Let me preface this by stating that I am a die-hard Rachel Chavkin fan. Two years ago, I saw Hadestown at the New York Theater Workshop, and to this day, I still listen to the incredible cast soundtrack. I also saw The Great Comet three times, and implored others to go as well. However, I am very sad to report that I just walked out of Lempicka after the first act.
Like others have noted, the score is extremely unmemorable and unvaried. But the lyrics are truly what drag the show down. They are extremely basic, rendering the show to what at some parts, presents like a cruiseship performance.
While I applaud Espinosa for taking on this vocally demanding role, she sometimes loses pitch due to the constant requirement of belting. At some parts, many of the other cast members do as well.
As I found my mind wandering and my eyes rolling, I couldn’t even look at a set, for there was hardly anything on stage.
I am dumbfounded how anyone could genuinely enjoy this musical. Tamara Lempicka has a fantastic story, yet it is sadly not done justice by this production.
My advice: save your money and go see Chavkin’s 2019 project, Hadestown, on Broadway. It is truly inspiring and brilliant. I am absolutely positive that it will be the next Hamilton.
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Regarding the original casting in the U.S. of this play:
It was, indeed, showcased in Los Angeles, starring HELEN SHAVER as Tamara. An interactive mystery, it involved the audience choosing a character to follow throughout d'Annunzio's villa, which was created in the American Legion hall in Hollywood. Anjelica Huston came in for the 2nd shift of casts in 1985, and then went to NY with this play. This play was performed for 9 years in Los Angeles.
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Hi again Russell, this is now hitting me, guess I raced past it earlier - Regarding your saying “I find it rather insulting…” - not sure if you’re kidding around, given the last week, but on the assumption you are -
I’ve started to think of this as “Goldilocks Sensitivity Week,” as in: This sentence is too sensitive, this sentence is not sensitive enough, this sentence is still just not right. etc. Calling Elaine Stritch and Walter Kerr, on when to say when! That’ll get ya some old-school P.C.-ness. Soon every critic will only see one new show and one re-thought classic a week, and work on the reviews in conjunction with the show’s marketing department, until every cast member mentioned signs off!)
And since it looks like we’re all getting permission to feel vital by getting insulted for this one week only, in that vein, why was “Le Rêve” at Wynn Las Vegas left out of the conversation? Anti-West Coast bias, maybe? :) [Seriously, that Tamara-work name was what piqued my interest in seeing that show when in Vegas; it turned out to just be a total splashy hoot of an eye-candy water show.]
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I find it rather insulting that Brantley's review omits any mention to the play, Tamara, that opened in L.A. in 1981; Lempicka dies in 1980. Weinstein Gallery in San Francisco, hosted a tribute to the artist and her daughter was in attendance. The prized lithos such as "Adam and Eve," the oil that Streisand owned, pictured with her on the cover of Architectural Digest as sold to Madonna at Streisand's auction as she revised her decor. But it was still a thrilling event! Jack Nicholson, who owns an original--"La Reve," I believe, is another avid collector. While I am not aware of the current status of her daughter's habit of releasing a litho of an oil with an Estate Stamp, that was one major source of these prized "recreations." "Adam & Eve" sold out quickly.
@Russell Manning Forgive me, please. The artist's granddaughter, Victoria, was in attendance at the gallery retrospective.
@Russell Manning -
I remember “Tamara” in NYC at the Armory being about getting as close as possible to the door of each room, so you could get to the next room quicker so you could get as close as possible to the door, and the cycle continued. The publicity kept saying the order you see it in didn’t matter to your understanding, though it wasn’t true. (I have a feeling the critics somehow got an order we didn’t get, and didn’t walk as much.) It was not cheap, like premium prices before premium existed. But the walking shoes I got before seeing it still fit and I can still use them for dressy when I expect a lot of walking. Everybody under 40 seemed to be dressed to be seen, and IIRC it was pretty cruisy (all genders and orientations; that made it PC, I hope!) so the unmarried people tried not to shlep or let ourselves appear out of shape on the stairs. They’d said “come in tennis shoes,” but IIRC, no one did.
I kept hoping for Gerard Alessandrini to do a version (maybe to “Tomorrow”) so I’d know what I’d seen, but despite the prices, it was “off-Broadway,” so I think he never tackled it. (There was no wikipedia to fill in the story blanks back then, of course.). Looking forward to learning the story from the musical.
If you think I’m making this up, here’s a Times article.
https://www.nytimes.com/1987/11/12/garden/the-park-avenue-armory-is-home...
"Jack Nicholson, who owns an original--"La Reve," I believe, is another avid collector."
Now this makes sense. I know I didn't see her, but I was sure Anjelica Huston's name had been associated with "Tamara" at the Armory (did she end up doing it?) and this was while she was still with Jack Nicholson.
https://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/18/theater/anjelica-huston-to-star-in-dr...
Also, a PS: The next to last paragraph in the print edition actually refers to the title “Tamara” in quotes. Did someone free-associate back to 1987, or maybe is “Tamara” a number in the show?
I saw the show. The words used in the article apply: loud and exhausting. The actors are talented (I love Carmen Cusack). A lot of work went into the production. Not one song that anyone could remember as soon as it was finished - its not Evita or Les Mis - and those can't stand up to any Rogers / Hammerstein show. Fortunately I read about the life of the real Lempicka before seeing the show, so I understood what it was supposed to be about. A standing ovation and the usual whoops at the end, so what do I know?
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I'm sorry but I can't agree with anything in this review. The book and lyrics are shallow, giving you virtually no impression of any character as a human being. The score is one power ballad belted out after another. The production has many good qualities and the performers work hard but in the final analysis you're left with a headache from a constant repetition of loud songs with no real purpose.
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@Peter Giordano or anyone who's seen it - Would you be willing to say what happens from 2 until 2:20?
Just talked to someone at the theater. There's no earlier public transportation arrival from NYC than the bus that gets there 2:10, but they said no issue getting seated a little late for a 2 pm show. (Hoping they don't start until 2:07 like in NY anyway.)
PS. Yikes, I think I called it "Lypsinka" on the phone. She didn't laugh at me, so maybe she's heard that before.
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Apparently, the "secret" to arrive at Williamstown before 2 is get off the bus at Pittsfield and take a cab from Pittsfield to Williamstown!!! There's a 25-minute layover at Pittsfield before the bus then goes on to get to Williamstown at 2:10. (By cabbing from Pittsfield, you get to subtract that 25-minute layover.)
Absolutely agree. Totally banal treatment of what could be an interesting subject. Totally forgettable music as well, and the first half hour or so you can’t tell one song from another.
Plus, sorry, but Ms. Espinosa can’t sing—everything is completely nasal, which is an unfortunate trend in musicals these days. She screeches on the high notes.
Three hours of my life I’ll never get back.
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