THE NOTEBOOK (6/22/14): Reimagined “Side Show” at the KenCen

Reimagined “Side Show” at the KenCen

The cult favorite musical “Side Show” has been given a new lease on life via a co-production by the La Jolla Playhouse and the Kennedy Center. This major revival, which I saw this afternoon at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater, concluded my mini-tour of current Washington theater offerings. Bill Condon’s cleanly reconsidered version (10 new songs have been incorporated into the score) makes a strong, if not completely convincing, case for the show. Although Emily Padgett and Erin Davie as the central Siamese twins are less naturally gutsy than their Tony-nominated predecessors Emily Skinner and Alice Ripley, they offer effective performances of great subtlety and vulnerability that gain momentum as the show progresses, nicely contrasting the bombastic nature of the power ballads they’re given by Henry Krieger and Bill Russell. If the show is to succeed and seduce on Broadway, some of the darker elements of the story need to be exposed, perhaps through some minor recasting and further surgery on the already solid score. I wish the production well and hope it is able to take its concluding steps forward.

Categories: Broadway, Theater

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