The New York Musical Theatre Festival began Sept. 15 and is running through Oct. 5, showcasing an impressive-sounding 24 “full productions” of new musicals and a whole host of special events, concerts and works-in-progress.
Saturday afternoon I saw “Bonnie & Clyde: A Folktale” and came away with mixed feelings about the material and the presentation.
I have friends who love to see the first rough cut of a feature film or the earliest preview of a new show, but I would much rather wait and see a fully realized version of a play or movie.
Clearly, it is important for the creators of a musical to get their show up on its feet somewhere so that potential producers and investors can get enough of an idea of a show’s potential to write a check.
The NYMF staging of “Bonnie & Clyde” was a bit more than minimal — the characters wore period costumes, a few props were included, there was a five-piece band, and everyone wore the sort of headpiece microphones that are used on Broadway.
Honestly, if the NYMF was not selling tickers to the public and advertising “Bonnie & Clyde” as a full production, I don’t think I would write about it, even in this informal blog space.
The performers were perfectly capable — albeit lacking in the charisma that would be needed for a Broadway version of the show — and the songs were pleasant, but I kept thinking what a more finished version might be like. What would the show be like, for instance, with Sutton Foster and Patrick Wilson in the leads and fabulous costumes by William Ivey Long?
The Depression era setting, the theme of crime generating celebrity, and the sexual hypocrisy of FBI head J. Edgar Hoover all seemed to cry out for more elaborate visuals and real choreography that might do a better job of putting some of the blander numbers across.
We’re in a period where highly publicized non-profit film and play festivals too often take the place of commercial runs.
An “insider” audience sees rough drafts of shows that will never be fully staged, shortchanging the creative staff behind the piece by putting a sketchy piece of work in front of a paying public. Actors who might have crafted stronger performances with a longer rehearsal period are not seen at their best, blurring the line between problems in the material and weaknesses in the casting.
Rather than throw two-dozen bare bones musicals on 12 stages around town, a group like the NYMF might do more good by focusing on a few shows and giving them productions that would warrant the word “full.”
