THE HANGOVER REPORT – John Doyle’s unsurprisingly minimalist revival of THE CRADLE WILL ROCK works as a tone poem, sans the anger

The company of John Doyle's revival of Marc Blitzstein's "The Cradle Will Rock" at Classic Stage Company. Photo by Joan Marcus.

The company of John Doyle’s revival of Marc Blitzstein’s “The Cradle Will Rock” at Classic Stage Company. Photo by Joan Marcus.

This week, John Doyle’s revival of Marc Blitzstein’s The Cradle Will Rock opened Off-Broadway at Classic Stage Company. The highly political so-called “play in music” – which is perhaps best known for being actively  opposed by federal authorities when it premiered in 1937 – tells the story of a fictitious city known as Steeltown, USA, and the efforts of one Larry Foreman to mobilize its citizens to unionize against big business.

The musical is written in a style that may be unknown to musical theater fans who are only familiar with more recent, pop-oriented shows like Dear Evan Hansen or Be More Chill.  In essence, the show is both a satire and a musical parable, a cautionary tale of what happens when greed and corruption go unchecked. Mr. Blitzstein’s biting score strongly calls to mind the droll song stylings of Kurt Weill. But if you give the songs a chance, they’ll likely draw you in with their seductive and evocative qualities.

The musical has been directed by Mr. Doyle, CSC’s artistic director, in his usual minimalist approach, which works beautifully with the piece’s episodic plot and stylized construction. By condensing and simplifying the visual pallet, Mr. Doyle has in essence created a tone poem of a production, one that’s more conversational in nature than your typical mounting of The Cradle Will Rock. While some theater purists might miss the combustible anger typically associated with the show, this theater critic found the unfussy, low key interpretation to be refreshing. Accompanied only by a lone onstage piano (which the cast takes turn playing), the performers – led by the passionate offsetting performances of Tony Yazbeck and David Garrison – come together wonderfully like a true ensemble, as well as get a chance to shine individually via finely-etched characterizations.

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THE CRADLE WILL ROCK
Off-Broadway, Musical
Classic Stage Company
1 hour, 30 minutes (without an intermission)
Through May 19

Categories: Off-Broadway, Theater

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