this spring’s family-friendly offering (the other musical this season that fits this niche, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s School of Rock, opened in the fall). I wish I could report that the musical reaches the heights to which it aspires, but mostly I was left unaffected by the workmanlike effort of its creators. Claudia Shear and Tim Federle’s book is dutiful and tells the story concisely, but it lacks the wistfulness that the bittersweet tale demands. Likewise, the score by Chris Miller (music) and Nathan Tysen (lyrics) is pleasant enough, but I miss the unmistakable character exhibited by some of this season’s best scores (Hamilton, Bright Star, even Waitress). In these respects, Tuck Everlasting strikes me as this year’s Finding Neverland.

Tuck Everlasting is directed and choreographed to a polished sheen by the busy Casey Nicholaw, who is also currently and impressively represented on the Great White Way by the hits The Book of Mormon, Something Rotten!, and Aladdin. The production’s only stroke of true genius is the enchanting 10-minute ballet that closes the show, a poetic conveyance of how each of character turn out. In this final segment, the musical comes to thrilling life, attaining an inspired clarity and purpose of being that the rest of the show sorely lacks. However, this compelling choreographic epilogue can’t dispel the blandness that has come before it and is, unfortunately and ultimately, a case of “too little, too late”. The design team can’t be faulted – scenic designer Walt Spangler, costume designer Gregg Barnes, and lighting designer Kenneth Posner have lovingly created a world that pops to evocative life on the Broadhurst’s stage.

The cast all-around is solid and also can’t be faulted. Carolee Carmello, Andrew Keenan-Bolger, Michael Park, and Robert Lenzi all bring well-worn chemistry and generosity to their Tuck family portrayals. As the girl who changes their lives by influencing them to assess life and death more closely, Sarah Charles Lewis gives a purposeful, utterly professional performance. Terrence Mann, as the antagonist of the piece, does his best in a somewhat underwritten part. Finally, Fred Applegate and Michael Wartella inject much needed warmth and texture as the befuddled local detective and his almost-deputy.

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TUCK EVERLASTING
Broadway, Musical
Broadhurst Theatre
2 hours, 15 minutes (with one intermission)
Open run

Categories: Broadway, Theater

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