Friday, July 22, 2011

Theater Review: Death Takes a Holiday

Weak Book, Overwritten Score are Death of This Holiday
By Lauren Yarger
Some lovely vocals and settings (Derek McLane) highlight Roundabout Theatre's new musical adaptation of Alberto Casella's play Death Takes a Holiday, but director Doug Hughes can't resuscitate a weak plot and overwritten score that end up killing the momentum of this production.

Death (Julian Ovenden -- apparently out and being replaced by his understudy at the moment) decides he is tired of being feared by humans and wants to know about this "life" they all cling to so desperately when he comes around. It's time for a holiday, and he takes a day off at Villa Felicita in Northern Italy, the lakeside home of Duke Vittorio Lamberti (Michael Siberry), Duchess Stephanie Lamberti (Rebecca Luker) and their daughter, Grazia (Jill Paice). While Death is on holiday, no one at the villa will die, as long as Vittorio doesn't reveal the true identity of  his guest, who assumes the identity of Nickolai Sirki, a Russian prince. There, he discovers the pleasures of smelling flowers, eating eggs and love.

Grazia benefits from the arrangement when she survives unscathed after being thrown from the car her fiance Corrado Montelli (Max Von Essen) drives too recklessly. The near-death experience is a little nearer than she thinks when she meets Death himself. She rethinks her life, her engagement and becomes attracted to the strange, yet familiar Nikolai. Grazia's father, who with his wife still struggles through the grief of having lost their son, Roberto, in World War 1, isn't ready to lose Grazia to Death as well and opposes the match.

Vittorio's aging mother-in-law Contessa Evangelina (Linda Balgord) recognizes Death at once and suspects she might have to leave with him. She hasn't felt alive much any way since the death of her husband and she hasn't noticed the steadfast devotion all these years of her first and true love, Dr. Dario Albione (Simon Jones, who is fun as the character, but who has a weak singing voice). Tragedy might not be avoided when Death's true identity also is discovered by Majordomo Fidele (a miscast Don Stephenson), Grazia's best friend Dasiy Fenton (Alexandra Socha), Roberto's widow, Alice (Mara Davi),  Daisy's brother, Eric (Matt Cavenaugh), the maid (Patricia Noonan), the chauffeur (Jay Jaski) and the cook (Joy Hermalyn).

We kind of like Death -- Ovenden is dashing and has a lovely singing voice as does Paice. Vittorio and Fidele have a nice duet in "Death is in the House," Luker sings a moving ballad "Losing Roberto" and Davi shines in a bright dance with Death (Peter Pucci, choreography). These, however, are just a few of the some 24 songs comprising the score by Maury Yeston who also writes the lyrics. There are 14 tunes in the first act alone with characters singing about every situation and emotion that arises. That teamed with the overcomplicated, repetitive and laborious book by Peter Stone and Thomas Meehan starts making us wish we could take a holiday too. Catherine Zuber's period costumes disappoint as well, with strange lines that make some of them look bunched up and some colors that don't work together.

Death Takes a Holiday runs Off-Broadway at the Laura Pels Theatre at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre (111 West 46th Street) through Sept. 4. For tickets, visit www.roundabouttheatre.org or call 212-719-1300.

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Our reviews are professional reviews written without a religious bias. At the end of them, you can find a listing of language, content or theological issues that Christians might want to know about when deciding which shows to see.

** Mature indicates that the show has posted an advisory because of content. Usually this means I would recommend no one under the age of 16 attend.

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

My Bio

Lauren Yarger has written, directed and produced numerous shows and special events for both secular and Christian audiences. She co-wrote a Christian musical version of “A Christmas Carol” which played to sold-out audiences of over 3,000 in Vermont and was awarded the Vermont Bessie (theater and film awards) for “People’s Choice for Theatre.” She also has written two other dinner theaters, sketches for church services and devotions for Christian artists. Her play concept, "From Reel to Real: The Jennifer O'Neill Story" was presented as part of the League of professional Theatre Women's Julia's reading Room Series in New York. Shifting from reviewing to producing, Yarger owns Gracewell Productions, which produced the Table Reading Series at the Palace Theater in Waterbury, CT. She trained for three years in the Broadway League’s Producer Development Program, completed the Commercial Theater Institute's Producing Intensive and other training and produced a one-woman musical about Mary Magdalene that toured nationally and closed with an off-Broadway run. She was a Fellow at the National Critics Institute at the O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT. She wrote reviews of Broadway and Off-Broadway theater (the only ones you can find in the US with an added Christian perspective) at http://reflectionsinthelight.blogspot.com/.

She is editor of The Connecticut Arts Connection (http://ctarts.blogspot.com), an award-winning website featuring theater and arts news for the state. She was a contributing editor for BroadwayWorld.com. She previously served as theater reviewer for the Manchester Journal-Inquirer, Connecticut theater editor for CurtainUp.com and as Connecticut and New York reviewer for American Theater Web.

She is a Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter of the League of Professional Theatre Women. She is a former vice president and voting member of The Drama Desk.

She is a freelance writer and playwright (member Dramatists Guild of America). She is a member if the The Outer Critics Circle (producer of the annual awards ceremony) and a member of The League of Professional Theatre Women, serving as Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter. Yarger was a book reviewer for Publishers Weekly A former newspaper editor and graduate of the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, Yarger also worked in arts management for the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and served for nine years as the Executive Director of Masterwork Productions, Inc. She lives with her husband in West Granby, CT. They have two adult children.

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All material is copyright 2008- 2024 by Lauren Yarger. Reviews and articles may not be reprinted without permission. Contact reflectionsinthelight@gmail.com

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Key to Content Notes:

God's name taken in vain -- means God or Jesus is used in dialogue without speaking directly to or about them.

Language -- means some curse words are used. "Minor" usually means the words are not too strong or that it only occurs once or twice throughout the show.

Strong Language -- means some of the more heavy duty curse words are used.

Nudity -- means a man or woman's backside, a man's lower front or a woman's front are revealed.

Scantily clad -- means actors' private areas are technically covered, but I can see a lot of them.

Sexual Language -- means the dialogue contains sexually explicit language but there's no action.

Sexual Activity -- means a man and woman are performing sexual acts.

Adultery -- Means a married man or woman is involved sexually with someone besides their spouse. If this is depicted with sexual acts on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Sex Outside of Marriage -- means a man and woman are involved sexually without being married. If this is depicted sexually on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Homosexuality -- means this is in the show, but not physically depicted.

Homosexual activity -- means two persons of the same sex are embracing/kissing. If they do more than that, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Cross Dresser -- Means someone is dressing as the opposite sex. If they do more than that on stage the listing would include the corresponding "sexual activity" and/or "homosexual activity" as well.

Cross Gender -- A man is playing a female part or a woman is playing a man's part.

Suggestive Dancing -- means dancing contains sexually suggestive moves.

Derogatory (category added Fall 2012) Language or circumstances where women or people of a certain race are referred to or treated in a negative and demeaning manner.

Other content matters such as torture, suicide, or rape will be noted, with details revealed only as necessary in the review itself.

The term "throughout" added to any of the above means it happens many times throughout the show.

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I receive free seats to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows made available to all voting members of the Outer Critics Circle. Journalistically, I provide an unbiased review and am under no obligation to make positive statements. Sometimes shows do not make tickets available to reviewers. If these are shows my readers want to know about I will purchase a ticket. If a personal friend is involved in a production, I'll let you know, but it won't influence a review. If I feel there is a conflict, I won't review their portion of the production.

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