Location: The National Theatre, Washington, DC
Website: Official
If/Then musical site
Starring: Idina
Menzel, LaChanze, Anthony Rapp, James Snyder, Jerry Dixon, Jenn Colella, Jason
Tam, Tamika Lawrence
My Review: Now
that I no longer live in NYC, my opportunities to be among the first people to
take in a new play or musical are severely limited. (You don't know how many
months I had to hear about how fantastic Pippin
is before I finally made my way up to NYC to see it.) So when I heard the new
Broadway-bound musical If/Then (Broadway
previews begin March 5, 2014) would be doing a preview here in Washington, DC,
I was interested. Then when I heard it was starring Idina Menzel and being
directed by Michael Greif, I was sold.
If/Then is the
story of Elizabeth (Menzel); or rather, the two possible stories of Liz and
Beth. Back in NYC and pushing 40 after ending a disastrous marriage in Phoenix,
Elizabeth is ready for a new start. After being tugged in two different
directions by her new friend and neighbor, the free spirited Kate (LaChanze),
and her old college friend, the idealistic and sexually confused Lucas (Anthony
Rapp), Elizabeth's story is torn in two and played out parallel to each other,
showing the vast effect that one decision can have on a person's life path. (I
imagine the working title of this production was Sliding Doors: The Musical.) In the one thread, she re-brands
herself as "Liz" and follows Kate's advice to embrace her new life as
a single woman in NYC; in the other, she goes back to her college moniker "Beth"
and accepts a city planning job with former colleague, Stephen (Jerry Dixon).
With music and lyrics by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey (the
creative team behind the Tony-winning Next
to Normal), direction by Michael Greif, and a cast full of Broadway stage
notables, If/Then is certainly a
pedigreed musical. But unfortunately, I wasn't as swept away with it as I was
expecting to be. While certainly enjoyable--and it's always a treat to see
Idina Menzel do pretty much anything--the production has a lot of elements that
just flat out didn't work for me, and were problematic enough to distract me
from the elements that did work.
My breakdown:
Didn't Work: The
first half of Act I. It takes a really long time for things to get moving in
the first act. Maybe part of the problem is that they're laying the groundwork
for not one, but two primary storylines, but whatever the issue is, the pace
needs to be picked up.
Worked: The cast.
The cast is pretty phenomenal, and is the production's saving grace. Menzel is Broadway
musical royalty for good reason, and she gives both Liz and Beth enough
distinction so that you believe that these two separate paths are shaping her
in different ways, but she also manages to make them similar in specific ways
so that you don't forget that you're watching two halves of the same woman.
LaChanze is delightful and instantly reminds you of that person in your life
who always tells you what you need to hear, even if it's not necessarily what
you want to hear. And it's great to see Menzel re-teamed with her former Rent co-star, Anthony Rapp; the two play
off each other well, both when their characters are happy and when they're
annoyed with each other, and you can actually feel how joyful these two actors
are to be working together again.
Didn't Work:
Establishing the parallel timelines. Doing a parallel timeline story on stage
can't be easy; there's no visual way to make it obvious to the audience when
you're moving from one story to the other without being overly distracting. (To
go back to the Sliding Doors comparison,
the two extreme hairstyles Gwyneth Paltrow sports in that movie make it easy to
keep track of which story you're watching, but having Elizabeth constantly
switching wigs would never work since she's on stage for almost every scene.) The
scenic design team attempts to resolve this by altering the lighting colors as
the storylines switch, but it's so subtle that it's easily overlooked. I
eventually caught on well into Act I, but my theater companion was still
confused at intermission, as were many other audience members if the selections
of mumblings I overheard are trust-worthy.
Didn't Work: The
songs (for the most part). I admit that I never saw Next to Normal. And not due to lack of opportunity, but lack of
interest. After seeing the number the cast performed at the 2009 Tony
Awards--where the characters just loudly sung their streams of consciousness at
each other--I just didn't feel inspired enough to get tickets. The songs (such
that they are) in If/Then are written
and performed in the same vein. While not quite patter singing (as that's
usually used for comedic effect), the cast sings in a modified patter singing
style where they're kind of melodically chanting their inner thoughts or their conversations. The Playbill offers no breakdown of musical
numbers, so I have no idea what the names of any of the songs are, but I
imagine the list would look something like, "Elizabeth is Excited, But
Nervous, About Starting Over Again," "Kate Thinks Liz Should Be
Willing to Take a Chance," and "Josh Feels Apprehensive, But is
Pretty Sure Things Will Turn Out OK in the End."
Maybe I'm old-fashioned when it comes to musical theater,
but I like to leave the theater after seeing a new show humming at least one of
the songs I just heard. And then I'll buy the cast album and learn all the
songs I like. And then I'll sing them in my shower, and in my car, and after
having too much vodka (much to the delight of everyone around me). Even
musicals that are sung all the way through, opera-style (à la Rent and Les Misérables), have distinct songs that worm their way into your
memory. If/Then has melodic
monologues and dialogues, which really didn't do much for me.
Worked: Idina
Menzel's songs. You don't cast Idina Menzel in your musical and not give her at
least a couple of showstoppers to belt out. Surprising to no one, Menzel brings
down the house in a couple of powerful solos, but as I mentioned before,
there's nothing memorable about the songs themselves. Rather than leaving the
theater remembering how great that musical number was, you leave remembering
how great Menzel's voice is, but wishing you could remember any of the music or
lyrics she performed.
Bottom Line: Anybody
who is a fan of Broadway theater, or just musicals in general, is going to want
to love If/Then, because it's bound
to be known as "The new Idina Menzel musical." And if you love Menzel
enough, that might be all you need to adore this production. But as a
stand-alone musical, there is a lot lacking. If the production remains as-is
when it makes its way to Broadway, I'm not sure what sort of life If/Then will have once its leading lady
moves on. Hopefully the producers have Kristin Chenoweth's number on file.
