Premiere: ‘Johnny Manhattan’ takes The Meadow Brook
ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich.–When I read that the Meadow Brook Theatre was premiering a new musical co-written by Michigan native Dan Goggin, creator of the insipid Nunsense musicals, I was intrigued when I read the story synopsis of Johnny Manhattan. It looked like potentially a real story, compared with the marshmallow fluff of the nun shows.
Indeed, there is a story here in this show that the authors are hoping, according to the press release, to take to Broadway. Given the success of Nunsense Off Broadway, and the regional success of the even fluffier sequels, I imagine their expectations are within reason given Goggin’s track record. However, I doubt that anyone considering putting this show on in The Big Apple is going to think the show is ready for prime-time just yet.
It is 1958, and Johnny Manhattan is having a private party at his New York City club that competes for nightlife patrons with the Copacabana, The Stork Cub and other famous clubs that thrived before the ascent of television that kept most people in their living rooms instead of out listening to live music. Not unlike some of the Nun musicals, the authors are fond of the show-within-the-show concept as there is a show going on during this party where secrets are revealed by the invitees.
Jim Ballard makes his Meadow Brook debut in the title role. Anne Brummel exhibits excellent vocals as Rosie, Johnny’s love interest/on-again-off-again flame. Jana Robbins is delightful as the saucy, acerbic grand dame character actress of Broadway and minor films, Rita, who is in attendance with a gigolo (played ably by Nathan Cockroft). George Dvorsky plays a philandering lawyer with a marriage-weary wife, (Barbara McCulloh) who learns during the party that her husband’s girlfriend is in the house.
There is a challenge in writing music for this show in that the whole premise and time period conjures up a feeling and nostalgia for the awesome tunes of the Eisenhower years that would have been performed in a club like Johnny’s. Consider some of the Billboard hits of that year: “Volare” by Domenico Modugno; “Catch A Falling Star” by Perry Como; “Tequila” by Champs; “Looking Back” by Nat King Cole; “Who’s Sorry Now” by Connie Francis. The songs in this show don’t quite evoke the time. The strongest single song is “Mister Producer,” performed wonderfully by Ruth Pferdehurt as Maxie who is not a featured singer at the club but she wants to be and uses this song to strut her ability on the club’s last night.
The other problem with the show is with the book, by Robert Lorick. Johnny has a bit of a Sam Malone (Ted Danson’s character in Cheers) aura, the single, handsome, emotionally lost good guy. He is the center piston in an engine made up of all these characters, and has decided to close the club and thus put the vehicle they have all been riding in up on blocks. Now, they all feel a bit lost. The club’s characters, indeed, all feel like the cast of Cheers, except that in just two hours of story we don’t have enough to go on to care very much about these people. The at-times soap-opera-esqe dialogue doesn’t help. In short, there is not enough really going on here in the play to be much more than a cruise-ship show. Perhaps a celebrity cast in the leads could sustain it for a month or two Off Broadway, but the script and score would have to be improved in order for it to stand on its own.
Kudos to not only Pferdehurt, but also Scott Willis as Edward, Rita’s second husband (out of several) who has surfaced at the club at the invitation of Johnny to reunite with Rita. He not only does a wonderful job with his dialogue, but also delivers a fun song-and-dance number, “I Don’t Do That Anymore.”
The set of Johnny’s, designed by Brian Kessler is wonderful. Michael Rice does a fine job with musical direction and the incorporation of the ensemble into the story, doubling as the house band of Johnny’s, is extremely well executed.
The whole production, directed and choreographed by Mark Martino, has problems that rest almost entirely with the script, and score, which needs more work. On the other hand, Meadow Brook’s audience seemed to like it just fine, and I would have said the same thing about Nunsense. And that show broke records for longevity running Off Broadway. So, there is an audience for almost everything.